Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1913-12-19

III Quisite forms assumed by the
frost particles on crystalliza-
tiGn, revealed in their fullest beauty
beneath the lens, are lost to their I'M
appreeiative vision. TO them the
fieecy snow" and the beautiful snow"
are absurdities. The only form of
snow-inspired poetical effort that APP
peals to them is the parody,
The snow, the snow, the beautiful
snow,
The more you don't want it the more
it won't go"
IS not meaningless to them, for they
are the men who must battle with it.
Such, for instance, is the railroad
man in any part of Uncle Sans wide
domain in which the ice king disputes
his sovereignty. The Dakotas, Mime
sofa and northern Iowa are favorite
haunts of the hayward monarch, and in
those regions it is that he holds some
of his most fantastic revels. The wind
swept prairies of Kansas and Nebras-
ka. level as table for great distances,
are often difficult to manage in mid
winter but they do not possess the
essentials of a great snow country.
The general contour of Minnesota and
Dakota is rolling, SO that on most of
the railroad lines there are many cnts,
ten to the mile in some places. This
Is the ideal spot for the snow block
ade, and for six or seven months of
the year an almost ceaseless battle
is going on.
Every railroad trayersing these re-
gions is equipped with large force
of snow fighters. Nowadays rotary
snow plows in the hands of men who
know how to operate them can cut
their way through drifts that in the
early days of railroading would have
established a complete blockade. The
rotary plow Is one of the maryels of
the age. It is a liberal education in
the business of snow fighting to watch
one OF them eating its. way through
an apparently insurmountable drift
that threatens to cut off all communi-
cation between the Atlantic and Pa
cific northern terminals.
Menace to RaiIroadina.
There are several passes in the
great divide region of the Rocky
mountains which for about half of the
Year offer constant menace to rail
reading in their vicinity. The snow
begins TO fall late in August or early
in September, and it continues until
Well into May and sometimes June.
There are also intermittent snowfalls
during the summer, but not enough to
make serious trouble. The great falls
are during January and February.
The roads that cross the great di-
vide must expend enormous sums in
their annual conflict with the snow.
Special crews are provided for this
work, and special engines are held in
reserve TO be put behind the snow
plows as needed. Before the rotary
was invented the man with the shovel
was the sole dependence. In the early
days Of The transcontinental railroad,
thousands of laborers were kept on the
pay rolls simply as snow shovelers.
The snow sheds erected by these lines
have cost a mint of money. The wind
-tA 0AShCo Va W sGA4Ahc fAAiO OSA
er -,aies are guarded by wind breaks
consisting OF high fences built across
the most exposed points. These
fences seem to be fragile barriers
against such mighty foe as the snow
king, but they serve their p9rpose ad-
mirably, frequently preventing
blockade.
IN spite of the gre4tly improved
methods Of snow fighting, blockades
are still Of frequen. occurrence on
these mountain roads 1t is not at all
unusual in Colorado and Wyoming for
a train to be stalled between stations
for hours and perhaps for days. Those
who have had experiences of this kind
DO not wax enthusiastic over them.
sometimes provisions are lacking. and
the lackless passengers are in actual
danger q starving. In these lonely
stretches there is not a ranch for
miles AS rule the roads take ex-
Nrnordinary precautions against block
lsdes Of this description. for In several