New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-24
DEITEy 70 SHELTER BY THE COLD.
TRYING WEATHER FOR THE HOMELE,s-ICE ~ TIE
EIVEE-sTEEET CLEANING.

TRYING WEATHER FOR THE HOMELE>s-lCE ~ TIE
EIvEE-sTEEEr CLEANING.
Snow began falling last night at o'clock
and continued to fall without intermssOn throughout
the night The weather in the middle OF the day the
sevcrest experienced this At p. the Their
mometcr the Signal Service station I'm the Equitable
marked ony degrees above zero which Is 20 degrees
below the freezing point. There fortunately but lit
tic wind. There Is way by which the thermometer
can Indicate the quality Of hot or cold weather
and # has long been obvious that expressions have
not yet been devised 10 discriminate between
the various kinds, The Indications received from
different parts Of the country Presagd Tor there
was falling barometer along the whole region west,
northwest and southwest Of New York and rising Their
momcicr with the west and northwest and rain
in the southwest At o'clock the red light appeared
the storm signal,
The effect Of the extreme cold the bridge was OBJ
served by the policemen. There three slip Joints
provide for expansion and contraction in the three spans
In warm weather, when the chords expand the slip
joints slide forward In cold weather. when the chords
contract they slide backward. They have moved apart
about seven inches from tho normal point two iuchc,
being the result Of yesterdays contraction This wa. on
the alp joints the end spans, which six feet IN
length provision having been made for far more cxpan
sion and contraction than On the central
span the contraction amounts to fourteen inches.
owing TO the severity o. the cold snap there was con
however and offered obstruction TO the ferry boats
The houclcss wanderers OF the streets shyered In door
ways and about the markets and In all places that gave
some shelter from the bcnumbng cold, until the darkness
began TO fall when they gathered around the various
police precincts that have accommodation for dodgers
In the Ninth and Twenty seventh Precincts the dodgers
are Of somewhat better class, especially the women
ami therefore who make practice OF asking for
nights lodging n dirty and shiftless go somewhere else
The hard cases" gather In the Fourth Precinct In
Oak-st, in the Sixth Precinct in Eizabcths and the
Fourteenth Precinct in Mulbcuy-st. Hero there Is
refusal n cold, rainy. snowy night
and the limited quarters filled Appca-
tOns made To the Sergcantin-charge, or TO
the Captain, the o'clock relief has marched
out Applicants have need 20 speak; they enter aud
nod gives consent, aud they hasten TO tho quarters
night there wcre seventy five men and twenty-one
women. The beds were simple panks about two feet
wide upon platform raised some twenty Inches from the
floor. The stencil from the crowded rooms was over
powerng. In the males room tho occupants were for
the most part LADS seventeen or eighteen years Old with
rcpulsvc faces, low fOrcheads and brcng brOws. The
ally they did stroke OF work, shOveng coal or snow,
but rs rule they oaicd about becrshops aud would
respectable people get swept into the great net on
nights as last night In the Elizabethst police
ton there among tho thryhyc some seven or
eight who At glance seemed 100 good for such a sorry
company. There was an old man, whitehaircd, with
high forehead and a mild Look whose clothes
aud who seemed dazed and Supplied by his misery. The
door-man thought las was a bookpeddler who had
turned adrlft There were young with honest looks
who had the air OF mechanics. The Fourteenth precinct
ia Mdbrrryst Is pretty much the the SIXTH but
last night the strain upon II for accommodation
great and the officers managed to lodge
quarters that large for half that number.
Those who could huddled together the platform
who came late lay under II, and upon the floor
There the Oycr-crOwdmg and the same misery
I'm EdridPcst. The number OF hOuselcss old women seen
was surprising. In all the precincts visited by the
reporter Il for the part old ragged
and drunken. IL found necessary to eXpel IN
each Of the bad precincts In the twenty pre-
cinct there were only four women and seven men.
They socially round the stove IN the corridor chat
ting, and Old Irish woman distributed among them
some food from newspaper. In LeOnaTd-s precinct
there were only four men and four women, al quiet
clean and sober.
The force OF men, horses aud carts the disposal OF
Street Cleaning Commissioner Coleman and the CONTRACT
tors and such Others could De obtained, engaged
during the day in removing the and leo from the
most travelled thOrOughfrrs Broadway was cleaned
from the Battery 20 Thirty fOrhst Fulton, Liberty Cor
land Wall and Chambers Sta were thoroughly cleaned
Maist put In fair shape late In the day Printing
House Square thoroughly cleaned. The piles OF
I'm Nassaust. removed. A good deal OF snow was
also taken out of Vesey, Warren and Murray ss. aud
Park place. Portions OF Fourteenth and Twenty-thrd
ats. cleared The work OF removing the snow and
fee will be continued In the business during the
week, although the daily removal OF ashes and garbage
prevents using than part OF the Orcefor the extra
work