St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-03-15
THE WORST YET.
The Severest Snow Storm for Many
Winters.


The balmy weather which prevailed
the last of the week and led every body
to talk and think of spring, gave place
the first of this week to the worst storm
for many years, indeed, old residents
declare that there was never such IL
snow fall in so short time in this vi
cinity, and that the village ways were
never so blocked with snow as was the
case Tuesday morning.
There was six-inclI fall of snow
Sunday night. Monday the storm
prevailed all day, the wind blowing
hard much of the time and piling the
snow into impossible drifts. The snow
plows went the rounds of the village
Monday morning but nothing else was
done to clear the ways during the day.
Tuesday morning the SNOW was breast
high in many of the village streets, the
employees at the Fairbanks works who
drive to the shops couldn't get out
their teams and the men were strag
Cling along in all the forenoon, while
the villagers, armed with shOvels, ex-
pended their energies in trying to find
the way to their front gates. PrOba-
bly, two feet of snow fell while 30 inch
es fall is reported south and west.
Fence posts and other land marks
were buried out of sight and second
winter seems to have set in. One of
the men from the Centre employed at
the scale works was unable to get
through to this village during the day,
the first experience of the kind he has
had in is years. After the paths were
shOveled out in front of dwellings and
stores the snow piles were six and
eight feet high and had very much the
appearance of snow Notifications.
Mail trains came in Monday after
noon two or three hours late, but the
night mails from all directions were
cancelled and no mails from the South
were received on Tuesday and only Il
closed pouch containing papers, etc,
bury was pretty effectually cut off from
the hub as far as mailing facilities
were concerned from Monday night
until Wednesday night. Trains push
cd through from the North Tuesday
but could only run to Woodsville and
White River junction rs trains south
of both these points, on the b. G. 81
M. and down the river, were cancelled.
Although there was more snow over
West on the Lake road than in this
vicinity, in some of the cuts the snow
being 20 feet deep, three locomotives
and plOw pushing through, reaching
here Tuesday evening and turned
about for the return trip again at once.
Trains sent East had not reached Fa
byan's Tuesday afternoon. Despite all
these delays bath the Passumpsic and
Lake roads were clear and ready for
business long before the Southern con
nectiOns could be made.
Some idea of the severity of the
storm i'm this vicinity can be gathered
from the experience of an engineer who
got stuck in the snow at the Centre
Tuesday morning, left his train and
ran his locomotive to this station for
water and returned Immediately. When
he reached the Centre again, however,
the snow had piled in during his brief
| absence to such an extent that he
could not reach his train and had to
call in the services of snow pl0w
from LyndOnville before he could
make connections.
There was no telegraphic communi-
cation between this point and Boston
Tuesday until toward night when Al
dispatch was got through by wiring il
to White River Junction, thence to
Montreal, thence to Portland and from
there to Boston, decidedly round
about trip.
Reports from Southern New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts, especially
along the coast, indicate that this was
the worst storm in New England fol
20 years at least. The regular express
| train that left Boston for the North al
o'clock Monday evening was report
ed stalled in Southern New Hampshir,
Tuesday afternoon. Probably never
in it's history has the Concord road haG
so much difficulty with the snow and
similar reports come in concerning the
B. G. s. NJ. No trains got through al
all on these roads Tuesday and there
was general cancelling of trains OF
the roads out of Boston. Intense anx
iety prevailed for the shipping along
the coast and it is feared that there hal
been great loss of life and property
among the shipping. The storm hat
the effect Of creating the heaviest sea-
off the south shore which have beel
seen since the destruction of Minot'
lighthouse on April Is, 1851.
This Mornings Report.
Though trains are running in all di
rections this morning pretty nearly oil
time from this point, the trouble Soutl
is far from over. No mail matte
whatever came in last night and ther
has been nothing like regular mail ser
vice since Monday night. A clOse'
pouch came in from Boston earl.
Wednesday morning and the mail du
here on the preceding night got in las
evening. There were no mails in til
night last night and no mail clerks o.
any Of the trains A small way mai