February 9 1973 - The Firearms Forum

Gabob · 02-09-2012, 07:51 PM

Feb 9 1973 was on a Friday. On Fridays I worked at a drugstore in Cuthbert owned by a classmate of mine in pharmacy school. It was overcast that morning and about 10 AM it started raining. Then the rain started freezing. Our kids were at a school in Shellman Ga which is 20 miles from our home. I called BJ and told her to go get the children from school. She was painting and did not realize how bad it was getting outside. She finally went to get them. The road at that time was unpaved red clay. She spun out at the intersection two miles from home but did not get stuck and continued to get them. At the time we had about forty cows to look after. I saw the power lines beginning to ice and called Larry(store owner) and asked him to come back to work. By the time I got home it was snowing hard and power was off due to icing lines. We had an old 1950 era TO-30 Ferguson tractor that ran on propane so I went to get it to feed the cows before the weather got any worse. When I cranked it the gas regulator started building up ice and it shut down. I got our station wagon and fed cows from it. Cows had icicles hanging from their ears. Snow getting worse by the minute. Remember this is sunny South Ga where it does not snow. Snowed all night and by next morning we had 18 inches on the ground. I went to feed cows with station wagon and could not find road and ran it into ditch where it stayed for three days. Had to haul feed to cows in buckets. Meanwhile our beautiful palimino horse was having a ball. He would run and flip over on his back and slide in the snow. We had gas heaters in each room in case of power outage so heat was no problem. Of course the pump was electric so water was not available from the well. There is a creek below house so I could lower a 5 gallon bucket to get water to flush commodes. Melted snow for drinking water.

I had another problem. I was the pharmacy consultant at Stewart-Webster Hospital in Richland Ga 25 miles away. I had to do a narcotic inventory on nursing station and reissue what was needed within every 7 day period. Finally got a Jeep from a friend and took off North. Another problem. The icing had been much worse North of us. I had 4 miles of dirt road to negotiate before reaching US 27. I drove the Jeep around and thru 42 pine tops in the road before reaching highway.

The previous Saturday night we had been playing cards with the county health nurse and her husband. She had a gall stone attack while we were playing and had emergency surgery. She got out of the hospital about the time the bad weather started. They live about 10 miles from us and the house was total electric. Guess what. No heat and no water. They had an old house on their land with a fireplace so Robbie and I loaded the Jeep with chainsaw and whatever else we could find and took off over there. We cut firewood and got them going.
Finally on Feb 12 the road was opened and things returned to normal. I thawed tractor regulator and pulled station wagon out of ditch.
Never seen snow like that in South Ga in my life before or since

Shooter45 · 02-09-2012, 08:09 PM

Bob, we had weather like that up here that year. I was out of the country and missed it. I'm glad.

Zhurh · 02-09-2012, 09:50 PM

I went through a 7.9 shaker on Nov 3rd 2002, when the ground opens up in the front yard, you half expect to see the devil come climbin out. Funny how you never forget those dates.

My huntin buddy from Covington keeps telling me about catfish in the cold weather.

Double D · 02-10-2012, 08:05 AM

I saw light snow once back in 89.

mogunner · 02-10-2012, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhurh

I went through a 7.9 shaker on Nov 3rd 2002, when the ground opens up in the front yard, you half expect to see the devil come climbin out. Funny how you never forget those dates.

My huntin buddy from Covington keeps telling me about catfish in the cold weather.

I was still married to her at the time, she was busy in Kansas making my life a personal Hell...

boatme99 · 02-10-2012, 01:17 PM

Funny Bob, I was stationed at Charleston AFB then. We got over a foot of snow. It closed down the whole Charleston area for a week.

Haven't thought of that in years.

Snakedriver · 02-10-2012, 06:53 PM

I remember that year very well. On Feb 9th of '73 I would have been home in Kansas City just about a week after coming home from my year in Vietnam. The first thing I did was go down to the dealer and buy me a brand new Honda 750 motorcycle to celebrate life. It was too cold to ride it, but I didn't care, I did it anyway!

68c15 · 02-11-2012, 06:03 AM

mine is Jan. 3rd 1989. I was out scouting for a spot to fish when my car dropped through. I have never been so scared in all my life and have not been on the ice since.

Zhurh · 02-11-2012, 09:18 AM

Never broke through ice in vehicle, (except at edges) now that would be spooky. I went through once in chest waders in beaver pond, chin deep & bouncing off the bottom, and some pond water. Finally got the ice broke to get chest deep and waders rolled down; man did I get the flu outta that mistake.

Been through all kinds of overflow in rivers on snowmachine. Once I had to pull skis up on ice and motorboat sled to shore. Went over sideways and AR came off went under water, I was searching on a lower level of ice and found her. It was minus 20 and I had to ride 9 miles home. By the time I got here, I was almost solid and stood in front of wood stove to melt, ha. Been lucky with ice over the years.

armedandsafe · 02-11-2012, 04:14 PM

Good Friday, 1965.

I was in Anchorage, picking up a new hire to escort to the training site. We were sitting in a coffee shop when, suddenly, everybody jumped up and ran outside. Even the wait staff and the cooks. ???????????

So, New Guy and I strolled outside to see what was going on. Everybody was standing around and yelling "EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!" I looked at New Guy, he looked at me, we shrugged and went back inside.

He had been raised in San Francisco, and I had been raised in Boulder City, Nevada as the Lake Mead grounds was still settling. For us, earthquakes were almost a daily occurance. We hadn't even felt the quake. The other people were those who had lived through Good Friday, 1964.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake

Pops

02-09-2012, 07:51 PM	#1
Gabob Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: SW GA CSA Posts: 1,160	February 9 1973 Feb 9 1973 was on a Friday. On Fridays I worked at a drugstore in Cuthbert owned by a classmate of mine in pharmacy school. It was overcast that morning and about 10 AM it started raining. Then the rain started freezing. Our kids were at a school in Shellman Ga which is 20 miles from our home. I called BJ and told her to go get the children from school. She was painting and did not realize how bad it was getting outside. She finally went to get them. The road at that time was unpaved red clay. She spun out at the intersection two miles from home but did not get stuck and continued to get them. At the time we had about forty cows to look after. I saw the power lines beginning to ice and called Larry(store owner) and asked him to come back to work. By the time I got home it was snowing hard and power was off due to icing lines. We had an old 1950 era TO-30 Ferguson tractor that ran on propane so I went to get it to feed the cows before the weather got any worse. When I cranked it the gas regulator started building up ice and it shut down. I got our station wagon and fed cows from it. Cows had icicles hanging from their ears. Snow getting worse by the minute. Remember this is sunny South Ga where it does not snow. Snowed all night and by next morning we had 18 inches on the ground. I went to feed cows with station wagon and could not find road and ran it into ditch where it stayed for three days. Had to haul feed to cows in buckets. Meanwhile our beautiful palimino horse was having a ball. He would run and flip over on his back and slide in the snow. We had gas heaters in each room in case of power outage so heat was no problem. Of course the pump was electric so water was not available from the well. There is a creek below house so I could lower a 5 gallon bucket to get water to flush commodes. Melted snow for drinking water. I had another problem. I was the pharmacy consultant at Stewart-Webster Hospital in Richland Ga 25 miles away. I had to do a narcotic inventory on nursing station and reissue what was needed within every 7 day period. Finally got a Jeep from a friend and took off North. Another problem. The icing had been much worse North of us. I had 4 miles of dirt road to negotiate before reaching US 27. I drove the Jeep around and thru 42 pine tops in the road before reaching highway. The previous Saturday night we had been playing cards with the county health nurse and her husband. She had a gall stone attack while we were playing and had emergency surgery. She got out of the hospital about the time the bad weather started. They live about 10 miles from us and the house was total electric. Guess what. No heat and no water. They had an old house on their land with a fireplace so Robbie and I loaded the Jeep with chainsaw and whatever else we could find and took off over there. We cut firewood and got them going. Finally on Feb 12 the road was opened and things returned to normal. I thawed tractor regulator and pulled station wagon out of ditch. Never seen snow like that in South Ga in my life before or since __________________ NRA Endowment Member Keep Your Powder Dry -->

02-09-2012, 08:09 PM	#2
Shooter45 Administrator Join Date: Feb 2001 Contributor Posts: 8,753	Re: February 9 1973 Bob, we had weather like that up here that year. I was out of the country and missed it. I'm glad.

02-09-2012, 09:50 PM	#3
Zhurh Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Upper Yukon, Alaska Posts: 1,818	Re: February 9 1973 I went through a 7.9 shaker on Nov 3rd 2002, when the ground opens up in the front yard, you half expect to see the devil come climbin out. Funny how you never forget those dates. My huntin buddy from Covington keeps telling me about catfish in the cold weather.

02-10-2012, 08:05 AM	#4
Double D TFF Moderator/Host Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: North Florida Contributor Posts: 8,073	Re: February 9 1973 I saw light snow once back in 89. __________________ I own a bunch of scary guns. You want em? Come and take em..... Liberalism is a serious, non curable, mental disorder... NRA LIFE MEMBER Oath Keepers Member NRA Certified Instructor 30 Yr CC permit holder.

02-10-2012, 01:17 PM	#6
boatme99 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Midddle Tennessee Posts: 139	Re: February 9 1973 Funny Bob, I was stationed at Charleston AFB then. We got over a foot of snow. It closed down the whole Charleston area for a week. Haven't thought of that in years.

02-10-2012, 06:53 PM	#7
Snakedriver Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SW. Florida Posts: 1,219	Re: February 9 1973 I remember that year very well. On Feb 9th of '73 I would have been home in Kansas City just about a week after coming home from my year in Vietnam. The first thing I did was go down to the dealer and buy me a brand new Honda 750 motorcycle to celebrate life. It was too cold to ride it, but I didn't care, I did it anyway! __________________ Fear is a reaction..........Courage is a decision

02-11-2012, 06:03 AM	#8
68c15 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2,060	Re: February 9 1973 mine is Jan. 3rd 1989. I was out scouting for a spot to fish when my car dropped through. I have never been so scared in all my life and have not been on the ice since.

02-11-2012, 09:18 AM	#9
Zhurh Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Upper Yukon, Alaska Posts: 1,818	Re: February 9 1973 Never broke through ice in vehicle, (except at edges) now that would be spooky. I went through once in chest waders in beaver pond, chin deep & bouncing off the bottom, and some pond water. Finally got the ice broke to get chest deep and waders rolled down; man did I get the flu outta that mistake. Been through all kinds of overflow in rivers on snowmachine. Once I had to pull skis up on ice and motorboat sled to shore. Went over sideways and AR came off went under water, I was searching on a lower level of ice and found her. It was minus 20 and I had to ride 9 miles home. By the time I got here, I was almost solid and stood in front of wood stove to melt, ha. Been lucky with ice over the years.

02-11-2012, 04:14 PM	#10
armedandsafe Former Guest Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Moses Lake, WA Posts: 10,344	Re: February 9 1973 Good Friday, 1965. I was in Anchorage, picking up a new hire to escort to the training site. We were sitting in a coffee shop when, suddenly, everybody jumped up and ran outside. Even the wait staff and the cooks. ??????????? So, New Guy and I strolled outside to see what was going on. Everybody was standing around and yelling "EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!" I looked at New Guy, he looked at me, we shrugged and went back inside. He had been raised in San Francisco, and I had been raised in Boulder City, Nevada as the Lake Mead grounds was still settling. For us, earthquakes were almost a daily occurance. We hadn't even felt the quake. The other people were those who had lived through Good Friday, 1964. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake Pops