People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1896 — FLOCKED WTTH SNOW. [ARTICLE]

FLOCKED WTTH SNOW.

NORTHWEST IN ft- E GRIP OF WINT ER. Furious Storm Sw-<tr Down Over Mlnoeii ta and Wisconsin Hi*- «tron* Cloudbarat In K«-mu< —N.w York Feel, the Blitz-rd. St. Paul, Minn., April 1. —The month of March went out with a roar Tuesday night that was heard and felt all over the northwest. With a steadily and rapidly dropping thermometer, there was in the early part of the day a heavy, wet snow, melting almost as fast as it tell. This was followed by sleet, and in the evening hard little pellets of snow were driven before-a gale, while frequent thunder and lightning accompanied the blizzard. All street-car traffic was suspended at West Superior on account of the blizzard, and in that city drifts six feet high are reported. At Dassel, Minn., twelve inches of snow tell. The same amount of snow is reported at Sauk Rapids, where also there was thunder and lightning, and the street cars were blockaded all day. At Faribault there was a heavy, rainstorm, followed by the electric storm and that followed later by a hard snowstorm. The storm was welcomed because of the great amount of needed moisture it brought to the soil. St. Cloud reports that the blizzard began there at 2 o’clock Tuesday morning, and has continued all day. Snow is now two feet deep on the level. All traffic and wire service is crippled, business suspendejl during the day, and the schools were closed during the afternoon. Sauk Center reports business at a standstill, because of ten inches of snow, and the storm still rages. Yankton, S. D., April I.—The worst snowstorm of the winter occurred here Tuesday. Rain fell for several hours, which turned to snow, followed by a blizzard. CLOUDBURST IN KENTUCKY. Life and Property Destroyed by the Rapid Rising of a'Creek. Lexington, Ky., April 1. —Clay and Owsley counties, which lie about 100 miles east of here, were visited by a cloudburst Monday, which was fatal to life and unusually destructive to property. Wade Marders and several of neighbors were preparing to raft some logs on Sexton creek in Clay county, when a rain storm came up and they sought shelter under a large overhanging cliff about 100 wards above the bed of the creek. Suddenly a solid volume of water poured down the creek about 200 yards upstream from where they were sheltered. Marders’ house was located on the banks of the creek about 500 yards below where he had been at work, and when he saw the mighty wall of water rushing toward his home he realized the danger his wife and 6-year-old daughter were in. When he arrived on the hillside above his house the water was lifting it from its foundations, and he saw it turned over on its side and carried down the stream. Just as it disappeared from view he saw his wife grasp the door jamb. Then the building was engulfed, and Marders has not seen his wife and child since. Widow Smith’s house, which was about half a mile below that of Marders’, was also swept away, but she had gone to a neighbor’s and escaped. Further down the stream stood the little log hut of Rush Combs. Combs’ wife and 10-year-od boy were the only occupants of the house. The flood carried the house away, but Mrs. Combs, climbing into the loft and breaking through the roof, managed to keep their heads above water until the house lodged on the side of the mountain at a turn in the creek some distance below. The damage will amount to thousands of dollars, as everything in the path of the waters was swept away. This is the first cloudburst ever known in that section of the state. Floods in New York. New York, April 1. —Floods in the streams of central and western New York are reported. Oriskany creek has overflowed its banks and submerged the greater part of the village of Oriskany. New York Central trains have in consequence been forced to use the West Shore tracks. The Mohawk river at Utica is unusually high, threatening to cover the railway tracks there. Near Syracuse Onondaga creek is beyond its banks, and roads and railways at Onondaga are submerged. Ganaragua river has overflowed its banks at Newark Valley, N. Y., and Central Hudson railway tracks are under six inches of water. Near the same place the Northern Central railway tracks are submerged for a distance of a mile and a half. Danger from the Ice. Marinette, Wis., April 1. —An iceshove started here on Green bay Tuesday afternoon which may cause great damage to property before it subsides. The ice on the east shore has broken up, and, shoved by a strong east wind, it has pushed upon the shore twentyfive feet high, and with the wind a regular hurricane from the east it keeps increasing in height. The Menominee residence district which lips along the shore is threatened. Severe Blizzard in. Nebraska. Omaha, Neb., April 1. —A severe blizzard prevailed all over Nebraska Tuesday. The mercury has fallen rapidly since noon, and snow and sleet is being driven with a terrible gale. No apprehension is felt by agriculturists for grain on account of the excellent condition of the winter article. No damage of consequence has been reported as a result of the storm.