Fergus County Democrat. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-1919, 1907-02-05
Tweaty-One Passengers Coming into
lewistown Have fxCitinQ
Adventure.
ARRIVED IN CITY LAST NIGHT.
None Of the Crowd Anv the Worse
for the Long Journey Worst
Blizzard in Years.

! After having spent five days on tn
| road between Lombard and Lewistown
twenty-one passengers who left tn,
southern terminus of the Montana
railroad arrived safe and sound in thi.
! city last night. 1t was a very un.
usual trip from many standpoints anG
| Mayor Jesse Pinkley of Lewistown
entertaining account of their adven.
lures while talking with a Democrat
reporter this morning,
1T was trip which 1 would not
care to repeat" said Mayor Pinkley
But there were certain redeeming
features which took away much of the
discomfort which we all had to un-
dergo.
I'VE left Harlowton Thursday morn
ing and ran along all right until we
commenced to strike the drifts the 9th.
er side of Roberta. When we got
to that station house, the train crew
decided it would be the part of wisdom
to detach the engine from the train,
leave the passenger coaches at the
station and try to buck through the
drifts with the engine alone.
This proved to be a wise move for
the engine had not gone but few
rods before it struck drift which
it could not get through and was stuck.
This was about s o'clock and as it
became evident that we were to re-
main in the coaches at least that
night, we all pitched in to make
things as pleasant as possible.
There We're a number of ladies on
board and all of the men did all in
their power to make them comfortable.
We got good meals at the station
house and We're in no danger of go
Ing hungry at any time.
II have been in this country for
many years and have seen some fierce
blizzards, but the one which started
in Thursday evening and ragged all
that night and the next day was un-
doubtedly the worst l ever saw or
ever expect to see.
when l was foreman for Dave
Hilger over on Armells and Dog
creek, we had blizzard which I
thought was the limit, but this one
discounted that one in every way. It
was dangerous for anyone to even step
outside of the car. One of the ladies
of the party attempted to go across
from the car to the station house but
and sank down in the snow A gentle.
man went to her assistance, and he
to, was overcome and it required some
hard work on the part of the train
men to get them back in the car. The
gentleman tainted as he was dragged
into the car. l myself stepped outside
for moment and the wind simply took
my breath and 1 lost all idea of direc-
tion. By covering my head with my
overcoat,I was able to recover myself
and get back into the car.
The passengers, that is the men,
rustled all of the overalls and sweaters
we could find around the section house
and worked with the train crew and
shovelers in their efforts to shovel the
engine out of the drift, but it was no
use. The engine could not get back
to the water tank and we kept her
alive for twenty-four hours by carry
ing snow, but finally it was seen that |
there was no use and it was decided |
to kill the helpless mass of iron.
That killing process was participant
ed in by a number of the passengers |
and performed with all of the solemn
ty that the occasion called for. After |
the brute was dead, we did not find |
t necessary to bury it as the elements
lid that very effectively in a short |
while.
I'VE had telephone communication
With the outside world and kept track
If things pretty WELL The management
IF the road clear down to the train
crew certainly did everything in their