As I sit looking out the window I see no snow, whatever. It's drier than a bone, like they say. It sets one to wondering if that will be the outlook for the coming spring and summer. The picture posted here shows a steam locomotive that tried to plow through deep snow. The snow proved way too much for it and it derailed. I think of all the poor devils who had to go out with shovels and clear the packed snow away from it. I visited the Heritage Center libraryyesterday and browsed through the end of the year issues of The Sheldon Progress for 1886. The winter of 1886-87 went down in history as being one of the most severe on record because of the hardships it caused. Cattle by the hundreds of thousands perished in the deep snow and bitter cold.
The newspaper articles began to mention that winter's hardships as we have come to know it. For instance, the editor wrote "a team of mules attached to a cutter took a glorious tumble in the street opposite our office. The mules were not shod sharp and being driven on the smooth ice of the street, one of them went down and the other rolled clear over him." A couple weeks later this mention: "Tuesday afternoon as the snowplow came through, it ran into a little bank of snow close to the depot, and before the smiling agent could wink, he was nearly buried." One more of several: "A good many supposed that Dr. Henning went to Lisbon Tuesday, but he didn't. The train got about four miles west of town and struck a drift. The genial doctor waited until his patience was exhausted and then started on foot to Sheldon, arriving here just as the snowplow, followed by the east bound freight arrived. Soon after he left the train the plow from the west arrived and relieving the train pulled it into Buttzville, where it met the freight coming east. But the doctor says the walking is good and exercise beneficial, so we are all happy."
Old newspapers and their fearless editors make for very entertaining reading. I liked this one: "A Shenford man says that if the people could find out for a certainty who cast that 'one vote' for 'Gil' there on election day, they would promptly duck him in the Sheyenne." They proved to be a forgiving lot because two weeks later I spotted this: "The man who voted for 'Gil' here on election day could not read and we will excuse him."
On this little laptop computer I have the Skype program with which we can visit via a video phone call to my son and his family in Minneapolis. Last night just for fun I "called" without having made any prior notice. Lo and behold my five year old grandson happened to be sitting at that keyboard. It took him by surprise when his grandpa's face appeared on the screen. The look on his face: priceless!
The newspaper articles began to mention that winter's hardships as we have come to know it. For instance, the editor wrote "a team of mules attached to a cutter took a glorious tumble in the street opposite our office. The mules were not shod sharp and being driven on the smooth ice of the street, one of them went down and the other rolled clear over him." A couple weeks later this mention: "Tuesday afternoon as the snowplow came through, it ran into a little bank of snow close to the depot, and before the smiling agent could wink, he was nearly buried." One more of several: "A good many supposed that Dr. Henning went to Lisbon Tuesday, but he didn't. The train got about four miles west of town and struck a drift. The genial doctor waited until his patience was exhausted and then started on foot to Sheldon, arriving here just as the snowplow, followed by the east bound freight arrived. Soon after he left the train the plow from the west arrived and relieving the train pulled it into Buttzville, where it met the freight coming east. But the doctor says the walking is good and exercise beneficial, so we are all happy."
Old newspapers and their fearless editors make for very entertaining reading. I liked this one: "A Shenford man says that if the people could find out for a certainty who cast that 'one vote' for 'Gil' there on election day, they would promptly duck him in the Sheyenne." They proved to be a forgiving lot because two weeks later I spotted this: "The man who voted for 'Gil' here on election day could not read and we will excuse him."
On this little laptop computer I have the Skype program with which we can visit via a video phone call to my son and his family in Minneapolis. Last night just for fun I "called" without having made any prior notice. Lo and behold my five year old grandson happened to be sitting at that keyboard. It took him by surprise when his grandpa's face appeared on the screen. The look on his face: priceless!
