The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-03

 ON PRAIRIE Great Northern Train Stalled Four Days. THE PASSENGERS SUFFER College Professor Attempted
 to Commit Suicide Occupants of the Second Glass Coaches Demanded More Than
 Their Share of Food and
 Small Riot Occurred.
THE PASSENGERS SUFFER

St. Paul, AIinn., April 2.-Passengers arriving today on Great Northern train due last Friday tell of being snowbound for four days and five nights on tfs prsiries of North Dakota In the midst of the worst blizzard the northwest has seen in many years. with only food enough for two frugal meals a day and with such
 small amount of fuel that the ladies' had to wrap themselves in blankets and
 the men to wear their ovcrcoats day and
 night to keep from freezing.
 The train was completely lost to the
 world. Late Thursday afternoon it pick ed it's way out of wiiliston in the hops of being able to reach Mlnot. fourteen miles away before night. Almost nid- way. at little stopping place called Ray. where there is only l. siding. . water tank and a coal shed. the train stalled. The engineer thought he could run the engine back to williston and get aid, and taking the conductor with ninls started on the return. The lone engine was stuck in drift in & cut short dis- tapce out of the town and had to be abandoned.
 This left the train of eight coaches and about twenty-ive passengers alone on the siding and with all communication cub off. Then started the long siege. durfnk which the cold had to be borne and hunger stuffed. There was much suffer ing and there was an incipient riot on the first day. The second class passcn-
 gers insisted that they must have as
 much or moro food than the others and as they were in larger numbers and had moro ravenous appetites 1t was dificult to confine them to their quota. Many were not willing, as the first class pas sengers insisted. that the women and chiidren shosfld be fed and taken care q first. but after some argument they were prevailed upon to yield.
 Monday eevning Professor Coicgravr. of the University of Washington, whol was
 en route east on a vacation trip, and who
 had beer. Respondent and morose. at- tempted suicide by cutting his throat
 with razor. There was q physician on the train, but he had no facilities for performing the necessary operation and 1t was absolutely necessary to get into communication with one of the neighbor- ing towns. In their desperation the pas , sengers broke open everything in the train chests and in the conductors box found a telegraph instrument. A young man. an electrician, on tbe train. faced the blizzard and tapped one of the wires and attached the instrument. He knew q little about telegraphy and notified the operators at both Minot and Wiiliston of what had occurred.
 From each place a snow blow was started in front of an engine bearing surgeon. The one from Minot, after hard nights work, reached the siding early the following morning and the wounded man was removed on the tirxt train to St. Paul. where he was carod for at the city hospital The almost fan,ished passengers who had suffered from the cold and exposure were given food and warm berths in the first train pushed through the drifts. The rotary blow made one trip through the drift be- tween Ray and Minot, but the snow piled in so rapidly that 1t was necessary for ths blow to pass through again and then pre- cede the train through the cut. Q
 Professor Colegrave was brought to St. Paul early this morning. The juguiar vain Is partially servered and it is not believed he can recover. He had been ill from too close application to work.