The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-09-20
AN OLD TRAGEDY
Story Of the Freezing to Death Of Mrs
Harrison Blake.

The cold wind swept the mountains
hight
And painless was the dreary wild.
And mid the cheerless hours of
night
A mother wandered with her child.
AS through the drifting SHOWS she
pressed
The babe was sleeping on her breast.
And colder still the winds did blow,
And darker hours of night came on.
And deeper grew the drifts of snow.
Her limbs were chilled, her strength
was gone,
"Oh, God" she cried, in accents wild,
IF | must perish, save my child"
She stripped her mantle from her
breast
And barred her bosom to the storm,
And round the child she wrapped the
vest
And smiled to think her babe was
warm.
With one cold kiss, one tear she shed
And sank upon a snowy bed.
At dawn a traveller passed by,
She lay beneath snowy veil.
The frost of death was in her eye,
Her cheek was hard and cold and
pale.
He moved the robe from off the
child,
The babe looked up and sweetly
smiled"
Back as early as 1922 the school
children droned this pitiful little
story for a reading lesson. Neither
they nor their teachers knew that IL
was anything but a story. Barring a
few mistakes, which a poet is allowed
to make, the thing really happened.
Harrison Gray Blake was born Nov.
IA, 1883, probably in Worcester. and
was married in 1912 to Lucy Goodell
of Marlboro. VT, which is just west
of Brattleboro. They made their
home in Arlington, VT. In December.
1921, they started for Marlboro, 80
miles as the crow flies and 40 miles
by road to visit their parents. They
had with them their daughter, Rebec-
ca, IA months old.
There was a tavern at the foot of
the Green mountains on the west
side probably in the town of Benning-
ton though possibly on the edge of
Woodford. When they reached there
they were told that the road to
Wardsboro was in good condition
and that they could easily cover it in
less than three hours. The informa-
ton seemed accurate on the fact of
II, as the snow was only a few inches
deep at that point. IL was 3 o'clock
in the afternoon of one of the short
est days of the year when they start
ed up the mountain. The snow grew
deeper and deeper until after a few
miles the only track they had to fol-
low was that made by a horseback
rider. Their horse gave out at last
and so they unhitched IL and Mrs.
Blake and her baby rode on its back
until the beast could go no farther.
Night had come and IL was bitter
cold. They had nine miles more to
go through the woods Mr.. Blake
gave his overcoat and mittens to his
wife and started for help. Soon his
feet began to trouble him, but his
unprotected hands we're so chilled
that he could not feel enough to tell
what was the matter until he went to
tree and struck his feet against IL
and found that they we're frozen. He
struggled along as far as he could and
when he could no longer stand
pushed a stick ahead of him in the
snow and dragged himself along with
that He called to his wife that he
was spent and she started after him
that they might die together.
All this time they had been crying
for help. Their cries were heard and
an unsuccessful attempt was made to
arouse rescuers that night A Mr.
Richardson was expected home and
had come, so il was thought that it
was he who needed help. But no
help came until the next day. School
children told Mr.. Richardson's son Of
the calls and he started at nearly
noon TO hunt for his father Two
miles beyond the last house he came