The Blizzard of 1899

Kutztown’s newspaper - “The Patriot” - reported a huge snowstorm in its 18 February 1899 edition. When snowstorms paralyze us with all our modern conveniences, imagine what they did in 1899. Read the story below:

EARTH BURIED IN SNOW

King Snow Stopped Other Work and Turned Us All Into Snow Shovelers.

All of the Country Completely Tied Up for Two Days-Railroads, and All Other Travel Blockaded-Every Town and Farm House Cut Off from the Rest of the World.

It snowed for three days and how? The flakes came down pretty lively on Sunday, but that was child's play compared with the awful energy of the snow clouds on Monday. Nobody saw it snow like that before. The clouds couldn't Tave done better than that unless they could have come down bodily themselves. I the flakes had been dark instead of white the earth would have been shrouded in dense darkness during the lightest hours of the day. Hour for hour the mass of snow grew higher burying, the work of man as it rose. The March blizzard of 88 held the record of the century, but in some phases the blizzard of February 11-13, '99, was a record breaker. The latter's snowfall lasted fifty-five hours and its normal depth on the level was three feet. This in itself could have been managed with comparative ease, had the fierce wind not made itself so busy. Is it was, drifts of enormous proportion, rose on all sides, disarranging all plans and stopping all progress.

Though the cold was intense, there was little actual suffering in our immediate section, but in some of the large cities indigent people suffered from the cold and want of focd, whilst others lost their lives or froze their limbs.

How Other Places Fared.

New York stood shoulder-deep in the snow and if it hadn't been for the railrords up in the air there wouldn't have been any life for a day. Thousands of shovelers were busy on Tuesday digging out the city and hauling out the snow. Nothing could get out of the city on Monday except telegrams.

Found Dead at Reading.

Reading stuck in snow and drifts from three to twelve feet deep, and nearly everything was snow-bound.

Geo. Graul, aged about 50 years, who resided at West Reading, was found dead in the snow two squares from his home. It is supposed that he fainted during the storm and was frozen to death before he could reach his home.

At Trexlertown the drifts reached to the second-story windows of bouses. They saw no mail carrier from Saturday to Wednesday and no train since Monday. The hotel and store were divided by a ten-foot drift, which was dug through. The roads had to be opened to allow the funeral of Hon. James F. Kline to be held.

The Kutztown trolley put two sets of men to work to dig the road out of the suow, one at Allentown and the other at Griesemersville. They succeeded in clearing the tracks by Wednesday evening.

Snow Fences No Good.

The worst drifts on the East Penn road were at Chapel Ridge, near Macungie, and at Emaus Junction. At both places are deep cuts. To relieve the road, high fences were put up for emergencies of this sort, but they proved of no avail. The snow leaped over the fences and blew both cuts shut. Considerable trouble was experienced in opening them. They were all opened by Wednesday and trains were running to and from Reading on time. The first train came to Allentown at 12.10 a. m. Wednesday. It should have been there at 9.45 p. m. Tuesday.

The Kutztown train resumed its schedule time Wednesday morning and made its runs to Allentown without obstruction.

People Frozen - Funerals Delayed.

The blizzard swept way down South, as well as East, and did comparatively more damage in the warm states there than here. The houses down there are not built as cold-proof as here and the semi-tropical crops die before a cold blast. The orange crop and most of the orange trees in Florida are again ruined. In Richmond, Virginia, a businessman by the name of Wade was frozen to death in his store. He had sat down by the fire and froze to death when the fire went out. Several horses died from cold in the same town.

Reuben Bowler, 60 years old, was frozen to death two miles from Fredericksburg, Va. He was returning from wood cutting and although within a quarter of a mile of a house, his companions were unable to carry him farther, they being exhausted.

In this section funerals were delayed. At Macungie the funeral of Elanus Acker was postponed from Tuesday to Thursday forenoon, and the funeral of Ernst P. Boettger was postponed from Wednesday to Friday forenoon on account of snow drifts.

We Were Right in It.

The Easton road was closed to travel in a number of places. An immense bank of snow about ten feet deep and over two hundred yards in length blockaded it from the Fairview cemetery gate to beyond Col. T. D. Fister's residence. Teams whose duty called them in that direction, turned in at Charles Deisher's private lane, just this side of the latter's residence, struck the alley in the rear and followed that to its intersection with the Easton road opposite the residence of Amos Butz.

The roads entering the town along its southern line were badly drifted. Dan. Rahn, Lewis Brown and three of the latter's sons managed to force their way to town on Tuesday noon. They reported that the snow banks in town were nothing compared with what they could show in their country. No fences were visible and anything of less than ten feet altitude from the natural level of the earth had disappeared from sight.

Roofs of houses, porches, porticoes, etc., bore mountains of snow and the pumps wore peaked hats similar to those of the Peak sisters.

Doctors and others, whose line of duty required them to go to the country, had a terrible time of it, and many a trip had to be abandoned, simply because man must stop this side of the impossible. Walnut street had sunken out of sight and mountains of snow took its place. At the residence of Constable Glasser even the railing of the high front porch was snowed under.

Railway Service Paralyzed.

The crew of the Kutztown train worked manfully to keep the road open. They made extra trips on Sunday and during Sunday night. On Monday morning the train tried to start on time. It was hard work. The engine puffed and snorted and hissed, and roared and pushed, and the wheels kept going and slipping. Perseverance finally won the hour and the train got away at a rate much slower than its proverbial flyer time. It got as far as Topton and then returned for the second trip. By this time the incessantly falling snow, chased by the wind, had found a quiet place in the cut where to settle and to fill up the unevenness of the prospect. It prevented the train from any further trips during the prevalence of the blizzard. Conductor Fenstermacher got word from headquarters not to attempt any more runs until the snowfall stopped and the snow plow had cleared the track There was no railway communication any more that day and not until Tuesday night. In consequence there were no mails after Monday noon and the town was cut off from the rest of the world till Wednesday.

No Overland Mails.

The overland mail carriers made their trips until it would have been challenging fate to risk out again. Jerome Christman, the accommodating driver of the Kutztown-Allentown route, stuck to it until Saturday, but wouldn't venture out Monday and Tuesday. Being unable to do the best thing, he did the next best. He took the mail to Lyons Tuesday morning and sent it by rail.

Charles Rhode, who so obligingly runs the Schnecksville stage, also omitted the Monday and Tuesday trips.

Local Industries Suspended.

The Kutztown Foundry stopped work on Friday, as 1o below zero was too uncomfortable an atmosphere for best results. They didn't resume until after the blizzard had spent its force.

The same was the case in Wm. Wenz's marble works.

The Kutztown shirt factory closed on Monday noon in order to give the hands living at a distance a chance to get home before the snow closed their roads.

The Keystone shoe factory closed at 4 p. m. on Monday and didn't work on Tuesday, because the girls couldn't get through the snow.

There was no school at the public schoolhouse Monday morning, though some few scholars had couraze enough to forge their way over. By noon a sort of a serpentine passage had been dug through the snow the entire distance and the schools were running, though somewhat sparsely attended.

When the Sun Shone Again.

The sun looked much prettier than ever after the terrible snow clouds had rolled by. It smiled down upon the sons and daughters of Earth with a kind of an interrogative smile, as if asking, How now? They all gave it ap, being ready to say that they would rather do without snow all their lives than without the sun only one month.

The prospect of the country looked strange. Mountains and hills stood where two days before were streets and roads, and cuts and depressions in the earth were obliterated.

The town looked like a military centre prepared for an attack against a strong foe. Ramparts and bulwarks of snow extended in all directions, connected with narrow passages, through which the people passed in single file. Frequently the passages were so deep that only the head or part of the headgear of the pedestrians were visible above the level.

On Tuesday afternoon the farmers began clubbing together to open the roads. They came out, some with horses only and others with sled teams, tramping and breaking down the obstructions. A few extended their operations to the streets of our town and did effective work, especially on Main street.

Meanwhile the residents widened the passage on their pavements and the choked up streams of human activity began to flow their regular courses.

Food Dear in Philadelphia.

As oue of the bad results of the snow blockade fuel and food prices jumped up in Philadelphia. Coal rose to $9 00 per ton ; oysters advanced from $9 to $15 per thousand by the barrel, and the market is bare of stock. Beef has been increased from 612 to 10 cents per pound, wholesale price. Butter has increased to 36 cents and is still advancing. Eggs were 25 cents Saturday and on Thursday they sold at 35 cents per dozen.

In New York there was a partial coal famine. Those who wanted any had to pay $25 a ton.

Storm's Grasp Broken.

The weather clerk at Washington had heralded another snow storm for Thursday. There was a precipitate, but it was more rain than snow. The cold snap's backbone was broken. Yesterday morning the air was balmy, the snow thawing and the song sparrows sang their merriest melodies. Great changes in one week.

Hot Coffee for Shivering Railroaders.

When on Tuesday morning the three engines and snow plow from Allentown opened the East Pena road, a stop was made at Toptou to take water. Mrs. Werley, the accomplished wife of Dr. C. D. Werley, whose activity in the work of doing good is well known, hurriedly provided hot coffee for the crews. The coffee was greatly relished and highly appreciated by the men. This act is simply another proof that Mrs. Werley is possessed of a good heart, which prompts her to do the right thing at the right time.