The Great Storm in the West.
Reports come from all directions in the West, of the effects of the recent storm. Disadvantage to travel by the depth of snow and the blockading of railroads, has been immense, but this is not to be mentioned in comparison with the sadder results, the great loss of life. Two small boys were found frozen to death near Spring Valley, Iowa. Near Washington, Minn., two teams were found frozen, with one of the drivers so badly frozen that he cannot live. The other cannot be found. The body of an unknown man was also found frozen to death at Nicollet. A. O. Jenkins, foreman of the Ohio Bridge Company's yard, was frozen to death while riding in a hack from Sibley to Rock Rapids. The other inmates escaped with slight injuries. MILWAUKEE, Jan. 12.—A St. Paul dispatch says the great storm of the past week resulted in a good many fatal casualties in that State. It was entirely unprecedented in its severity, and was so blinding that persons perished within a few rods of succor, if they had known in what direction to go. Three brothers, Charles, John, and Stephen O'Neil, and Thomas and Michael Holden, each with two-horse teams, started for Willmar with wheat, on Tuesday. They were found on Friday about ten miles out, two of the O'Neils and one of the Holdens frozen to death in the sleighs. The others were alive, but will scarcely survive. Five ox teams in the same vicinity were found frozen to death, and the drivers are supposed to have abandoned them and perished. A man was found frozen to death by losing his way while going from the depot to the bank house at Herman station, on the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. A school boy near New Ulm undertook to go home, but lost his way, and his body was found eight miles distant. A good many other cases will undoubtedly be heard of. The wind blew the snow so it was impossible to see a foot in advance, and the storm came so sudden that it caught persons out, and they perished because they were unable to find their way home. St. Paul, Minn., January 13.—As yet only a small portion of the State where the storm was the most severe has been heard from. It is estimated that within twenty miles of St. James the loss of life will exceed fifty. A gentleman from Blue Earth County tells of an instance where, in driving along after the storm, a team of horses was noticed a little off the beaten track, frozen stiff, standing on their feet and looking perfectly life-like; sitting on the seat, in an erect position, with the reins in his hand, was the driver, dead, and in the bottom of the sleigh, covered up with blankets and straw, were the bodies of seven persons, all dead. The body of a man named Fred Warnke, of Sibley County, was found on Friday, about three miles from Henderson. He perished within about one hundred steps of a neighbor's house. A dispatch from Alexandria says that according to authentic reports, received thus far, seventy persons were frozen to death in Stevens, Douglass, and Otter Tail Counties. Others are still missing and believed to be dead, many more crippled for life by freezing hands and feet. A man and team were found in the woods ten miles north of Pomme Deterre, all dead. A sad case is that of a young man returning from Canada with his bride. At Pomme Deterre the father of the young man met the couple, and they started for their home near Fergus Falls. The storm came on, and, losing their way, the two men left the bride in the sleigh and started to find the road. Nothing has since been heard of them, and they undoubtedly perished. The men not returning, the bride left the sleigh, and after wandering about for some time came to some logs, where she took shelter, where she was found two days after so badly frozen that she can't live. All through that section of the State rumors are rife of great loss of life and suffering. Whole herds of cattle, caught in the storm, were frozen to death. Two men were found near St. Peter, sitting upright in a sleigh, frozen stiff, covered in buffalo robes. At Worthington, two teamsters have been found dead. Near Sioux City three others shared the same fate. Sioux City, Iowa, Jan. 13.—Accounts continue to reach here of the suffering and loss of life by the recent storm.