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Show Feed Gets to Snowbound Sheep Tuesday After Week's Wait in Sub-Zero Weather Roads Blocked, Snow and Mercury Fall While Crews Plow on: Trucks Follow Continued high winds and sub-zero weather have combined to make this past week the most cri tical in many years for stock on the west desert. So acute is the si tuation that an all-out effort opened open-ed Monday morning, combining state road commission men and its equipment, heavy army road equi pment, sheep owners, and all other help available. Trucks loaded wit h hay and concentrates waited to go through, once the roads were o pened, to take feed to more than 164. 000 sheen starving in cnnw to relieve herds there. The roads were open Wednesday to Black Rock and Crystal Peak. Ray Gillis engineer from the state road commission, com-mission, expected they would be through to Robinson's ranch Wednesday. Wed-nesday. Tuesday they had opened the road to Gandy. Work was so difficult at Swazee wash, Soap Hollow and to the cattle cat-tle guard that the big plows' gave up working on the road bed, and dug a detour road through there. They will return later to plow the road, as the detour will soften up too fast in a thaw. ROADMEN GET LITTLE REST Last Friday afternoon was the first break in a week of storm. But the break didn't hold, for it snowed all day Saturday, a fine powdery storm that drifted. Although there have been no winds in Delta town, the area west in the county has had high winds daily, drifting snow and blocking the roads as fast as they were plowed through. MERCURY STAYS BELOW ZERO Sunday it was celar, but by that time Highway 6 west of Delta was again impassable, and the same condition applied on the road to the northwest, to Joy and Topaz mountain. The clearest view of the situation was obtained by airplane trips over the area, and the verdict ver-dict was that it looked terirble. It had to be seen to be believed. Snow, and miles of snow, in every direction. Sunday was 20 below. Where sheep herds were seen, the animals were stationary, and standing huddled together, hemmed hemm-ed in by snow. Herders could be seen, working on horseback in snow that was bellv deep, or wading in snow waist deep. Lon Wood, formean, and a state road crew have been working out west without rest for days. They were in Sunday night to snatch a little sleep and be back out early Monday. Arch Barben and Seth Jackson were in Tuesday night late for about 10 minutes, taking back provisions. They had fed 16 men for supper and were buyink for a big breakfast. Men have worked steadily, with short rests and sleep in the bunk wagon. Helping them have been men and equipment of Olof Nelson construction company and Reynolds company at the King Canyon camp. That camp was reached late Tuesday with fuel and provisions from Delta. Max Robison, going out with oil, reported re-ported snow 5 feet deep on the level in Marjum Pass. Arch Barben Bar-ben said the snow was up to his armpits. Archie Bekstrand, Spanish Fork sheepman, rode in on horseback Monday from Joy, where he has 3 herds of sheep. He was able to get a loaded truck back out there Tuesday. L. N. Rasmussen' and S. M. Wolfe, of the Ward leasing company, and Les Price, got thru to the Warm Creek ranch Tuesday at Gandy, where Austin Johnson and Brog Hopkins families have been snowed in and no word for over 2 weeks. They can now get feed to the 600 head of cattle the company has there. Hundreds of men concerned over stock have thronged Delta for the past week. They were unable to get out to their herds, and daily expected a break through, both on the road and in the weather. Until the big rotaries arrived the local equipment was losing ground daily. As the roads were filled with the drifting snow soon after they had worked by, and began to pile up higher than the surrounding area. BLM SEES AT FIRST HAND A. K. Hansen, from the Bureau of Land Management, has been in (Continued on page 10) SONGS OF THE HEART GOVERNOR LEE RESPONDS Saturday night and Sunday the telephones ' lines hummed from Delta to Salt Lake City, with pleas to Gov. J. Bracken Lee and Willard E. Day, state road commission chairman, for help. Gov. Lee told Mayor Golden H. Black that two big rotary plows and two or three caterpillars were being sent down. And more equipment would be sent if needed.such as bombers that could deliver feed by air to the sheep herds. Tuesday a national guard C47 was over the area, reportedly to drop baled hay. And a B26 buzzed over the Delta airport. But neither plane landed here, as the runway has only, been cleared of enough snow to accomodate smaller craft. CAM SIGNALS HELP Sunday a flight over the northwest north-west discovered a sheep camp and truck, and spelled out on the snow was one word, HELP, made with ashes. This was 15 miles' west of Joy, due east of Tatow's Knobs. About 2 miles away the 2 herders were working with the sheep, pulling pull-ing cedar houghs for them, the -Hv available feed. That picture was in the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesdav morning. The herd was identified as that of Dr. Merrill Oldroytf of Payson, who had had equinment on the road trying to break through for days. Oats and food were dropped at the camp Sundav, and Tuesday truck loads of feed and concentrates were able to get through to the camp, following foll-owing the rotary plows and cats. Dr. Oldroyd had supplies of corn hauled out some weeks ago, but it was 12 miles from the herd, and blocked off by snow. EXPECT HEAVY LOSS A rumor persisted that a frozen sheepherder had been found out west, but up to date there has been no confirmation. From what information was available Wednesday Wednes-day losses in the herds was not I as heavy as had been expected. I One report was of 250 dead, another an-other was 40 out of 2400, and another an-other herd just 2. But sheepmen ! think that the real loss will be de-1 de-1 termined later, when animals die 'that couldn't stand this week of l starvation. Figures are mentioned iranging from 20 precent loss, up i to over a million dollars in all. And sheepmen are not suffering suffer-ing the only losses. Cattlemen are hard hit. Lincoln Cropper reports losing 35 head of cattle from cold. Val Styler has 150 head at Ibex and expects to lose them all. Matt Crooner has lost all 8 head of his Brahma bulls. Rotary Plows Move In j Monday morning 37 loaded trucks were ready to follow the two big rotaries out of town, when they were told to wait for the come-on signal. That was to prevent a jam on the road where the plows were finding slow going. The most difficult dif-ficult stretch was 25 miles out of Delta, from Swazee wash to the cattle guard. Only that far from town and the snow and wind had piled up drifts that held the rotary j down to 2 miles an hour. Tuesday, most outfits were able ! to follow through with the big cats to aid them break through the , truck high piles at the turnouts, i Highway 6 was opened Tuesday night, according to reports filtering I back, to the road to Antelope CCC camp site. Northwest, the road to- ward Callao was open to Sand Pass, and work was going on west |