The train that left Janesville, Wis., last Saturday morning on the Northwestern Road, bound for Chicago, struck the blizzard at Clinton Junction. At Harvard the storm was increasing in severity, when the train readied a point a little below Crystal Lake it was simply terrific, and about a mile below Palatine the train stuck fast in a drift which was from three to twelve feet deep and over a half-mile long. The storm beat down upon it, and the snow, sleet, and hail threatened to bury the coaches. In this disagreeable situation the unfortunate passengers were obliged to remain until yesterday morning, and forty-eight hours in a snow-drift within a few miles of Chicago is something unparalleled even in the memory of that ancient historian, the oldest inhabitant.
Thera were about forty passengers on the train, four of whom were ladies, and there were no children in the party. Among them were a doctor, a lawyer, a Justice of the Peace, a clergyman, — the Rev. A. A. Fiske, of Harvard, — and several teachers and commercial travelers. A relief party came down from Palatine Saturday night, and on Sunday another party from the same place brought a quantity of provisions to the stranded travelers. It was found Impossible to use a sleigh on account of the immense drifts. Superintendent Cuyler telegraphed to Palestine directing the attachés of the road there to see that the passengers were well cared for. Members of the “snowed-in” band say that they had a very good time during their imprisonment. They gathered in one car, told stories, sang songs, and passed the time in a very pleasant manner.
The snow-plow sent to the rescue of the train reached it yesterday morning, and it was hauled into the city. the passengers held a meeting and passed resolutions thanking Superintendent Cuyler, Conductor Rich, the crew of the train, and Mr. Julius Thurston, of Palatine, for their energetic effort to provide provisions and comforts for them during their Imprisonment in a snow-drift in one of the fiercest blizzards of the season. M. S. Hughes, the baggageman, also received the thanks of the little party. At the depot Conductor Rich was thanked in a neat speech and was given three hearty cheers. He said it was the severest storm he had seen in fourteen years.
The Woodstock train on the same road left Woodstock Saturday morning. It stuck in a drift at Arlington, just four miles below the Janesville train, and remained there until Sunday afternoon, when it arrived here.
The Chicago Daily Tribune, Chicago, IL, March 22, 1881