The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1903-01-09
SNOWDRlFT STORIES
[Copyright, 1902. BY C. B. Lewis

that the train was stopped by a snow
drift twenty feet high and half a mile
long and that it might be three days
before we were dug out, there were
considerable swearing among the male
passengers and weeping and lament
Ing among the ONE and children.
Night came down with a wild wailing
of wind and everybody kicking and
ready for a quarrel, and then the Chi
cago drummer showed what kind of a
man he was. In a quiet, gentle way
he drove the passengers into the last
coach, kissed all the children, smiled
at all the women and bowed to the
men as he began:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a
simple incident of railroad travel in
the winter In a few hours we shall
be Steaming on our way again, and this
detention will be remembered only as
a pleasant adventure. Three years ago
business called me to Manitoba. 1t be-
gan showing n day. and in the
COulSt Vi Three DOulS oul lldIh d
come to q standstilI. We We're caught
between stations twenty miles apart,
and within ten hours engine and cars
were buried ont of sight. There was
only foOd enough for n meal, and by
noon next day the fuel had given out.
There Were more thai a hundred Of us,
and death by freezing and starvation
stared US in the fHcc.'
Seems to me ! heard of hat Incl
dent said the ~redheadod man from
Omaha.
"Of course you did of course" re
piled the drummer. "as the details
were published far and wide. We
were in that drift for sixteen days. |
have always felt sorry for the ten little
children, but under such circumstances
what can YOU do? 1t is Il case of the
survival of the fttest. Yes. the
children had to 90. There came i day
when we had eaten the last Of our
shoes and gloves, and we had to begin
on the childrcn.'
you don't mean that you turned
cannibal.' exclaimed the mother of a
four-year-old boy.
"Ah, madam, when men are dying of
hunger they have no sentiment" re-
piled the drummer. "The last of the
children had disappeared when we
We're rescued. ! am sorry. deeply
! sorry. but | feel myself blameleSS. |
had eaten M shoes, gloves, hat and
the velvet collar of my oVcrcOat first.
l had even tried to eat the plush cover
Of the seats, but the stuff got tangled
i'll my teeth and wouldn't 60 down. |
knew that there were ten fat children
aboard, ranging in age from one to
seven years, but | was not the first to
propose it. No, believe me. | was not.
l had intended to keep right on and
starve to death, but the others were
fierce to live, and live they did. The
first child selected was a beautiful little
boy. All, | remember
The drummer wiped tears from his
eyes with his knuckles and was over
come for a moment. When he could
control his voice again. he said:
Il cannot 90 on. | refer you to the
papers of that date for further particu-
lars. | brought up the incident for its
moral effect alone. Always remember,
my friends, that no matter how bad
things are they might be worse"
Most of us had mentally set him
down as a bold faced liar, but forgave
him on the ground that he was lying in
our interests, when he cleared his
throat and resumed:
81 was in the Blank hotel in st.
Louis when that terrible grafton
broke out AS | am a Chicago man.
and as there Is a bitter jealousy be-
tween the two cities, | was stuck away
up Oh the ninth floor in a small room.
1t was midnight, and | was sleeping
like a babe when the smoke and flame
and confusion aroused me. Hastily
throwing on my clothes, | dashed out
into the hall. From a window at the
back end dangled a rOpe-a single
rope. There was just time for one per-
son to slide down before the rope
would be burned in twain and rendered
useless, while there were forty women
and myself to be saved. In this emer-
gency''-
"You saved the forty women, of
course" interrupted an old maid from
Iowa.
mo, ma'am; l am happy to say l
didn't" replied the drummer. with
their shrieks and screams ringing in
my ears, | caught the rope and de-
scended in safety, and every one Of
them periShed."
"But that was worse than cowardly
on your part. A man who would do
that
81 acted for the best. l assure you,
ma'am. Those ladies were delegates
to a Christian Endeavor convention.
They had attended a meeting that day.
They were ready to go. On the con-
trary, l was at that time a sinful nan
and needed at least two years to even
stop swearing. There has never been
the slightest doubt in my mind where
the forty went to. but if | hadn't
escaped by the rope my whereabouts
to this day would be a subject of