Barber County Kansas
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Barber County Kansas |
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Earl Holmes of Elwood township came very near freezing to death in the storm of the 11th. He started to town with a team and wagon through the beating wind and snow and became lost. He was found in the evening near the Lonker school house about 14 miles southwest of this city by Had White and Mr. Ritchie after having been out in the storm the greater part of the day. He was unconscious, but sitting in the wagon bed and still holding the lines. The hind wheels of the wagon had been separated from the other part of the vehicle, but the bed remained on the fore wheels and the team was still securely hitched to the wagon. After Mr. Holmes had lost consciousness the team had evidently run away and were stopped by hemming in at a fence.When Mr. Holmes was sufficiently revived to be able to speak he could give little account of what happened and was so nearly frozen that he did not feel cold. Upon taking off his mittens, Mr. White found three fingers frozen stiffly and indications of frozen feet and toes. Messrs. White and Ritchie put the wagon together and took him to his home and Dr. Gilbert of this city was phoned. Dr. Gilbert went out and dressed Mr. Holmes's hands and feet and brought him to the home of J. P. Hall in the city where he is being given every attention. He is entirely out of danger's reach and Drs. Gilbert and Donovan say that they will save every finger even on the hand that was the most frozen, which is gratifying news to Mr. Holmes's host of friends.
When he left home Mr. Holmes had under-estimated the severity of the weather. He rode in the wagon until he was thoroughly chilled and then got out and walked beside the wagon. His team was rather spirited and they made driving difficult crowding him into the fence. He got into the wagon again and crouched down to protect himself from the snow and wind and in this condition lost consciousness. The road to which the team drifted was a seldom used road and it was indeed a circumstance of rare fortune that Messrs. White and Ritchie happened to travel it that evening. Had they not done so, Mr. Holmes would have surely been frozen to death.
Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!
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