A SIBERIAN BLIZZARD

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 3, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 31.

A SIBERIAN BLIZZARD.

The following account of a Siberian blizzard, taken from the Youth’s Companion, is of interest just now, as it gives an idea of the terrible cold and storms to which the Russian soldiers are exposed, and from which some have died, as they are hurried across the plains to the seat of war:—

“A blizzard on the Siberian desert is a dreadful thing. An author tells of being overtaken by a severe snow-storm. The dogs lost sight of the trail, and the snow came down so heavily they could hardly see the leading dogs, and it was deemed the safest thing to stop and endeavor to protect themselves as much as possible from the storm.

“With our snow-shoes we dug down six feet to the ground, making an excavation about eight feet square. Placing the three sledges around the edge of the hole, we banked them in with snow. Then we took a tarpaulin from one of the sledges, and with walrus-hide rope improvised a sort of roof over our dugout.

“The dogs dug holes in the snow, and settled down comfortably to sleep. They were almost immediately covered with snow.

“At this time the thermometer stood thirty-five below zero. We could not tell whether it was actually snowing, or whether the snow was only being driven by the wind; but at any rate the air was filled with it, and the prospect was anything but exhilarating. We lined the bottom of the hole with furs, got out our sleeping bags, and prepared for a long siege.

“As we were without fuel, we had to eat cold food. Frozen reindeer meat taken raw is not an appetizing dish; but this, together with hard bread and pounded soup-ball, formed our diet for the next few days. In this snowy prison we were held for four days, and we were obliged to climb out every three or four hours, and relieve the tarpaulin of the weight of snow. Our furs were damp, caused by our breath, which congealed, and thawed again from the warmth of the body. To say the very least, we were extremely uncomfortable.

“At last it got so bad that I gave orders to burn one of the sledges, and that day we feasted on hot tea.

“To while away the tedious hours, I gave my Arctic friends some lessons in astronomy, using snow-balls as object-lessons.

“I told them all about elections, telephones, phonographs, and railroads, and gathered from their expression that they thought I had gone mad from the cold and exposure. They looked at one another and muttered, ‘Duroc! duroc!’ which is Russian for crazy.”—Selected.