The Portland daily press., 1888-03-15

On the Eastern.
Large drifts on the Eastern Division OF
the Boston de Maine road have been reported
in the vicinity OF Marblehead and Glouees-
ter. On the Saugus branch line no trouble
was experienced, the trains arriving in Bos-
ton on time. One freight train went out
Monday night and another yesterday morn
ing. Word has been received from the lat
ter that 1t is off the track, but at just what
point was not learned.
FROM BURIED MASSACHUSETTS.
Railroads Lost from Sight for Miles
and Miles.
SOUTH FRAMINGHASf, Mas, March A.
| The storm in this section has been the most
severe known for many years. Such delays
as have been experienced on the railways,
and especially those running west from Bos-
ton, have rarely been heard Of in Massachu-
setts, and for miles and miles the rails are
completely buried in snow banks, not even
the road bed being discernible. The snow is
not Of the light and feecy kind, but very
heavy, damp and hard to move, in some
cases impeding the progress of the snow
ploughs very much. The blockade, which
began Monday evening, will in many in
stances not be broken before tonight, and in
some localities within ZOE miles OF Boston
trains will probably be hindered in their
| progress longer than that. The snow Is
| from ~ to "a inches deep. and in some
cases huge drifts measuring five and six feet
| In depth are found. All day long what
available help could be obtained has been
employed by the railroads, in addition to the
regular force, for the purpose of shoyelling
and removing snow from side tracks and
station platforms, large number of car
loads of it having been taken away and
dumped Interesting tales have reached
here of snowbound or stalled passenger
trains lying west Of this point on the Boston
IL Albany railroad, and as result very few
passengers have attempted to leave here for
western points by this road today. No
mails have been received at this oftice from
western points since Monday forenoon, and
in some towns the mail service has been
much more seriously interfered with.
Telegraph poles and wires are so heavily
laden with ice and snow that they have
either been broken or rprostrated The tele-
phone wires are also very badly damaged in
some sections. Snow ploughs are kept con-
stantly running, but some OF the drifts are
almost impenetrable. 1t Is very rare oc-
currence Ia see the traffic Of so old and well
Albany so badly interrupted as has been the
case in the present instance. But the block
ade is only a temporary one.
The spectacle of about Geo people, and
railway passengers. too, being detained at
one point within 20 miles of Boston the
whole of one night and a portion Of the fol-
lowing day Is, to say the least, novel one,
yet such was realized at Concord Junction
on the Fitchburg railroad during the block
ade, as six passenger trains were detained
between Concord Centre and Concord juno
tion stations during the time named, and
these passengers were not conveyed 70 their
destinations until about noon or after on
Tuesday. These delayed passengers stopped
in the cars, railroad stations, and at farm
houses or anywhere else that temporary ae-
| commodations could be obtained. One train
| Of the Fltchburg road lay at a point near
| SANDY Pond, not far from Aver, for 10
| hours, unable to move, but 1t proceeded to
Boston at an early hour yesterday afternoon.
Big Drifts on the Albany.
Boston, March 14.-The extent and sever
| ity Of the storm have been such as to com
| pletely astound the Boston q Albany rail-
road officials. No trains will be run to New
York and Albany until further notice on ac-
count of the high and extensive drifts. No
trains are running between Worcester and
Albany. The wires are all down, and it has
been impossible to learn anything about
prospects. There are drifts SEQ to 1000 feet
long between Worcester and Westboro, and
from 6 to 8 feet deep. AT 1880 Monday
night train, comprising two engines and
two passenger cars, left Boston and succeed
ed In reaching Worcester at s o'clock Tues
day morning. At S30 it started on its re-
turn to this city, and reached here at 12.4O
yesterday noon. No train has gone farther
west than Worcester. Enormous drifts are
reported between Palmer and Springfield,
and 1t may require day or two 70 work
train through to the latter city. No trains
were run either way yesterday on the north
ern division of the Old Colony road, and con-
sequently, Clinton, Marlboro and other plae-
es on that line are isolated from the rest OF
the world temporarily. All the circuit
trains are running. and travel has been es-
tablished pretty nearly on time as lar as
South Framingham. A train left Boston at
5.25 last evening, and at $50 had got as far
as Westboro, where 1t remained awaiting
orders from Boston as to whether 1t should
proceed or not Telegraphic communication
| to Worcester was all right last evening, Dut
to no point beyond.
The Lowell Road.
The Lowell road is suffering severely, es-
| pecialy on the Central Massachusetts diyis-
| ion. Monday night, Train Dispatcher Rob-
inson. leaving one man in the Boston office,
went cut personally to try to straighten
| things, sending one-half of his men to Nash
| ua. and the rest to Wilmington. They report
| a very heavy fall Of snow, averaging two
| feet, with many deep drifts, and many tele-
| graph poles down. The $50 passenger train
| to Lowell yesterday morning was cancelled,
| but the 0 o'clock one went out on time. Up
| to 10 O'Clock only one train had come in
| from Lowell, the one due here at sos, which
was an hour late The Stoneham local was
| Is minutes late. No others had got in up to
| that hour. Some traius are reported as
| showed up all last night on the Central Mas
| sachusetts. Traffic has been further de-
| layed by falling telegraph poles, which en-
| cumber the track at various places. Com
| munication by wire was first lost by the cut
| ting Of wires from a pole which fell across
| the highway near the bridge at West Med
| ford, yesterday. The last freight train pulled
| out at 315 o'clock Monday afternoon, and
| freight traffic Is now suspended, but District
| Superintendent SymOnds Is working vig0r-
| ously, and hopes to have everything in work
| ing order before Wednesday morning.
| During the day yesterday and last even
| Concord, N. H., but nothing had come IN
| from any point north of there. Trains from
| Stoneham and Reading were running all day
| on pretty fair time. One train on the Cen
/ trail Massachusetts, got as far as Oakdale,and
| was the first one seen there since Monday
noon. There was no traffic west OF Oakdale.
| The telegraph wire TO Northampton worked
/ splendidly all day, and at o'clock yesterday
4 afternoon bhAoubuuuo WAAO
/ was established with Concord. The short
| local wires were badly broken up, but large
| force Of linemen are at work repairing dam
| ages. and, barring further accidents, will
| succeed by this morning In reestablishing
/ communication with several points.
| Horse Cars Stalled.
| WORCESTER, March 1.-THE storm in and
/ about Worcester has been unprecedented.
| Certainly, for at least 25 years, there has
been nothing approaching it for severity.
When the snow began falling at midnight
Sunday the streets were practically clear oJ
snow. Now only the principsl streets are
even passable. A single track has been bro
ken out by the city teams through the centre
/ Of these streets, while great mountains OF
| snow thrown up on the sidewalks line the
narrow paths which have been shoveled for
| foot passers. During the little more than "a
| hours which the storm lasted, more than q
| feet of heavy snow fell on level, and the
fierce gale that prevailed from the northeast
| drifted and packed it almost beyond power
/ Of description. Ii was not until noon Mon
| day that people began to appreciate the Sc
verify Of the storm. The street car eqmpa-