New-York tribune., 1873-01-20
JANUARY CHANGES.
ALTERNATE RAIN AND FROST.

ALIERNAlE hAlN AMI Il.
TELEGRAPH WIRES AGAIN ENDANGERED-THE
STREET CLEANING BUREAU AT WORK IN
EARNEST.
The capriciousness of January's moods was
again manifested Saturday driving storm OF sleet
and rain closely followed ny hard frost, and in
few hours rainrops had clustered into cices and the
had donned bridal The wind died away
during the night aud in the morning raw. chilly
atmosphere discouraged church, goers The SUMS rays
did little midday, TO soften the banks aud
thus the freshets the Hudson and New Jersey
streams which had been In motion by the rapid thaw
were temporarily retarded.
The Of Saturday was disastrous in its Of
fecs that Of the 5h lust The telegraph wires of the
various lines coated with ice. and it not
thick as on the former occasion. The Western Union
Telegraph report that there scarcely any
loss from the snsppinR wires and that the nerrup
tion to business was very slight
The police telegraph worked well, and the communi-
cation between the staonhouses and the central office
was uninterrupted. The Fire Commissioners were ap-
prehensve that their lines doomed to the fate
that befell them recently, when not single circuit
in working order, and in many places the wires were
broken, while in the Boulevards, and in other exposed
places, poles prosrated In Wow of such contn
gency the Fire Commissioners and Chief Engineer
maned at Fremens Hall during the entire day, watch
ing the OF events and ready TO take the same
precautionary as before, when the patrols
provided to carry the news of fire to the various
companies in the district where it occurred.
Throughout the entire day reports were received ct
intervals from various parts Of the city in regard to the
condition OF the wires and the probability of their stand
ing the strain upon them. BY nigbfa the weather had
moderated and the wires relieved of much of their
burden, and below Fifty yninths the circuits were re-
ported to be working well with serious breaks but
precautions taken the less during the night to
the rapid transmission OF alarms OF hre Inc
damages TO the wires above Ffyninthst caused earlier
in the month have not yet been repaired. Along the
Boulevards, Sc poles have been erected but &c
additional will have 70 be erected and the wires
attached before communication with the uptown CON-
panies can be rendered complete.
Pedestriansm during thelday was attended with much
peril The steps Of stores and dwellings, the pavemens,
and the streets where travel inrequent were
sheeted with ice, and many serious casualties arc re-
ported by the police. Broadway, West Broadway Canal
ST. Park-row, and of the other leading downtown
thoroughfares were badly blocked with vehicles during
the day. especially in the morning, and that por
ton of the afternoon when the tide Of travel sets up
town. Vehicles Of all descriptions were interminged
with streetcars and stages aud the air res0unded with
the oaths of enraged drivers.
THE sTREET-cLEANIsG BRIGADE.
The warm weather OF the latter part of the past week
had the effect of nearly completing the work begun by
Superintendent Thorne and his streeteleaning brigade
directly after the great storm, and continued at
intervals ever since. On Friday night, super
intendent Thorne placed $50 men and 100 carts
on the work, and Broadway was swept compare
tlvey clean from the Battery to Fourteenth
ST. Unfortunately, the storm early on Saturday
brought to naught the handwork Of the StreeCeaning
Bureau and clean streets only by the milk
men and others whose lot il is to begin their rounds at
4 a. IN. On Saturday a force OF men was employed
keep open the cuverts and TO remove snow and ice
This work was sadly interfered with. owing TO the
Of Tho Durin
business portion of the city lie comparatively deserted,
and Superintendent Thorne determined to have a
greater amount of work performed than on any previous
day Early yesterday force OF 1000 laborers and GOO
set to in Canalst and tue
streets between it and the Battery This force was
divided into % gangs each under the direction Of
experienced foreman. The foremen had received their
instructions from the superintendent and TO each was
assigned certain area No attempt made TO clean the
streets down the pavement but rather to remove Sc
rous distractions and thus TO obviate the "blocks
that have retarded travel ever since the snowfall High
mounds of snow and ice were heaped up in Canal Chat
ham, Hudson, Barclay and other streets and in East
and West Broadway and Parkrow, on either side OF the
railroad tracks and vehicles compelled 10 take the
tracks instead Of the roadway. Hence there was con-
slant blockade during the morning and afternoon when
travel is greatest The railroad companies whose cars
pass through West Broadway and Canal-s could have
well afforded to remove those distractions, and thus re-
eve the pressure which their cars were so long sub
ected but they neglected TO do So and superintendent
Thorne has undertaken the job
Several thousand LOADS of and ice were removed
Yesterday from these thorougares and the benefit to
the travelling community will be apparent this morning
in the greater freedom from bockades.
INCIDENTS.
The equestrian figure of George Washington in Union
square has been clothed in coat OF ice and otherwise
decorated TO the whms Of Jack Frost His face is
covered with transparent ice, and gracefully tapering
elele ornaments his The tail Of his pTancing steed
ia elongated by an icy pendant while the uprased fore
foot ia spiked by another. The Lincoln statue on the
opposite side Of the square has not escaped the touch OF
the same artist.
The mails from the north were detained somewhat on
Saturday but business will receive their letters
from all points this morning.
John Connolly age &C. OF No. 20 South Ffthst Brook
vn E. D. slipped the ice IN Firstst, yesterday, ana
in irving to recover his balance, ran an iron picket
almost through his left hand.
Clans Ryerson of No. q Hamton-ave, Brooklyn fell,
Yesterday on the sidewalk front OF his residence and
broke both arms.
Patroman Hayes Of the First Police Precinct OF BrooK
lyn fell on the ice in Westinghouse, yesterday ana
severely injured his head and shoulder.
John Duncan and James Andrews fell upon the ice In
East Newark, N. j., on Saturday night. Andrews
bruised his head and is still unconscious, while hls COM
panon's arm was broken.
A SERIES OF FRESHETS.
HIGH WATER IN NEw-JERsEY AND IN IHE
HUDSON VALLEY.
H. ,oost poticaahlp affects of the