The Washington herald., 1922-02-05

shutting ont whatever faint light
might have emerged from the dark
sky. A mighty. sulien roar kept.up
during the, whsls day and simost
all the next pisht. The people re-
mAined atltheir homes. doing moth
ing with piacidity that only long
experience can give. Some watched
the storm, and the sight was q con-
fusins kaleidoscops of images made
by the snow-sweeping. writhing.
tumbIing and piiing up in the Air
No man could front that blast for
many rods, and live. It threw snow
int, the face with blistering fury;
the snow then melted under the
heat of the face and next froze into
ice under the contact Of the cold
. air and the impact of the succeed
ingHbiiiows Of snow. The effect was
agony. The eyes were blinded. and
all sense Of direction was lost.
Those who set cut In the tempest
and reached their destinations were
guided By intuition. for reason and
tudEmsnt had nethinE upon which
to work. =.
The second nerning dawnsd
bright and clear. The wind had
died away: the snow ceased. and the
mercury fell from Is degrees above
to 20 below zero. No SCENE could be
more brilliant. nons more vivid.
than that Of Dakota on the day af-
ter blizzard. The sun. 10 dazzling
In its brightness, the air Is electric
in tense crispness and viEor. while
the varied shapes and geotesque ns-
ures Of the snowmounds. with their
spotless whiteness and great extent,
leave an ineffaceable impression on
the mind. High masses of snow
tower up TO the second stories Of
q the buildings. and drifts thirty fset
high stretch along the village
streets for blocks The people.
though before all else practical and
matter-of-fact. always seem reluct-
ant to begin the demolition OF the
fantastic structures that the storm
has heaped up. But in few hours
the work Of digging out the town
Is under way. and the greatest mer-
riment and jollity mark Its progress.
On the evening Of the second day
after the storm began. the crowd 1t
the American Hotel was startled BY
the entrance OF = boy whose face
was white with fear and who ex-
claimed in an unnatural voice.
Johnny MaEuire's dead"
what" they all cried, and start
ed to their feet plying the terrified
boy. with questisns.
But he could only say. He died
just . little while ago. and his folks
are about crazy. It's some terribls-
new dissase-the head turns back.
and he suffered awful. They think
Doe don't know what It is, and they
say Jennie Rice has got It."
Tvsnty-four hours later, In the
.plaee Of the proud and boastfuI town
OF lmogens. was . community wild
and frenzied with terror cowed and
stupened with dread. A scourxe had
fallen upon their childrenl On the
heels Of the destructive storm had
come this plague. It was cersbro-
spinal meningitis-a disease rarely
met Within this country as an cpl
demie- DR.. Phinney could do moth
ing; at nrst he could not even tell
the people what the disease was;
and thsy could not summon help
from . distance, or 20 for 1t them
selves. because telegraph wires
were mute. ana railway tracks and
prairie roads were checked and alb
solutsly impassabls. The village
seemed doomed. None could escape,
and none could come to save.
BroodinE followed panic. and mad
ness seemed but . few steps re-
moved.
One Illuminating, sweet fact there
was. however. IN the situation. AT
nrst Il altogether escaped the con
sciousness Of the people. and yet
IT was the Justification of their
lives. If you had asked any one
few weeks before what was the
dominant sentiment Of Imosens.
you would have received one reply.
Money. Now It was love. and this
meapt that IL had always been love.
Thepsopls were now willing, eager,
Wild. to throw away all the accum-'
ulation from years Of toll and self
denial. only to rsscue their children.
And in the days that came, when
this fact at last dawned upon their
approximations out Of their arony
and bereavement, 1t forever left its
soothing. divine impress upon their
souls. = ~
Day followed day with pitiIess
monetony. 1t was the same report
that was given every morning. One
had died In this home, and . new
case had developed in that. STORM
succeeded storm with scarcely
days interval. . thing never ex-
psrisnced before. and thus became
more and more hopeless any at
tempt to escape. To add to the
horror of the situation. It was i'm
possible to bury the dead. No
spades would cut that fraxsn anil