Bliss, Porter

CORNEL I US, born in Erie co., N. Y., Dec. 28, 1838. A journalist and littérateur; in early life, private secretary to U. S. minister to Brazil, and subsequently to U. S. minister to Paraguay; explored Gran Chaco for the Argentine government, and wrote for the government of Paraguay a history of that country, during the compilation of which he was suspected of being a Brazilian spy and imprisoned. It required the presence of an American squadron to obtain his release. Secretary of legation to Mexico, 1870-74; editor of The Library Table; president of the Philological Society for two years; author of a history of the Ru o-Turkish war of 1877, . Died in New York City, Feb. 2, 1885. Blizzard. n. ( Meterol.) A storm practically confined to the Western states, which is characterized by a fierce and bitterly cold wind, and fine blinding snow, causing annually the death of men and animals in exposed situations. The blizzard generally follows an unusually low barometer, or winter storm area, when the pre ure begins a rapid rise. Its place of first appearance is over the plains of Canada, E. of the Rocky Mountains, whence it pa es into the northern range of American states and extends over a wide area. Blizzards rarely reach the eastern section of the country, though they are not unknown there. There is nothing more appalling than the coming of one of these dreadful storms. In one that came in January, 1888, and extended from Dakota to Texas, the thermometer fell in some places from 74° above to 28° below zero, and in Dakota to 40° below. In this instance a spell of fine clear weather was suddenly followed by a darkening of the sky, while the air was filled with snow as fine as powder and driven by a roaring blast that drowned the voices of men only six feet distant. Objects a few yards off became invisible. Children died on their way home from school, farmers in the fields before they could reach their houses, some of them not frozen, but suffocated from the impo ibility of breathing the blizzard air. In all about 235 perished. The most notable blizzard known in the East was that which began March 11, 1888, and raged until the 14th, its centre being about the cities of New York and Philadelphia. The wind on the 12th blew at the rate of 46 miles an hour, with frequent terrific squalls, while the snow, which fell steadily, was blown into enormous drifts. Streets and roads became impa able, railroad travel was prevented, and trains snowed up in cuts; telegraphic communication was cut off and many lives were lost. The train which left New York on Monday at 6 A. M., reached Philadelphia on Thursday at 5 P. M., and the first train from Philadelphia for Pittsburgh got through on the 15th. Fortunately storms of this terrible character are of infrequent occurrence, and seldom continue for more than a day or two, though no winter pa es without their occasioning some lo of life in the West. Block System. ( Railways .) A system for the control of railroad trains which are moving in the same direction on the same track, so as to avoid collisions. The block stations are usua'ly from 3 to 5 miles apart, being connected with each other by telegraph and provided with signal boards or lights for the stopping or blocking of trains when nece ary. The rule of operation is that no train is to be permitted to pa a block station while the section in advance is occupied, and till word comes back that this section is clear of trains. Thus no more than one train can be upon a single section at one time; and, if its operation were as perfect as its principle, rear-end collisions would be entirely prevented. But as signal men and engine drivers are not always to be depended on, an automatic block system has been devised by which it is hoped to overcome the imperfection to which the human senses are liable. In this system the signals are controlled by electrical apparatus and worked automatically, and are so connected and interlocked that it is impo ible for the danger to be changed for the safety signal until the section in advance is clear. Also, by pa ing the electric current through the rails, a danger signal can be made to show if a rail be broken or a switch open in the succeeding section. The B. S. was first suggested by W. F. Cooke, in 1842, and its first practical application was made in 1851, on the Southeastern Railway of England. It is now extensively used on European railways, but has not been widely introduced in the U.S. The "permi ive block system," in which a train is permitted to enter an occupied section, but with warning to move cautiously, is often used under the pre ure of heavy traffic, but is evidently much le secure than that absolute block system.