, 1881-01-23


changes. Telephones are used on tho major
ity Of these wires The Company
has telephones i'll s,4oo offices
iii New Yorls. and for the dis
t.,a.. exchanges a wire runs
from every subscribers telephone to dis
trict. exchange The Company has 1900 dis
trict-cxchange wires, of which there were
working yesterday afternoon at O'Clock G9o
wires Out Of. The $40 private lines i'll use
but 2Gl were working. The situation IS not
much better to-day.
THERE HAS BEEN But ON. OCCASION PRIOR
to this in this city where telcEraptalc com-
munication was cut oil, ard that was in Jan
nary, 1873. but that storm occurred oil Sun-
day, anu the interruption was not as
seriously felt by the business public
as on this occasion. No greater
destruction Of telegraph poles and wires was
effected by yesterdays storm than that along
the Erie Railroad from the Bergen Tunnel
toPaterson. Ali along the line OF the Hack
cnsack meadows not one pole III ten is left
standing. Beside this, the wires are lying on
the ground, broken and tangled. and the i'll
sularors and cross-pieces are an almost conf
ple.e wreck. The poles are not uprooted,
but, In almost every case, broken off, so that
new ones will have to be substituted. The
strain to which they were subjected is seen
in the fact that sound chestnut poles are
broken and spliutered as if they we're
matches. The wires across the Hackensack
River lay fiat on tic earth this morning. Inc
work OF replacing the poles in the present
frozen condition Ct the ground will be dlill-
cult and tedious.
RECKONING UP.
The telegraph and telephone officials say
that the value Of the property de-
stroyed BY the storm, without doubt, ex-
ceels S5oo,0oo, and the loss OF
patronage will amount to unnumbcred
thousands. The officers Of the varions COM
pa,ies are not, however, in Il moodto talk
much about the great disaster, and dis
missed many of their visitors with :
-.poS'r TALK TO ME. wE'1sE ALL BUSTED
The Western Union Company Ihad no
wires working in the city until late this aft
ernoo,l. There were two wires in good order
at Williams Bridge, and fifteen instruments
were taken there. The Superintendent OF
the operating-room in the main office in this
city expected to have two wires from
this city to. Philadelphia Tonight, and
one was gotten in order about
o'clock. There were three wires from Eliza
beth to Philadelphia working smoothly. All
messages were taken by the boys to Eliza
beth and Williams Bridge, and large forces
of the most expert operatives were at these
points,
One of the officers of the Company thought
that the damage to their property would not
exceed 100000, but
THE IMPRESSION AMONG TELEGRAPH MEN
GENERALLY
is that the Western Union's loss is much
heavier. Over 500 linemen were ut
work. Many Of them were sent here
from. Massachusetts,, Connecticut, and
New Jersey. The Atlantic s. Pacific Tele-
graph Company sent their Eastern mes
saces by boys on the Elevated
Railroad trains to Harlem during
the day, where they had
wire connecting with Boston. From Newark
to Philadelphia and the West and South the
wires were all right. This evening they
wereS pleased, to announce that they
had wire working to PHILADELPHIA and
the south, and that the Boston wire
yet held its own. The Company
has 800 linemen at work, and expects
to have large number of the wires in good
order by tomorrow. They say that they can
not estimate the damage done their property.
THE METROPOLITAN TELEPHONE TELE-
GRAPH COMPANY
do not expect to haze their wires working
within five or six weeks, and say that their
loss will be "simply terrible" The lacE
of telegraph facilities caused Il con-
tinuation of the practical suspension Of
business on the Produce and Cotton Ex-
changes to-day. At. the former place only
few dispatches were received, all of them
dated Friday. At the latter there was not a
single quotation from any other market
THE MIN.
10 the Vt:tsr.1 Associated Prcxs.
NEW Yona, Jan. 2.-The storm of hail and
rain yesterday causes yet almost an entire
suspension Of te1egraphic communication
throughout the city, both by telegraph and
telephone. Many telcphone-wires which
cannot be operated are only crossed by other
wires, aud as soon as these otstructions are
removed business will be resumed. It is
thought that by tonight about one hundred
more wires will be in operation, but it will
be fully two weeks before the entire system
tan be put in complete working order. Every
nlan that can be found who has any knowl-
edge OF constructing or restoring lines is at
work. A system Of wires running from the
Ercniny Express building across the Post
Office, and thence to the Astor House, up the
west side Of Broadway, was completely pros
trated and
EVERY FRAME WAS TORN DOWN,
Sc it was necessary to build new ones. 4
like condition of affairs is visible in all direc-
tions~ The break in the telephone wires
crossing tie Post-Ofice carried down the
wires Of the Low Telephone Company. This
latter Company has also two bad breaks in
ir+v