The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-01-22
GO TO BED EARLY
Ford People Had No Oil for
Lamps.
Travelling Man Burns House to
Keep Warm.
TALES OF THE STORM
Preacher Nearly Frozen Going
Home From Church.
Provisions Hauled to Snow
Bound Santa Fe Passengers.

Hutchinson. Kan, Jan. 22--Some
thrilling experiences are being related
as communication opens up with the
snow and ice-bound district of south
western and western Kansas and news
is coming through
For two weeks the people of San
ford. PaWnee county, were on short
rations. There is but one store at the
town, which is a mere station on the
Jetmore branch. The store was run
ming out of supplies
During the snow blockade the store
keeper restricted customers to not
more than twelve pounds of flour and
two pounds of sugar each.
The town of Ford in Ford county
ran out of coal oil early in the block
ade, and for nearly three weeks the
people of that town had to go to bed
when dusk came, for there were not
even any candles in town.
The local merchants had not stocked
up on candles not anticipating they
would ever be needed. A couple OF
boxes of small Christmas candles left
over from the holidays were soon con-
sumed-
A Preachers Experience.
One of the incidents of the storm
was the desperate ride of Rev w H
Stanley, a Methodist preacher. Rev
StanIev's home is in Garden City. He
was at Santa F'e, in Haskell county.
when the blizzard struck the country.
He started home in the face of the
norther It took him all day and part
of the night to make the q mile drive.
Fifteen miles of the trip he had to
break through a stiff crust of ice and
snow He found his family and stock
all right, but he was nearly frozen on
arriving home
Burns House to save Self.
". A. Bollinger, a Great Bend trav-
cling man, had dramatic experience
in the blizzard. He was caught while
driving across country and had to
spend the night in a deserted house
This afforded him shelter from the
snow, but there was no fuel To keep
himself from freezing to death MI
Bollinger tore up the floor, broke down
the partitions and burned all the in
terror woodwork of the house on the
dirt floor.
The interior town of Santa Fe. Has
ken county, nearly 80 miles from a
railroad had a close call from having
to go hungry With provisions all
gone, ten Santa Fe men volunteered to
make the long drive through the deep
snow drifts and below zero weather,
to go for food.
They made a train Of eleven teams.
consisting of three six-horse teams and
eight four horse wagons. They drove
through to Garden City, and arrived
back three days later with eleven
wagon loads of food and coal for the
marooned town.
But Town Had Mail.
One of the heroes of the blizzard
mail from the railroad at Garden City
to Santa Fe. Although tie snow drifts
were too deep for driving, this carrier
put the mail pack on his back and
rode through with the mail daily dur
ing the blizzard, missing but one trip
Herds of wild antelopes, driven to
the settlements in their hunger by the
storm, are reported all through Ham |
11ton and Kearny counties.
A Santa Fe engineer. Fred Bonner
lin, ran into a herd of the antelope
not far from Lakin, killing two of
them He and his fireman put the
carcasses on the engine and took
them in with them
Many Quail Are Killed.
Quail by the thousands are being
found, killed by the storm. The snow
and ice on the ground has covered the /
vegetation SO that the quail are I'M
able to find food and the birds are
starving in large numbers
It is feared they will be entirely
wiped out by the storm in this part of
the state.
Passengers on Santa Fe train NO. 1 o. |
which was stuck in a snowdrift near
Wettick station in Gray county, would /
have suffered severely had not two /
Cimarron men, W. g. Harrison, the /
Santa Fe agent, and Harvey DECKER |
son, driven several miles to the snow
bound train with food for the passen- |
gers
They took along a wagon load of
fried porkchops, several boilers of hot |
coffee and a lot of cinnamon rolls. It
was with great difficulty that they got /
to the snowbound train for the snow /
drifts were ten to fifteen feet high in /
places The porkchops and coffee alike |
were cold when they reached the train. !
but the hungry passengers. who had |
been without food since the day before. |
soon cleaned up the load