Show fa 1 03 R ai X 4 N t A k r X 0 r A zi v V ta t ja I 1 av 01 0 1 j k v V X really cAIr Rf TOR HERE aro are those among us who soo BOO nothing idealistic about THERE the snow the varied and exquisite forms assumed by the frost particles on crystallization revealed in their fullest beauty beneath tho the lens ions aro are lost to their appreciative vision to theo the fleecy snow and the beautiful snow are absurdities the only form of snow inspired poetical effort that appeals to them Is the parody the snow the snow the beautiful snow the more you dont want it the more 41 it wont go Is not to them for they aro are the mea men who must battle with it such for instance la is the railroad man in any part of uncle sams wide domain in which the lea ice king disputes dispute a his sovereignty the dakotas minnesota and northern iowa are favorite haunts of the wayward monarch and in those regions it is that ie he holds some of his most fantastic revels the wind swept pral of kansas and o ka level as it a table for foi greit great distances are often difficult to manage in midwinter but they do not possess tho the essentials of a great snow enow country the general contour of bf minnesota and dakota to is rolling so BO that on most of the railroad lines there are many cute ten to th emile in some places this Is the ideal spot for the snow blockade and for six or seven month sot the year an almost ceaseless battle is going on every railroad traversing these regions Is equipped with a large force of snow enow fighters nowadays rotary snow plows in thoi bands of men who know how to operate them can cut their way through drifts that in the early days of railroading would have established a complete blockade the rotary plow is one of the marvels of tho age it is a liberal education in the b business of snow fighting to watch one of them eating its way through an apparently insurmountable drift that threatens to cut off all comment communication between the atlantic and pacific northern terminals menace to railroading there axe are several passes in the are great areat at divide region ot of the rocky mountains which tor for about halt half of the year offer a constant menace to railroading in their vicinity the snow begins to fall late in august or early in september and it continues until well into may and sometimes juno june there are also intermittent snowfalls snowballs snow falls during the summer but riot not enough to m mako elko serious ser lous trouble the great falls are during january and february the roads that cross the great divide must expend enormous sums in their annual conflict with the snow special crows crews are are provided for this work and special engines are held in reserve to be put behind the snow enow plows as needed before beloro the rotary y was invented the man with the shovel was the sole dependence in ia the early days of the transcontinental railroad thousands of laborers were kept on the pay rolls simply as snow enow the snow sheds erected by these lines have cost a mint of money the wind swept stretches of wyoming and other states aa are guarded vy by wind breaks consisting of high fences built across the most exposed points these ances fences seem beem to be fragile barriers gaignat such a mighty foe as the isnow enow king but they serve their purpose admirably mtr mir ably frequently preventing a blockade I 1 in n spite of the greatly i improved methods of snow fighting g blockades are still of frequent ent occurrence on these mountain roads it Is not at all unusual in colorado and W wyoming for a train brath to be stalled between stations tor for hours and perhaps for days those who have had experiences of this kind do not wax enthusiastic over them sometimes provisions are lacking and the luckless passengers are in actual danger of st starving aIng in these lonely stretches there la Is not a ranch for miles As a rule the roads take akke extraordinary tra precautions against block of this description tor for in several cases largo damages nav tainy been cot coh lacked by the victims great mass of Whit whiteness kness the huge snowdrift snow dritt bat some times rise in a single night might are fro tr ten 20 or oven even 30 foot feet to in height to ono who seen such an accumulation i of snow enow for the first firs t time it seems impossible that any plow even the most improved rotary can penetrate it with a rush and a plunge the great plow la Is hurled burled into the mass maea of frigid whiteness dlack black clouds clouda of smoke pour from atom the ou eu glues and the huge blades of the rt rotary begin to eat into the drift the snow enow shoots out of the orifice at the side bide of the plow As it Is ie distributed it forms an immense white semi deml clr all cle which is constantly moving onward showing the progress of plow slowly the rotary excavates its way forward and finally the plow and its ito engines arp are buried in a trench of white while only the can be aien seen and they continue to lo belch forth inky akk clouds that li ettle in n bobat of smudge upon the thi the groat great whitsell white semicircle semi circle ciralo moves steadily etea dlly onward and in the course of time it beco becomes m apparent that the drift la Is being conquered it is eventually over come and the passengers on the reg ullar ular express train which passes that way a few hours later knows nothing of the snow enow battle th that athas has made their further progress possible they may discover that they ars are moving rapidly through a narrow canyon whose walls are snow but they do not realize the mighty b ty I 1 force that has enabled them to td cross croes the ridge of tho th coutin continent ent it Is the element of the unexpected that sometimes adds largely to the se rious piousness ness of these occasion occa slona st at the passes over the great divide adequate provision against trouble has beep been made and long blockades are few bow and then however word cornea comes that a train has not been able to force its passage through a snow enow accumulation mu lation miles or more from the nearest rotary plow then taen there to is consternation indeed to get a plow to the blockaded train will take time but it must bo be done in the meantime meant the drift may be growing on the unused road and each hour is br bringing nging fresh menaces to railroad men and passengers gera alike when a rotary plow itself is caught in a snow blockade the situation becomes even more complicated such instances are rare but it has happened such a thing can only be possible through the carelessness of some workman for a rotary plow with sufficient power behind it can eat cat its way through a drift of almost ony dimensions |