The New York herald., 1879-01-03

eral blocks. unroohng and demolishing houses ana
ontbuildings and uprooting trees. William doss was M
killed by falling chimney About ninety iee' u 'n0
steamboat wharf was carried away.
ASPECT OF THE CITY YEsrERDAY-sUDrEN
CHANGE FROM SNOW TO sLusH--sMALL BOYS
NAL HAPPY.
The light snowfall Of New Years Day continued
quite heavily during the night. and when New York
woks yesterday morning. the picturesque but rather
omnous spectacle presented itself to its sleepy eyes
of sidewalks roofs and chimney tops wrapped in
deep snow. while the tinkling Of the sleigh bells
and the rattle of boys sledges greeted the ear
with pleasant familiarity. Youthful tramps
and semi-genteel boys who were anxious
to make extra quarter of dollar which they might
spend unknown to their parents did quite dashng
business in going from house to house and offering
to sweep away the from the stoops and steps for
a small consideration The from half a
foot to foot deep, and it quite curious sight
to watch these groups Of lively juveniles welding
quite dcxterously broom and shovel, and wandering
about in the snowstorm from house to. house. not
only without the protection OF umbrellas. but.
in many cases. even bareheaded. II the snowstorm
was unwelcome to those who feared wet foet and
other consequences Of exposure, it most de-
ghtful to all the youngsters who could hardly swal-
low their breakfasts before rushing out with their
sledgcs and dragging each other about through tho
thick, hard snow with rollicking enjoyment On the
Madison horse car limo number of the little
sledges were drawn by the sod-natured conductors
who had consented to pull along the strings
SNOW MELTING INTO sLUsH
1t was a touching experience to many people who
in the habit of hiring horses Irom the livery
stables to ind that none we're obtainable, for the
reason that the extraordinarily heavy drafts made
upon their strength New Years Day had laid up
nearly all Of them. Hence not nearly SO many
people went out sleighing as might otherwise have
and ttp n if1-
cent business oil day The snowfall continued until
after O'Clock III the afternoon and then the
changes not unfamiliar to New Workers. The sun,
which had been hidden all the morning behind dense.
leaden clouds. burst forth in many places the sky
displayed quite frequent patches Of bright, warm
blue, and there was perceptible rise in the thcr-
momc'er. This was all that was needed to
mantle of beautiful snow into that mis-
erable liquid slush which is the dctestation
of every lover of clean streets and the very worst
plague and worry Of the Street Cleaning Department.
Particularly this the case down town. where the
greater movement of vehicles aud human travel had
naturally prevented the snow from accumulatns as
deep as the less frequentcd portions of uptown.
And then people shut up their umbrellas and made
up their minds to brave, instead or the sun aDoves
the slush below them.
THE TRAFFIC. IN THE STREETS.
But soon again there was another change. Down
few the feathery flakes once more, and toward dusk
it turned intensely cold, and the wind which sud-
denly veered the northwest increased it's velocity
from FIVE to about twenty 1--we miles per hour. The
eddyi.g frozen particles being whired up and driven
sharp into peoples faces made quite uncomfortable
to reIuain the streets. and everybody hurried
home fast possible. In the morning the down
travel had been very heavy, for hundreds who
usually stay away from their business uuon
such a stormy day could not afford to do so right
after holiday. On Third avenue the horse
were better patronized than they had been any day
since the opening of the cast side elevated railroad
to Harlem for the discomforts OF the exposed
sheltered sairways the e deferred many OF their
usual patrons from mounting them. In the after
noon the rush up town was 80 great that even be-
tween three and FIVE, when the fare ten
cents, many people were seen standing in
the trains. The up trains made generally
rather slow time owing to tho wet and
heavy track, which made IL very uphill work for
the small engines to mount high grades. On the
Ninth avenue ''e where the grades ~, some places
are preposterousy steep. there, was considerable
delay and All en- ne to dead sfop for quite
lonu time before sufficient steam could be got up to
pull the train the, high grade at Thiry-first
Street. On the Sixth avenue EEL the travel
was very large, and passengers appreciated
immensely the covered sairways, the storm parti
tions extending from the top landing along the
roar of the platforms. and the moderate, genial
warmth Of every which was most grateful to
every one coming in out OF the bleak storm There
was comparatively little delay in the horse cars,
most of which only drawn by two horses. the
snowfall being hardly heavy enough to require ey-
ira teams. After q couple of hours showing in the
afternoon it stopped again and then the evening
mained clear cold. gusty and with a pleasant
promise of hard frozen sush for this morning
excellenly adapted for slipping and breaking ones
legs