EDITOR'S NOTE - John Pierson, an avid historian from Wolfsburg, has contributed this article about the snow oldtime-ers call "the big blizzard of 1898". Pierson says snow was measured at from 30 to 36 inches in depth, and his article relates several anecdotes about the storm. We thought it might cool off our readers just a little.
On February 8, 1898, the snow came down from behind the northern hills. It was a bleak and cold morning.
At that time there were only two passenger trains on the Bedford division, one leaving Cumberland about 7:30 north, and arriving at Wolfsburg at 8:45.
The train continued on to the end of its terminal at Mt. Dallas. This passenger train remained at Mt. Dallas until the evening and returned south to Cumberland.
Jerry Stell was the one passenger conductor. He lived in Cumberland. James Buchanan was the other passenger conductor. He was a soft-spoken man, and his voice was as soft as velvet. Buchanan lived in Bedford. He and his wife had an apartment above Attorney D. Cress Reiley's office.
In looking over a notebook of mine. I found the following notations: temperature at Bedford Springs 40 below, at Sulphur Springs 39 below and Osterburg, 40 below.
Steuben McCreary was one of the passenger brakemen, and ran from Bedford to Imler three days a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Most of the people in Wolfsburg raised chickens and some of their combs and lobes were frozen very badly. Others were frozen to death on the roost.
Mr. McCreary lived in Bedford on East Penn Street, the first house below the Presbyterian Church. Edward Johnson was also a conductor as far as Imler.
There was a Mr. Weirman who was Superintendent of the Bedford Division. In all the departments of the railroad the railroad employees named it and baptized it as the "Weirman Blizzard."
The track foreman and the men from the sub-division were all called to "Mortimore's Cut". There were two flatbed cars, a caboose and an engine but they fought a losing battle. It continued snowing for about two days. Food and hot coffee was provided by the railroad company for the employees.
In the evening my mother prepared my father's supper and I took it to the station by means of passing through a driveway and I climbed over one snow drift five feet high. I saw the remains of two large snow drifts and they were not entirely melted until about the first of May.
The Wolfsburg Dam was frozen over previous to the coming of the blizzard. After the blizzard had subsided I saw actual measurement of ice frozen on the Wolfsburg Dam 34 inches deep. I notified the postmaster not to keep the post office open. No one knew what time the train would get through.
The train arrived the next night about 11:00 o'clock. I slept with the mail pouch under my bed, as I did on a number of other occasions when a wreck or flood occurred.
Some of the farmers could get to and from their homes by going through their fields where the snow wasn't drifted. Schools and all Church services were cancelled for that week, There was a large V shaped sled for removing the snow from the road. There were four horses hitched to it but it was a slow process in removing the snow. The old school house stood on the north side of the village and I saw snow drifts piled against the primary door six feet high. All the employees were like the sun they were at the post of duty day in and day out to make their run.
