Weekly commercial herald., 1886-03-05
AFURioUs STORM

Houses, Frustrating Telegraph
Wire and Cutting Various Strange
capers.
NEW YORK, Feb. 27-Folks who
happened to meet the wind yesterday,
when 1t was humping itself for the
eighty-fourth mile mark, felt as IL they
had run up against a brick wall. It
swept along and across the streets and
avenues in fierce gusts, hurting show
ers of dust and gravel In the faces Of
pedestrians. 1t whisked hats off of
heads and blew them under the wheels
of vehicles to be crushed or cut to
pieces. 1t propelled the east-bound
cross-town cars with such swiftness
that drivers could stop them only by
a vigorous application Of the
brakes. 1t pinned the drivers of
the west.bound cars against
the doors. 1t smashed glass in the
car windows, unhinged signs and
shutters, snapped off poles, ferryboats
were driven out Of their courses and
the light spars of vessels in the harbor
were broken. Unretarded across the
desert of the City Hall park the gale
madly cavorted and made existence
very lively for people who passed the
corner of Park Row and Frankfort
streets. So fierce was the gale there,
that pedestrians had to walk at an
angle of 45 degrees to keep from being
blown down. A woman was slammed
against telegraph pole in front Of
the French hotel and clung to it until
a policeman rescued her. So i'm
mense quantity Of water
was blown out Of the har-
bor that at high tide the river
had the appearance they have when
the tide is unusually low at low water
mark. AT $3.50 o'clock last evening
the surface of the rivers was 10. Is
and 20 feet from the top Of the piers,
and the bridges at the ferries ran down
at an angle Of early forty-fve degrees.
The telegraph, telephone and electric
light wires were blown down in all
parts Of the city. Repairing the wires
was rendered impossible as the line
men were unable to stand upon the
cross arms of the poles. Adventurous
people who crossed the Brooklyn
bridge on foot, wished they had not.
When they got about halfway over
they were seen clinging desperately to
to the iron fence to keep
themselves from involuntarily follow
ing Odlum. The bridge itself was
transformed into huge Aeloian harp.
The signal service observer had been
inclined to think the gale would 60
down with the sun, but it kept up the
liveliest sort of way, and at midnight
seemed to be 6ercer than ever. This
was because the air was sharper by
several degrees than it was at sun
down, the mercury ranging thirteen
degrees. The signal service man said
then the greatest force of the blizzard
had been exerted.
The maximum velocity Of the wind
at Boston was 6fty-one miles,
which is just little more than
half as hard as it blew
here. The only place that
showed the wind record higher than
this proud metropolis, was Mount
Washington, where it blew one hun
dred and thirty miles. Another cold
wave is Matching in the northwest to
descend upon us.
10 a.m.-So far as comfort is con
cerned to-day it is far worse than yes
terday. The thermometer has fallen
to z degrees above zero, and the wind
is still blowing a gale at from 6fty-one
to fifty.six miles an hour. But one
sailing vessel has arrived here since
night before last, and that required the
assistance Of two tugs. The bay is
deserted, and no steamers have arrived,
although number are reported off
the coast unable to make New York
harbor against the terrific gale, which
is blowing. Telegraphic connection
with the surrounding country is worse
than yesterday. No wires are work
ing to Boston or the east. A number
of business houses have been unroofed
in this city and Brooklyn, but about
the only people injured have been
unlucky pedestrians, who were blown
against buildings.