The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1903-03-06
A B|USTEROUS Blizzard.
February Retires With Stormy
Strenuosity.
TRAINS ARE INTERFERED WITH
Storm Was General Throughout the
State-Temperature is Subjected to
Violent Change and Snow is
Drifted.
fFrom Saturdays Daily.l

February has certainly done liberal
share toward redeeming the record OF
the passing winter rs breeder OF
clustering blizzards. The early part OF
the winter passed without anything that
was distinctly entitled to be character.
lied as blizzard. January showed nc
inclination to change the record, but
February, from first to last, has been all
that could be aeked for in that par.
ticular, and not of the least has been
the blizzard that swooped down upon
the country last evening and has
clutched it in icy thraldom since.
When Boreas first spoke Yesterday
afternoon he did it gently, almost oaress.
ingly, but during the night he lashed him
self into raging fury that shook build
ings to their foundations and would
cause the cold shivers to chase up and
down the spine of stick of cord wood
in blazing fireplace.
The storm was accompanied by snow
during the greater portion of the night,
but this morning the clouds broke
away, and while the wind continued to
howl and rage, the sun smiled down
upon the scene rather cheerfully.
During the ten hours of the storm the
mercury was reduced from q point above
freezing to two degrees above zero. To-
day, in spite of the wind, the sun ex.
erted counter influence, and protected
spots showed signs of thawing.
Unprotected stock suffered intensely
and people struggled against the storm
most desperately. The particles of snow
stung keenly on exposed portions of a
person and the moisture gathered and
froze on faces until it was almost i'm
possible to see or breathe. The snow
was whipped into drifts, making pedes-
trianism doubly fatiguing and embar-
Kissing, especially for women. The
mild weather preceding the freeze and
the moisture left the streets rough and
almost impossible.
Thus far no large damage from the
wind and storm has been reported in
this vicinity, but the running time
of the trains has been materially in
terfered with. Up the Bonesteel branch
of the Elkhorn the storm was furious
and the train which should haEe-been in
Norfolk at 6 o'clock this morning was
held for daylight and did not arrive
until after noon.
The trains from the east and west
on the main line of the Elkhorn were
each delayed an hour or more, and tie
Union Pacific trains were interfered
with to the extent of delaying them
several hours. The morning train over
the NJ g. o. from Sioux City was about
on time, approaching the nearest to
schedule of any of them.
People are now hoping that this has
been the dying conVulsion of winter
and that with the dawn of March,
weather approaching sprjnglike may be
introduced. A windy February should
remove some of the obligations OF
March in that particular, and it is hoped
that it will.
kilograms from central and western
Nebraska towns say heavy blanket of
snow covers the whole region. The fall
in eastern Nebraska was light, and ii
melted as it fell, but further west it is
the heaviest of the winter, from ten to
fifteen inches on the level. In the cattle
country a blizzard prevails. A dis
patch from Ainsworth says:
A severe snowstorm has been raging
here for twenty four hours. The wind
is blowing from the northwest, and all
traffic is suspended. Much suffer
ing among stock is reported from
nearby ranches, and the loss of range
cattle will be large. The temperature is
steadily falling.
A special from Springview says:
The worst blizzard of the winter is
raging here. The wind is blowing a
hurricane and the snow is drifting in
fields and canyons, making the roads
impossible. 1t is feared ranchmen will
suffer heavy losses in stock. The
weather tonight is growing very cold.
POWER BEHIND THE THRONE.