The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-01-17
THE BLOCKADE SAID.
TO Be BROKEN
NOW.
Two Trains From the Coast
Arrived In Grand Forks
This Afternoon.
THE PIONEER DAYS
Snow Of This Year Reminds
Old Timers Of Hard Win.
ters in Days Gone BY.
IL PIONEER DAYS

wv OIIelNdl AAMiUeu Trains on the
Great Northern arrived in Grand
Forks this afternoon. These are the
first trains through from the west
for the last few days, and prob
ably means that the blockade has been
raised.
ct is said that the blockade is
broken. Is It or is it not? That is
the question" said a prominent rail-
reader this morning. For several
weeks the roads have had the battle
Of their lives with an array of natural
and unnatural forces against them
that have been more hostile the past
two weeks than ever before in the
history of the roads. This at time
when the railroads are endeavoring
to relieve the congested freight ware
houses and elevators hits them hard.
An idea of the struggle in which the
roads are engaged may be gathered
when one takes into consideration the
statement of many old timers that
the weather conditions are the most
severe in twenty-five years. This
state is the gateway Of the northern
lines from Minneapolis and St. Paul
to the coast, and when North Dakota
is blockaded the entire transcontinen-
tai traffic is demoralized.
Besides the heavy snowfall and high
winds, the railroads have been ham,
pered by the extreme cold weather
during the past few days. The records
show that 1t has been colder than for
years at some of the points touched
by the lines out of this city. In the
mountains, for instance, where Is de-
grees above Is considered cold, it has
been severely cold. The water tanks
are constructed there with no view of
any frigid conditions, so that with the
advent of a cold snap there was notil-
ing to prevent them from freezing and
keeping some of the locomotives with
out the proper amount of water sup
ply.
The hauling power of the engines
is lessened considerably by the cold
weather, so that they have not been
able to perform such effective serv-
ice as usual. But for the fact that the
roads bought so many new engines
during the past year, 1t is said that
conditions would be almost at a
standstiN at present. Then the cold
has the effect of reducing the energy
of the trainmen. With the mercury
we'll below the zero mark, it is impos-
sible for them to perform their duties
in an efficient and rapid manner. They
have to take short spells at the work,
so as not to suffer greatly.
Winter Of 100 Cold.
It is said that the winter of 1896 is
the only one that approaches this win
ter in the matter of severity. Snow
storms began to get troublesome lit
tie earlier then they did this winter,
but this winter the weather has been
colder and the storms have covered
wider area.
The railroads have got their full
force of snowplows and men graphing
with the snowbanks. The men are
making constant fight against the
elements. They are not only clearing
away the tracks, but are keeping a
constant watch on the fences placed
around the cuts. The wind has been
coming from every direction of the
compass. With each change the men
have to shift the fences, and make an
effort to guard the cuts from further
drifts. The rotary plows are doing
some effective work, but their progress
Is necessarily slow in some places.
The drifts are so high in some places
that the funnel is blocked by coming
in contact with the roof of the tunnel
created. Then there is nothing to do
but back out of the tunnel and let
the men break it down and keep the
sides clipped SO as to prevent snow
slide.
One difficulty the roads are having
in running passenger trains on sche-
dule time is the lack of equipment
On account of the delays there are
many more trains on the roads than
under usual conditions.