Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-25

results followed Either the drift was
broken or the quicker crumpled up like a
toy of cardboard. The fate of the crew of
several men depended upon what Artemus
Ward called their nat'rai born luck
Stories are still told of the catastrophes
occurring during one hard winter many
years ago: of how in one instance ''buck-
err, three engines and fourteen men were
buried in mass of snow for ninety hours
and that when the rescuing party finally
reached them the imprisoned men were in
cased at their posts like the baker of
Pompeii.
Today there are no such narrowing trag-
edies The invention of the rotary pillow
has made the clearing away of snow OBJ
struct1ons a comparative iy easy task.
What a Rotary Plow is Like.
In appearance the rotary pillow is like
huge box car, strengthened with heavy
iron Orders and plates. The front end is
square and open. and within can be seen
great steel-winged wheel, somewhat SINH
lar to the ordinary windmill. The edges
of the opening slope inward and are strong
ly reinforced with iron The "auger' or
wheel revolves upon an axle, and the
pillow is forced against the drift the snow
is eaten away and blown through tunnels
pitched at an angle above the machine.
1t is seldom that more than two engines
are required to push the rotary. as it
works by cutting instead of brute force like
the old-time quicker" Railroad men are
great duHilTttS OF tIle new OTueT Oh ma
chine. and they never fail to praise its
efficiency.
Before our people bought one we used to
count on at least dozen lives each win
ter said a division superintendent Of
western road, in speaking of the subject.
I'VE lost eight in one smash-up the season
before the first rotary came on the road.
Since then we haven't had a man killed in
that particular line of work.
And they cost the company less. too"
he added. "Of course the first price is
large, something like $4,000. l believe, but
that amount is made up in no time, You
might say. Now it takes only q couple of
engines to each plow, where it used to re-
quire al least seven. In those days the coal
and salaries, not to mention the wear and
tear on the engines, meant great DEAL
The new rotary plows are also reputed to
have been the means of saving lives in
quite another way. Since their introduce
ton the mountain railways. especially
in the west, there are innumerabie cases
where snowbound trains and even snow
bound villages have been saved from actual
starvation by the efficiency of the rotary
ploWs.
Story of Great Snow Bank.
During the winter of 1s97-9s which was
particularly severe, a gang of track clean
ers which had been sent out to bank the
snow near Hector, a station on the Cam
adam Pacific railway. became hemmed in
by two enormous slides. The great masses
scended with terrific force. completely
blocking all egress from the cut in which
the unfortunate men We're working.
A track walker who had seen the acci-
dent carried information to the nearest sta
ton. and a rotary backed by number OF
shovelers was soon on the scene. 1t re-
quired thirty hours of continuous work to
clear the cuts even with the means at hand.
Without the aid of the powerful rotary the
task would have taken at least five days,
and the gang of sixty men would have per-
iShed with the extreme cold.
On what is known as the mountain divis
ION of the Canadian Pacific railway the
average annual snowfall is Al feet. This
Measurement does not mean drifts or filled
cuts, but snow on the level, as the rainfall
is computed by the national weather bu-
reau.
During the season-that is, from about
October Is until April 15--the snow pIows
make two trips daily. The two hundred
and odd miles of the division are divided
into four sections, with a rotary and a
QUICKER to each section. This system,
together with the aid afforded by gangs of
track men and shoveiers. serves 10 keep
the road comparatively clear.
Great Snowsiides.
The ordinary fall of snow and even the
banking and drifting of small import
ance however, to the terrific slides which
occur from time to time 1t IS these phe-
nomena which send a thrill over the en-
tire line and cause as much interest and