Hard-boiled blizzard

April 22, 1932 - Cloudy all day, but we got a real good rain about 3:30 p.m. I didn't wear overshoes and I got my shoes good and wet coming home.  Went to play practice in Ford.  Mike, Evie and I in back with an umbrella.  It was raining!  Had to get "hard boiled" and lay down the law tonite.
April 23, 1932 - Washed and ironed three of my dresses.  Also had Mr. Walker cut off about an inch of my hair.  Cleaned my muddy shoes and darned hose.  Slept this afternoon,  To play practice in Ford in evening.  Kids behaved well after the "hard-boiled" talk last nite.  Arnold Wittler's birthday.
April 24, 1932 - Cloudy and rainy today.  Didn't get to go to Wittler's for dinner.  Mote made "kids" candy this p.m.  Willard, Harry and Raymond came down this p.m. and we went over the first act.  I went to bed about 6:15 this evening.  And I was tired, that's why!

Well, the 22nd was Friday and Grandma didn't go to the Hoskins class play with Willard apparently.  I wonder why not.

Does anyone know what kids candy is?

This is all the Winside history book has for 1888:

     January 5, a teachers meeting was held in Winside.  Those on the program were:  Carrie Atherton, biography; Mrs. Myra Fletcher, reading; Frank Pittenger, current history; P. F. Panabaker, infinitives; Hope Hornby, language work.
     January 12, the famous blizzard.

There are four separate stories about the blizzard in the "Short Stories" part of the history book.  I'll do one of them a day until finished.

The Great Blizzard

     Last Thursday, January 12th, was one of the worst and most extensive blizzards that has been experienced in the northwest for many years and practically the same features everywhere accompanied it in the territory covered.  There was a heavy fall of snow, with a warm gentle wind from the southeast, with the temperature about at the freezing point, which all suddenly changed to a terrible blizzard, with a violent wind from the northwest and a temperature below zero.  The storm extended from the Rocky Mountains to the eastern states, but was most severe in Montana, Dakotas and Minnesota.  The railroads were everywhere blockaded, the snow packing in very solidly, making a great deal of difficulty in removing it.  The loss of life so far reported is horrible, and from many isolated communities no reports have even yet been received.  In Dakota a very large number of casualties are reported and Minnesota is not far behind.  The total death roll will exceed two hundred.  Much suffering among stock and the loss will no doubt be very large.  Intense cold followed the storm everywhere, the mercury in most parts ranging from 20 to 35 below.  The greatest cold was reported from Montana, where a temperature of 49 below was recorded.  The railroads have now been generally opened with the exception of some of the minor branches, and traffic has been resumed. -- Wayne Herald, January 19, 1988.

Here is part of the wikipedia article that includes stories about the blizzard.  What made the storm so deadly was the timing (during work and school hours), the suddenness, and the brief spell of warmer weather that preceded it. In addition, the very strong wind fields behind the cold front and the powdery nature of the snow reduced visibilities on the open plains to zero. People ventured from the safety of their homes to do chores, go to town, attend school, or simply enjoy the relative warmth of the day. As a result, thousands of people—including many schoolchildren—got caught in the blizzard. Teachers generally kept children in their schoolrooms. Exceptions nearly always resulted in disaster.

• Plainview, Nebraska: Lois Royce found herself trapped with three of her students in her schoolhouse. By 3 p.m., they had run out of heating fuel. Her boarding house was only 82 yards away, so she attempted to lead the children there. However, visibility was so poor that they became lost and the children, two nine-year-old boys and a six-year-old girl, froze to death. The teacher survived, but her feet were frostbitten and had to be amputated.
• Holt County, Nebraska: Etta Shattuck, a nineteen-year-old schoolhouse teacher, got lost on her way home, and sought shelter in a haystack. She remained trapped there until her rescue 78 hours later by Daniel D. Murphy and his hired men. She died on February 6 around 9 A.M. due to complications from surgery to remove her frostbitten feet and legs.
• In Great Plains, South Dakota, children were rescued. Two men tied a rope to the closest house, and headed for the school. There, they tied off the other end of the rope, and led the children to safety.
• Mira Valley, Nebraska: Minnie Freeman safely led thirteen children from her schoolhouse to her home, one half mile away. The rumor she used a rope to keep the children together during the blinding storm is widely circulated, but one of the children claims that is not true. She took them to the boarding house she lived at about a mile away and all of her pupils survived. Many children in similar conditions around the Great Plains were not so lucky, as 235 people were killed, most of them children who couldn't get home from school. 
• Ted Kooser, Nebraska poet, has recorded many of the stories of the Schoolhouse Blizzard in his book of poetry "The Blizzard Voices."
• In 1967, a haunting Venetian glass mural of The Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888 by Jeanne Reynal was installed on the west wall of the north bay in the Nebraska State Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska for the 1967 Centennial Celebration. It captures much of the mood and drama of the storm. The mural, in a semi-abstract style, portrays a purported incident in which a schoolteacher, Minnie Freeman, tied her children together with a clothesline and led them through the storm to safety.

The mural mentioned (photo above) is one of the things I remember most from our 4th grade trip to Lincoln.  The others are that we overslept, the bus came to the house, and I ran out the door without my glasses.  Fun times.