The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-01-14
4 LITTLE blizzard.
New York and IIcinity Swept
! by a Heavy Snow Storm.
Its Effects Felt All Along the
Atlantic Coast.


! In its general features, storm which
struck New York and vicinity the other
morning more closely resembled the great
blizzard of 1883 than any weather disturb
ance that has happened in that locality since
that memorable occasion. In q less degree
there were the same indications -tempestu-
ous winds bearing downfall Of fine, cutting
snow, a low temperature, and general dis
comfort to man and beast, whether indoors
or out. .
The wind seemed to have no particular di-
.rection after it had struck the streets. While
ftwas generally from the northeast, there
were many localities in the city where 1t was
exceedingly difficult to tell from what guar
tar the wind came or whittier it blew. There
was succession Of eddies and whirlwlnds
that caught the unsuspecting traveller
from every quarter and played havoc
with his habiiments At one
moment the wind seemed to come from the
north. at the next it blew furiously from the
east. and then, striking the buildings on
either side of the street, it whirled and
swirled until no one could tell what it was
irving to do in its seemingly mad attempt to
tear up the streets generally All the while
it was showing heavily.
Toward evening the snow changed into
rain for short time, and then changed again
into sleet. This was probably the most dis
agreeable part of the whole day, for the icy
PARTICLES came down with such force and
We're beaten with such strength by the wind
into tho faces OF travellers that it required
q pretty tough cuticle to withstand the on
slaught.
The effect Of the storm on trade generally
was severe. The shops did little or nothing,
the women for the most part being kept in
doors. The result was that the big dry goods
establishments, toy shops, and other places
where such crowds have been seen all through
= the holiday season, were practically de-
serted.
{ Down around the river front locomotion
was greatly impeded. The heavy trucking
that is done in this neigborhood was blocked
and retarded, and SO were the street cars,
which circle the lower part of the city.
Shipping was jeopardized, for the storm
blew severely off shore and the ships that
could withstand it had to be stanch and
strong.
The storm originated in the South, and on
sts way north centred at Norfolk, Va, early
in the morning, while later in the day it was
central in New Y ork. Toward o'clock at
night it began to move slowly in north
Signal Service Office said that it was showing
hard all along the New England coast. Tho
Signal Service Officer looked for the storm
to spend its force in the Gulf Of Newfound-
land as it was accompanied by high north
east wind.
High winds prevailed from Norfolk to Bos-
ton. The greatest velocity obtained at Block
Island, where the rate was forty-four miles
an hour. The rate in New York City was
fhirty-four miles an hour, decreasing grad
ually until 10 o'clock at night the wind had
fallen to twenty four miles an hour. South of
Norfolk and extending all along the coast and
accompanied by heavy fall Of rain. Two
and a half inches Of snow were reported
from Norfolk, one inch from Lynch
burg, one and quarter from Atlanta, and
one and half inches from Mobile. The
rain area extended over the entire South
east and included the southeastern por-
ton of Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina. Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and
Florida. The snowfall was general in all the
States north of the thirty-seventh parallel
of latitude and east of the Mississippi River:
The heaviest fall of snow was throughout
Virginia, Ohio and New York.
o ada, that is, the centre Of cold was there.
The lowest temperature reported from any
point in Canada was "a degrees below zero
at Rockliff. At Montreal It was l2 degrees
below zero, and at Perry Sound it was zero.
At Eastport, Me-. the mercury stood de-
grees below zero. At Portland, Me-, it was
3 degrees above; at Boston, Il; at
Philadelphia, 20; at Washington, %
at Cincinnati. "a: at Chicago, %;
at st. Louis, &c; at Mobile, 40. At Lyndon
vile, VT, the mercury was lower than 1t was
anywhere else in the United States, the
thermometer showing record of SO degrees
below zero at A. NJ. The highest registry
of the mercury was "a degrees at Key West,
Fla. The greatest velocity Of wind in the
United States was at st. Vincent, MINI,
where the rate was fifty-four miles an hour
at Bismarck, N. D., the rate was forty
eight miles an hour, while at Fort Butorc, II
the same State. it reached thirty-six miles
an hour At Fort Sully and Rapid City, s.
d., the rate was twenty-four miles an hour
This was less than the rate at Sandy Hook,
N. j., which ut eight o'clock in the morning
was thirty-six miles an hour.
| Considerable damage to shipping was done
by the storm as it swept along the Atlaptlc
coast. Near Deal Beach, N. j., the three.
imasted schooner Yale from Boston, bound
flor Baltimore, was wrecked, but her crew Of
eight men were saved with the aid OF life
line by the men Of the Life-Saving Station
The three-masted schooner Bill Stove
came ashore near Narragansett Pier, K.
The vessel struck 1000 feet OF shore anc
bounded in $50 feet. The pier life-saving
crew shot a line over her, and with the aid
Of residents, including Ex-Governor Sprague,
rescued the crew Of six men in the breeches
buoy.
These were no sooner landed than news OF
another schooner in distress was received,
and the crew loaded their apparatus and
plunged through drifted snow three miles to
Black Point. There the three-masted schoon.
or, A. b. Hurlburt. of Gloucester, Captain
VIM. .Thurston, with 400 tons of ice for New
York, was in peril. Within twenty minutes
every mast had fallen, and Captain Thurs
ton, Steward Hammond and Seaman Law.
renee were knocked overheard by falling
spars and drowned. Mate John Rooney
Jumped overheard and was hauled out, and
the remainder Of the crew were rescued
by the life savers. Both vessels were
wrecked.