Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 April 1902 — PASSENGER TRAIN SNOWBOUND. [ARTICLE]

PASSENGER TRAIN SNOWBOUND.

Fearful Tale of Suffering on the North Dakota Prairie*. News has been received of the terrible Bufferings of 250 passengers on a stalled train on the Great Northern railway at a lonely spot on the North Dakota prairie. The train was caught in a blizzard and for four days and nights was buried in snowdrifts, while the passengers, frenzied with cold and hunger, fought for rations like wild beasts. Two passengers went insane and»Prof. Colgrove, late of the University of Washington, attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat. The train was stuck at Bay, a small water tank station seven miles from Williston, late Thursday afternoon. The engineer tried to run his engine to the next station for aid, but was forced to abandon it in a snow drift a few mile* away. This took away the steam supply for heating the passenger oars. About 100 of the passengers were second-class, in immigrant cars. When- the situation was fully understood the passengers, railroad, and Pullman crews, endeavored to make the food supply last as long as possible. Before relief came riots were threatened by the second-class passengers, two persons became insane, and many narrowly escaped freezing or starving to death. The snowstorm was one of the worst in the history of the Northwest. The railroad wires were nearly all down, and it was not until one of the passengers, an electrician, devised a rude telegraph Instrument, climbed to the top of a telegraph pole, and sent a message over the wires to Minot that officials were able to locate the train and send out snow plow* and a relief crew.