New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-19
DAMAGE BY THE STORM.
THE TELEGRAPH SERVICE CRIPPLED.
MANY ewIREs DRAGGED DOWN AND POLES

--'-'A N"ihiS DkAbtrED DOMN AND IOi@l~S
BROKEN BY THEIR LOAD or FROZEN RAIN.
Those of our citizens who arose yesterday morn
ing at fairly early hour and opened their Win
dow-Dlnds to get an idea of the weather were
agreeably surprised to find that the streets while
not IN good shape for walking, presented N
marked contrast to their condition when covered
Win the ice. slush and mud of Saturday. The
thermometer at o'clock stood at 81 degrees, and
| ny go o'clock the streets were tOlerably well
hIied with men and women on their way TO CHURCH
ana elsewhere Early in the morning a small
amount Of fine hail fell after which the sky began
10 clear The wind blew considerably and at
once dried the moisture from those sidewalks from
winch the ice had been removed. The water
which had stood knec-dccp in the cutters all day
| saturday had disappeared and had left quantities
OF ice in small pieces along the curbstoncs. West
ST. was in a bad condition early in the day. but
gradually improved as the weather grew colder
toward evening. The condition of Broadway and
those Of the side streets leading 10 the ferries,
! upon which work had been done by the Street
| Cleaning Department. was much improved.
Inc slcct of Saturday had a bad effect upon the
| telegraph. wires along the Atlantic Coast. Mr..
! Link, night superintendent of the Western Union
| Telegraph Company, said to a reporter last night
| =" Our wires are still in much the same condition
| that they were last night Our connections with
! Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, as well
as with the extreme South. are now in fair work
! ing order. We have no communication with
Sandy Hook Our wires along the NcwJersey
coast are giving tocrblc service. Our wires here
in the city, being all underground, are of course
giving MS no trouble at all We are having con-
siderable trouble with connections in Brook
lyn. Our lines are all out of order between New
| H. A..
cold and has had no tccgnphic communication
with tie world since the storm began. Boston.
too, is almost as badly off as Hartford for We
have only wire there, and that by way Of
Albany. We usually have about 100 wires run
ming 10 the East Our lines North and West are
all right.
The Slcct, which became frozen in New York
and il, ncghborhood, did not extend far north.
our wires running west through Central New
York were consequently in good working order.
and many Southern messages wcr sent them
Saturday nicht by way of Cincinnati and Chicago.
our line from here TO Albany forms the per-
pcndcllar of gigantic letter 7. whose horizontal
is formed hy the single wire 10 Boston We hope
by tomorrow - have everything in fair working
order again. Hundreds of men have been at work
to-day on Long Island and in Ncw-Icrscy and
Connecticut. We shall have an extra large num-
her of lncmcn NJ work between New-llaVcn and
Springfield early tomorrow morning. One thing
rrtards our progress in repairs the men cannot
work after dark
An officer Of the Ncw-York Signal Service
Bureau SAID TO reporter who called AZ the Office
in the Equitable Building last night: " The storm
which visited H. here Saturday is passing along
the coast Of Maine. where rain is now falling
There has been fall of snow in the interior Of
that State. Light hurrcs of have pre-
! vailed In Ncw-Nork State and the westward over
the lake region. The weather in the Southern
State. and those west Of the Mississippi has been
generally clear In Torthcrn New-York and -
the westward as far as the Upper Mississippi Val
ley, the temperature has ranged from 20 to 80
degrees. Throughout the entire country the ther-
momctcr has been generally above tie freezing
point.
The highest local temperature to-day was 80
degrees. lhc mercury stood al - degrees at
o'clock this evening The wind during the day
Nas from the north and northwest and reached
velocity Of about thirty miles an hour from the
nticr quarter. Dlrng the storm of Saturday
I.I2 inches of SLOW slcct and rain fell The
indications are thit the weather in this city to-
morrow will be fair, partly cloudy and slightly
colder
Amateur pedestrians who take a daily constitu-
ilonal over the hig Bridge were yesterday well
repaid for their trouble. Walking was slipGNry
and dangerous hut the close view Of the great
structure was worth undergoing any amount OF
discomfort To get. The Bridge looked like IA
crystal network covered with lis coating ot lee.
Viewed from the ferry boats IN tn East River the
spectacle Vas AN imposing one. The little cable,
running from tine roadway I" the big cables above
looked like sparkling cubWcbS.
\ the wind lrcsi.'ucI ia the evening IT, was
dangerous to walk over the Bridge and the prone
made WAS closed for the uiglt. Nervous persons
iu the Bridge ears were frequently frightened
hy the high wind looSng immense iclclcS which
formed on the upper cables. These would oc-
c1son1llr strike ia" roofs of the ear, with crash
which would bring the passengers To their feet.
The electric LIGHTS flashing AGAINST the cc-covcrcd
cables as night made a spectacle rs imposing rs
II was beautiful.
Daring the storm Saturday afternoon the tcc-
graph wires of tire Western Union Company on the
Southern Boulevard between Hruoncrs Park AMI
~. n'S-avc Wcr" heavily coated with ice.
The weight of the ice made the wires sag between
the poles. \ sudden blast of wind struck the
poles and one of them broke OH close 10 the
ground This pole sWaycd in the wind. and the
additional strain put the adjoining poles was
too much for them. and they snapped of close 10
tie ground. one after the other. until ten of them
were lying in the street. Captain Brooks. Of the
Morrlsania station Informed the Western Union
people, and a gang of men were soon busily en-
gaGcd repairing the damage.