THE BIG BLIZZARD OF
JANUARY 12, 1888, AS
TOLD BY FRONTIER FILES.
January 12th each year brings back
the memories of that fatal day thirty*
six years ago when many men, women
and children lost their lives in the big
blizzerd. For the benefit of those who
care to refresh their memory of the
result of the storm, we reprint the ac
count of it as it'appeared in the issue
-of January 19th, 1888:
THE STORM.
Thursday’s Blizzard the Worst for
Fifteen Years. The Fatalities and
Causalities Reach the Thirties.
The storm of Thursday the 12th was
the worst known in this section for
about fifteen years. We described it
to some extent last week and will speak
more particularly of its results. But
first we will speak of the storm re
ported by our oldest settlers, the first
winter many of them were here.
Messre. Wisegraver.Wblf.McIlarvie,
Brennan, Fallon, McEvony, Hughes,
Hayes and several others were here
for their first winter. It was a bright,
clear January day, warmer and more
pleasant than last Thursday morning
that the wind suddenly veered to the
northwest and blew a perfect hurri
cane for three days, the thermometer
ranging form 30 to 36 below zero. Mr.
Fallon told us that it was impossible
for him to see any distance at all,
and that he made three attemps to
reach the well from the house, a dis
tance of not more than 25 feet; that
that the storm was worse than this
one can easily be accounted for because
the country was one vast unbroken
prairie with no trees, fences, and but
here and there scattering settlements
to break the force of the wind. Yet
the loss of life and property was not so
heavy then for the simple reason that
there were few people here and not
much stock, except on the large
ranches.
All day Friday and Saturday we re
ceived many reports from the country
of deaths and loss of stock,but they
were so conflicting that little could be
depended upon. Sunday we heard of
the first death, that of Joseph Bellar,
a Minonite living about ten miles
northeast of O’Neill. He got lost near
his home and drifted to the farm of
Peter Dugan, where he was discover
ed on Saturday. Mr Beller was a man
about forty years of age, but recently
married and was well and favorably
known here. His funeral took place
on Tuesday.
The same evening we learned of the
death of Thomas Kellar, better* known
as “Uncle Tommy” brother of J. S.
Kellar, Shamrock. He was out the
morning of the storm hauling hay for
the cattle and when the storm struck
him he had a load on the wagon and
started for the house. Just how he
was lost will never be known, but it is
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pwUbla that M bwame bewilderad
and could not . find the way
with the team and tried to go to the
house near where he was hauling the
hay, but could not find it. He was
found next day after the storm only
about thirty rods from the house (that
of Mr. Dougherty’s, east of Mr. Kel
lar’s). Mr. J. S. Kellar was in O’Neill
during the storm and went home Fri
day. The funeral services took place
on Tuesday at the house. Mr. Kellar
was one of those exceptionally good
men, the friend of all, and univer
sally beloved. He was about seventy
years of age, had always lived the life
of an earnest, devout christain, and
friends have the consolation in his
death that the parting will not be for
ever. He leaves no family, having
never married, but leaves a large circle
of friends and relatives to mourn his
sad, sudden demise.
Monday Wm. Lell, living near little
postoffice, brought the intelligence
that a man by the name of Jacob Koh
ler, living north of Shamrock, was
f>und on his place. The man haa drift
ed as much as fifteen miles with the
storm only to find an icy grave. Mr.
Lell also said there was a man by the
name of Glaze, near Goose lake, who
perished. He went out after hay to
burn and lost his way and could not
find the house again. He also said
the report was in circulation that a
child was found frozen to death and
that several others were missing and
not heard from up to the time he left
home.
Another fatal case, that of Mrs.
Kruppe, living west of Shamrock, is
reported. We could not learn full
particulars.
At Inman there was one fatality,
Miss Cora Riley, a sister of Mrs. Wil
son Hoxie, who lives east of O’Neill,
being out and unable to reach any
shelter. She started for a neighbor’s
only a short distance just before the
storm and wher. it came she drifted
with the wind. She fought bravely
and when found was six or seven miles
from home on top of a big sand hill.
Soon after the young lady left the
house her brother started after her,
but got dost himself and it was several
hours before he reached a place of
safety. The remains were found
on Sunday. Miss Riley was about
twenty-two years of age, a young lady
held in high esteem by friends and
acquaintances and her loss is deeply
mourned.
Russel Carey, living near Middle
Branch, was another victim. He was
at the mill at that place and left dur
ing the storm for home, but failed to
reach there, although found near it.
The saddest case to hear of yet is
that of the mother-in-law of Harry
Faust, of Stuart, and his two little
children, aged eleven months and five
years respectively. Mrs. Chapman and
the children were coming to Stuart the
morning of the storage in a sleigh and
when it began to blow were away
from the house, and they perished in
the cold. They were brought to town
just as found and an eye witness in
forms us that it was a most heart
rending scene. The funeral took
place Tuesday. To .the bereaved fa
ther and mother The Frontier extends
its heartfelt sympathy.
At or near Dustin a man by the
name of Mattis was found frozen to
death. Another case is reported there,
but we could not learn particulars or
names.
We learn ox a death at atony Jtsutte,
Knox county, of a widow Lady who
went out to take care of her stock and
was lost.
The north and northeast part of the
county was very fortunate, in that
no lives were reported lost in that
locality and the loss of stock is not as
large as in other parts of the county.
In the central and southern and south
western part of the county the loss of
stock is heavy, many losing all, or
nearly so.
We have quite a list of causalities
and narrow escapes that are distress
ing to say the least. A Mrs. Bikes,
living north of town about fifteen
miles, went out in the storm to get in
their cattle, but became lost and drift
ed with the storm. She brought up at
the bam of James Mullen, where her
cries were heard by the men and she
was brought to the house. Her shoes
were lost and feet and limbs badly
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frozen. The latest reports from her
are to the effect that the U improving.
The driver on the Cummingsville
stage line; John Summerville, was
badly frozen below the knees and the
team was frozen to death. He was
within a mile or two of Shamrock
when the storm struck him and he
drove to a point as he thought within
a quarter or half mile of the post
nffice, when the team refused to go
farther. I. nhitching them be took the
mail sack ard started to find the office,
but missed it and drifted down tc the
liver and brought up at the shiep sheds
of Hokoms near the bridge on the line
just south of J. S. Kellar's. Here he
buried himself as best he could and
remained until next day when he was
found. The latest reports from him
are to the effect that he is recovering
and will not lose more than his toes
perhaps. The team was the property
of C. A. Moore, proprietor of the mail
route.
A man by the name of Crook in the
South Fork country was out with his
team and becoming lost drifted with
the storm. The man found shelter, but
we understand that the team was
frozen.
Perhaps the most remarable case of
perservation was that of Miss Etta
Shattuck, a young lady eighteen years
old who had been teaching school in
district No. 141, nine miles southwest
of O'Neill. She was not teaching that
day, having recently closed her school,
but had gone to the home of J. M.
Parkins to get her order signed. At
tending to her errand she started for
her boarding house when the storm
came up and she soon got lost, wander
ing for some time until she found a
friendly hay stack, into which she
worked her way and layed donw deter
mined to make the best of it. She re
mained in the hay stack 74 hours be
fore being found, from Thursday to
Sunday, conscious all the time of her
surroundings and yet not able to ex
tricate he-T-Vf. She sung and prayed
to keep up her courage. A cayote
came about the slack and howled and
a friendly mouse nibbled her wrist, of
which she was conscious but could not
hinder. When found her limbs were,
frozen to her knees and fears are en
tertained that she will loose her feet
or toes.
Jeff Bowles, the hired man of J. C.
Smith, six miles south, was lost and
stayed all night in a hay stack. His
feet and legs badly frozen, but he is
getting along alright now. Mr. Smith
lost nearly all of his herd of sixty
cattle.
M. C. McNichols is a heavy loser of
stock, his entire hrd of 160 had, be
sides 20 belonging to P. McCoy and
2 of Dr. Shore’s being swept away and
so far as heard from only one or
two being found. Mike also lost most
of his horses. He and his little broth
er were out with the cattle in the morn
ing, having driven them to the farthest
stacks about two miles from the house,
they were hardly out on the feeding
grounds when the storm came up and
after a few futile attemps to drive
them back to the sheds, finding the
same imposible started for the house
and it was four hours before they
reached it and then only by a miracle
almost. Mike’s loss is at least $6,000,
but he is thankful to save his own life
and that of his little brother.
W. D. Mathews and Clyde King
were coming from Shamrock on the
day of the storm and just as they
passed Mr. Doran’s place two miles
south of Dry Creek the storm struck
them and they traveled three miles
bringing up at Wm. Ryan’s place.
They had a very hard time to find the
place and Doc. says if it had not been
for Clyde they would have perished.
He got out and walked ahead of the
team in the road, keeping it by means
of its being harder than the outside.
By accident they found the correl of
Ryans and driving into it soon found
the barn. John O’Neill, who lives
there, soon came to the barn for hay,
when they went to the house with him
remaining all night.
R. B. and C. Graham, of the South
Fork, lost almost their entire heard of
300 head of cattle. They thought at
first that one of their hands, a Mr.'
Bell, was frozen to death, but he was
found in a hay stack.
Jas. Doran, living south of Dry
Creek two miles, lost the greater part
of his herd, as did also a number of
others whose names we did not learn.
H. W. McClure lost about thirty
five head of cattle, Charlie Gardiner
about seven, but Mr. Lehmer lost none.
Reports came in from all parts or
persons who had narrow escapes and
harrowing experiences, but it will all
be forgotten, to a degree at least,
when fine weather sets in again.
The fact of the matter is that it is
no worse here than many other places,
and the loss of life and property in
Dakota at least is far ahead of any
other state. That the damage to our
county will be inconsiderable amount
it is useless to deny, yet we have
every faith that she will rally and
come out brighter and better in a few
years than ever before. It will have
the effect to make people more care
ful to husband their resources in a
manner to bring them better returns
on less amounts invested and to be
more careful of what is left them.
Then It is hardly possible that we
shall have another such storm for
years to come.
The loss of property, though, can
not be compared to that of human life,
and words fail to express the deep
sorrow and grief that is upon the
people of Holt county because of the
direful effects of the storm.
Frank Skinner, an employe of the
F. E. and M. V. R. R. company, start
ed from Stuart the morning of the
storm and was eight miles from town
when the storm came up. Turning
his back to the wind he drifted until
he brought up at a bam near Stuart,
where he managed to keep warm un
till morning. He was not badly frozen,
but had a fearful experience.
Maggie Skirving, aged fourteen,
daughter of James Skirving, and Mrs.
Campbell, a lady about thirty, started
from Stuart for Dustin, Thursday
morning and became lost in the storm.
They found an empty house and stayed
in it all night. Miss Skirving was not
much frozen, the other lady’s feet be
ing frozen but net ••ricusly.
Two men by the name of Sisley and
Bowman were caught out while Haul*
ing hay apd crawled into a hay stack.
They were not much frozen.
One man near Stuart was out in hia
shirt sleeves and only succeeded in
reaching his house after much hard
work.
Joseph Leatherman, W. Mosir and
Chas. Gill, of Grand Rapids, were out
in the storm and had a narrow escape.
Reports of heavy loss of stock and
of several missing parties reach us
from Stuart, and the fatalities may
possibly reach twenty in the county.
me ronowing additional account oi
deaths and causalities will tVppear in
this week’s issue of the Ewing Item:
An hour or two before the wind
changed several parties living near
Goose Lake, left Ewing for home.
They made the sand hills about seven
miles west of town just as the storm
struck them in full fury. Here is a
Stretch of country of five or six miles
without a house in sight. There were
several men and teams in the party,
and a Mrs. Joe Miller and two children.
When overtaken by the storm the
team that carried the woman and
children were tied to the preceding
wagon, but became frightened and
broke loose, with this the teams be
came separated and the party likewise,
for it was impossible for them to find
one another after getting three rods
apart. All night and until nine
o’clock the next morning they were
out on the prairie before assistance
came to their releif, and when it did
the little boy, about twelve years of
age, was frozen to death, and the
mother’s feet were so badly frozen
that it is said that they may have to
be amputated. The other child—a lit
tle girl—escaped without being frozen.
Sunday morning the boy was brought
to Ewing to be layed out and his re
mains now lie at Mr. French’s under
taking rooms waiting relatives form
Columbus. The mother is being ten
derly cared for at the farm of W.
McKee, nine miles southwest of this
place. The boy’s name was Frank
Metz. He was his mother’s child by
her first husbrnd.
Mr.. J. Mathewson, who was one of
this party, when separated from the
others after ^Wandering around' for
some time was brought up at Cache
Creek by his team. Here he unhitched
his team, turned them loose and
struck out alone. He finally found
himself at the house of a Mr.Scharf,
about three miles from his own home.
Though very cold he was not much
frozen.
Mrs. Henry Stewart, of Deloit pre
cinct, was found Friday moning with
in three quarters of a mile of her home
frozen to death She had gone to meet
her husband who was after a load of
hay, but became blinded, lost her way
and perished. Mr. Stewart, when the
storm got bad, unhitched his team,
crawled into his load of hay and stay
ed there until the next day. When he
arrived at home he found the mother
missing and the children crying. He
thereupon instituted a search with the
above result.
>■ A sixteen-year-old boy, by the name
of Gibson, on the South Fork, had gone
to the school house on horse back
after his two sisters. On their way
back they crawled into a stack of hay
nearby which afforded them comfort
able quarters. But the young man’s
horse some way got loose and while
trying to catch it, got lost and was
frozen to death. The two sisters who
remained in the stack escaped being
frozen.
An old gentleman by the name of
B. F. Gerry, livihg near Venus post
office, was several miles away from
home when the storm began. Being
anxious about things at home he made
an attempt to reach there, but perish
ed in 'the attempt. \
90 YEARS OLD JANUARY TENTH.
(Atkinson Graphic)
“Thursday, January 10th was the
90th birthday of Mrs. Elizabeth Mack,
who has been confined to her bed at
the home of her son, E. J. Mack, most
of the time since an attack of “flu”
last winter. Mrs. Mack was unusu
ally active for one of her years and
had made many friends during her
frequent visits here who regret her
illness”,
Mrs. Mack is the mother of Mrs.
W. J. Gray, living a short distance
northwest of O’Neill.
We Have Carbon Paper For Sale.
Public Sale
Having decided to quit farming I will hold & clan-up sale at my
place one-half mile north and 1 mile west of Inman, 7 miles west of
Page, and 4 miles east and 3 miles south of O’Neill, (known as the
A. D. Pond farm) on
Tuesday, Jan. 22nd
7 Head of Horses
17 Head of Cattle
38 Head of Hogs
Farm Machinery, Etc.
2 Fat Sheep; 100 Hens, 150 bushels Ear Corn, Yellow; Early
sweet seed com; some pop-corn; some beans. Household Goods, Etc.
FREE LUNCH AT NOON. BRING YOUR CUPS.
SALE STARTS AFTER LUNCH. * TERMS—NINE MONTHS.
M. V. LEWIS, Owner
COL. G. P. COLMAN, Auct. GEO. W. DAVIES, Clerk.
% •v.-scaulBISsMMi
_ ___. —■ .r a
LIBRARIAN’S REPORT
FOR THE YEAR 192S
Number of Books in Library .... 33,109
No. of books donated . 1066
No. of books mended . 692
Books damaged and not
settled for... 6
Books borrowed and not
returned . 5
No. of readers accumulated .... 1,910
Number of Readers added. 104
No. on black list. 7
Circulation . 7,340
Adult circulation . 4,214
Juvenile circulation .. 3,126
Overdue notices mailed . 167
Fines not paid . $15.00
Receipts:
Fines (Collected for the
year . $37.68
Cash on hand, January
1, 1923, . 1.90 39.58
Expenses For Year 1923:
Box rent.$3.00
Books purchased .jl.90
Incidentals . 17.00 31.92
Cash on hand, Jan. 1, 1924 . $7.66
Mary McLaughlin,
Librarian.
THAT MORNING LAMENESS.
If you are lame every morning, and
suffer urinary ills, there must be a
cause. Often it’s weak kidneys. To
strengthen the weakened kidneys and
avert serious troubles, use Doan’s
Pills. You can rely on O’Neill testi
mony.
Mrs. M. D. Murphy, O’Neill, says:
“I can recommend Doan’s Pills very
highly for I have used them for
several years as a kidney tonic. At
times I h»ve beep so lame that I
couldn’t straighten up and at night I
was restlpss and unable to sleep.
Mornings I would get up feeling all
tired out and miserable. I had known
of Doan’s Pills doing good for others
and this led me to try them. I got a
box at Stout’s Drug Store and I felt
much better after using them. I have
used Doan’s since and they keep my
kidneys in good condition. I believe
Doan’s to be the best kidney remedy
of all.”
Price 60c, at all dealers. Don’t
simply ask for a kidney remedy—get
Doan’s Pells—the same that _Mrs.
Murphy had. Foster-Milbum Co.,
Mfrs., Buffalo, N. Y.
The Frontier for Sale Bills.
NEB. LEGISLATIVE LEAGUE
TO MEET IN OMAHA.
The annual banquet of the Nebraska
Legislative League will be held at the
Fontenelle Hotel, Omaha, on February
5, 1924. All present members or past
members of the House or Senate or a
member of the constitutional coven
tions are eligible to attend this ban
quet. Plates $1.60 each. Please notify
Hon. Tom B. Dysart, president of said
League if you will attend so that he
can arrange for all. A very elaborate
program is being arranged so do not
miss this rare treat, and the renewing
of old acquaintances once more.
Very truly yours.
B. E. STURDEVANT.
By order of committee.
SUPERVISORS’ PROCEEDINGS.
(Continued from last page;
To the honorable board of super
visors of Holt county, Nebraska:
The undersigned, Western /Secur
ities Company, a corporation, is now
owner and holder of the following
claims filed by the Western Bridge
and (Cnstrucfyon Company against
Holt county, to-wit: Claim filed No
vember 16th, 1922, in the sum of $22,
510.48, and which said claim was duly
allowed on the 16th day of November,
1922, by this honorable board, and
also claim filed by the said Western
Bridge and Construction Company on
the 30th day of August. 1923, in the
sum of $6,772.92, and which said claim
was on the 30th day of August, 1933,
duly allowed by this honorable board
and which said claims arp now wholly
unpaid. The (said Western Seeuri*
annual estimate for the year of 1924
and levy taxes in an amount sufficient
to pay said claims against the county
of Holt, together* with interest therp
on from the date of paid Allowance,
not exceeding in the aggregate the
amount limited by law for such es
timate and levy.
And you are further notified that
unless you comply with this demand
that the said Western Securities Comp
any will,apply to the District court of
Holt county Nebraska, for a writ of
mandamus compelling you to perform
your official duty in that regard.
Dated this 8th day of January,
A. D., 1924.
(Continued.)
Get your Sale Bills printed hem
Chicago & North Westem System
C. & N. W. Ry C. St. P., & O. Ry.
What the Railroads Accomplished in 1923
Under the Transportation Act
'■'HEY carried the largest traffic in history
* without transportation difficulties and with
virtually no car shortage.
'■'freight cars and nearly 4,000 new locomotives.
* HEY placed in service nearly 200,000 new
'■' HEY expended for equipment and other
^ facilities, $1,076,000,000, and paid as taxes
over $300,000,000.
*¥1 HEY expended- for fuel, materials and sup
* plies used in current operation and mainte
nance almost $1,800,000,000, and paid their em
ployes average annual wages equal to almost
double the amount of the average annual wages
paid in 1915.
*p purchase of supplies and materials, taxes, in
* HEY returned to the people by way of wages,
terest and rentals 95 per cent (estimated) of the
gross income received from transportation.
rpHEIR efficiency helped all business and all
* credit by making turn-overs more rapid.
mHE Transportation Act provides that the rail
*■ roads may earn 5% % return. None of the
different groups did so in 1928, the average for
all Class 1 roads being 5.11%, while the North
Western Region group earned less than 4%.
President Q