The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-01-22
ROUGH on THE RAILROADS.
Heavy Winds Cause Serious BlOckades
on all the Lines.-.Trains Delayed
and Annulled.

All tnht Is necessary 10 uioCn tho
roads up solid now" said Division Super
iutendent Brown, of the c., B. Il O., who
had come in on snow pillow last evening.
sis wind We could stand more snow.
rather than wind, if it were heavy and
more compact but the present snow is
so light and feathery that the wind will
raise it in clouds and drop it on the track
in heaps, which will be almost impossible
to penetrate" For several days all the
railroads have feared gale. They had
jus, dug theme elves out OF the snow
which fell on Wednesday,. and were gets
ting along nicely|whe n this morning their
dread anticipationsl were realized. 1t
was altogether pleasant winter night;
not cold, but rather cloudy, with indica>
tons of snow. The weather was calm,
but about 3 O'Clock this morning there
was change; orders came from Wash.
ington to the signal service office at Dav-
export to hoist the black flag. The wind
rosa genuine blizzard fresh from the
frigid regions of Montana, came. The
skies cleared away about Z o'clock, but
the air was filed with snow not
from the clouds, but from the
ground tile wind was playing
havoc with it. The effect was soon felt
ON THE RAILROADS.
Great drifts filled the tracks in many
places. The early trains from all direc-
tons got in on time, or nearly so, and the
tr ,ins leaving Rock Island were given
double headers.
The cannon BALI train from st. Paul,
on the c., r. l. & p, due here at $50. is
stuck in n snow bank. west of West Lib
erty. The Atlantic accommodation and
1913 Chicago accommodation were an.
nulled this morning. as were all freights.
The company has snow plows out
and hope to send out trains on tine to>
night
The Bushnell express on the G., B. 4
O., due at Rock Island at 1916, is snow
bound the other side of Monmouth, and
will be in late this afternoon. The snow
pillow went ont at 8 clock this morning in
charge Of Superintendent Brown and vii
clear away the track as fast as possible
The Sterling and several other freights
were withdrawn. By continuous work
the road hopes to get trains out tonight
for St. Louis, as usual.
This mornings Peoria express on thu
r. |. & P, went ont on time with doubl,
header, ard the mail and express came in
several hours late this afternoon and will
not return The Gable branch of thi
road is open and trains are running al
right
The c., NJ. & St. P. is more fortunate
than the other roads. All trains arrived
and departed on time this morning
freight and passenger alike. But. al
though the company's local officials say
they never meet trouble half way, it is
apparent that they have grave apprehen
slous as to tonight's trains.
Unless this wind subsidies. said al
/
official this morning. "all the roads viii
be blocked up entirely. What's the use il
cleaning off the tracky Tie wind hurl
the snow over the track as fast as we cal
clean it away There is no US
sending out trains, When those that ar
out are barely moving along If we sen
train out it is likely TO run into sno'
drift and stay there several hours. Wher
travellers have good quarters in com
Portable hotel, they had better stay Their
till tho wind ceases. Trains are movin
with great difficulty aud there is no Gel
tainty in railroad travel just now"
i IN ROCK ISLAND
the effect Of the clustering weather
shown everywhere. Business streets al
deserted, and no one ventures out unles
j compelled to. Street cars are greatly de
layed in making their trips, and whe
one appears on the street, he hurrie
along to get out of the cutting wind.
The Vescelius opera company, whic
, completed its engagement here last nigh
il snow bound, The company's mex
| stop was at Wilton, Iowa, but theI
/ is no way Of getting there in time, an
Manager Knell has arranged for repeti
ton of last evenings performance at tn
extremely low price of twenty cents a
over the house and ten cents in the ga
lery.
The mercury tumbled rapidly from