The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-17
While the City Is the Scene of Much Incon-
venience and Suffering Because of
Great Scarcity of Soft Coal
The Big Four and Other Railway Lines
Badly Blockaded Near Kankakee.
Heavy Rains and Snow in the East, Accom-
panied by Loss of Life-An Unusually
High Tide in New York Bay.
CHICAGO AND VICINITY.
The Railways tn the South and East Again
Blockaded by Snow Drifts.

The Railways to the South and East Again
Blockaded by Snow Drifts.
CHICAGO, Feb. 16-The weather in this city
and throughout the Northwest has been intense
ly cold all day. At s o'clock this morning tho
mercury indicated fifteen degrees below zero.
The day was clear, but the storm signals of the
government were flying all day, and notwith-
standing the influence of the bright sunshine,
the mercury only struggled up few degrees. 1t
reached its highest point--four degrees below
at o'clock this afternoon. at 6 o'clock it had
fallen to six below, and at 9 it was ten degrees
below, while reports from the West and North
west from which it comes indicate still lower
temperature before morning. Street-ear
travel has been slow and tedious,
and the working people have suffered
much delay and inconvenience in going to and
returning from work The cable car lines have
experienced more trouble within the past two or
three days than at any time during the winter.
The snow of yesterday was heavy and hard to
handle, and the low temperature has made the
machinery brittle, so that the traction cable has
snapped once or twice. ard the pulley has done
the same, compelling the company to use horses
to draw it's for considerable time since
Saturday. The result was several blockades and
much suffering from cold weather by the waiting
people.
Trains on most of the railroads have been
greatly aaellaxed durins the day and the situation
seemed to grow worse rather than bet,
southeast suffered most. The Chicago
q Alton. the Illinois Central the Louisville.
New Albany e. Chicago, and some other roads
are completely blocked by drifting snow, and
~ +hn 10 o1i 10 III A.,on IL
freight trains. Some Of the east-bound roads
refused to take freight for transmission; west
ern roads are being rapidly blocked up with
freight for transmission east, and many train
loads side tracked beyond the city limits,
waiting to be switched across to the connecting
roads, which not now in condition to receive
them The mails are greatly behind time, and
irregular from every direction and business is
being seriously affected on that account
Reports from Western and Northwestern points
show tho following temperatures, all below
zero: Omaha, 13; ST. Paul, TO- Des Moines, I6;
Dubuque. Is; Fargo, D; r.. 20, jamestown.
d. t., 81; Winnipeg, 81 Denver reports SO
above.
A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy passen-
ger train, due here at 7 o'clock this
morning, reached the suburb of Downer's
at full speed when misplaced switch sent it on
q sde-track, where it struck switch engine.
The two engines of the passenger train and the
switch-engine were nearly demolished, but no
OuS was iuJuASVi oASCpt uLoIudu, WHO Ildu d
leg broken
A Kaukakee, H., telegram says "a passen-
ger train, west-bound the Cincinnati, In
dianapolis St Louis s. Chicago road, is now
bound in ten feet of snow, east of st. Anne, and
an east-bOund passenger train is held at Kanka-
kee relief crew is stuck in the snow near St.
Anne The east bound passenger train from
Seneca, due at Kankakee at z o'clock this
morning, is snow-bound. The Illinois Central
trains are four hours late "
The south bound mail train which left Chicago
at A. NJ is showed in at Montero in five feet of
snow, which has drifted since ii A. NJ. to-day.
The north bound accommodation is showed in at
Tucker, five miles below Montero The snow
blockade the Cincinnati Indianapolis. st.
Louis & Chicago road is unbroken near St Anne,
and it is believed will so remain until to morrow
noon. No trains are moving on the Indiana.
Illinois & Iowa road.
AS result of the railroad blockade six thea
ters here failed to give performances to night.
The Olympic. the Peoples, the Standard, the
Academy, the Lyceum and the Criterion were the
houses which announced that their respective
companies We're detained on out-of- they sid
ings and in country snow banks. The other
theaters. Notwithstanding the frigid tempara-
ture did a rushing business, account of the
unusually small number of places ready to sup
ply the demand for entertainment.