Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-26
MANY BREAKS IN THE LINES.
The Telegraph Wires Badly Damaged BY thu
Storm.

4
Storm.
| WASHINGTON CUT OFF FROM NEW YoRK-oNx
THOUSAND BREAKS BETWEEN PHILADELPHIA
| AND THE METROPOLIS ON ONE LINE-wEArHER
ON THE coAsr-NEw YoRK's ExPKBIENcE.
| The high winds Saturday night and yesterday
played havoc with the telegraph lines. At mid
night last night Superintendent Gill of the
Western Union made the following statement
Of the condition of the wires Of that company:
"A portion Of the line on the Pennsylvania
railroad between Harrisburg and Pittsburg is
all right, but the pike line between these points
| is FRUSTRATED. Chester, Pa, can get Baltimore;
Baltimore and Washington are working west
We expect to repair portion OF our line be-
tween here and Chester, and thus establish COM
| munication with south and west by
| way of Washington and Baltimore. Between
| Harrisburg and Baltimore there are many
| breaks, and communication is cut of. On the
New York division the situation is simply be-
wildering. There are at least 900 breaks be-
| tween New York and Philadelphia on the Penn
| sylvania road route alone, and the condition on
| the half dozen routes to New York is equally
| discouraging We will not be able to get a
wire to New York tomorrow. MY information
| as to the condition of affairs in New York is as
follows: New York gets Buffalo on four wires,
aiDaTV Oh TWO WIRES una lineage on one wire.
Boston is reached via Albany. Boston has a
wire to Portland and one to Springfield"
There we're heavy easterly winds along the
coast Saturday night and yesterday morning,
but the signal service wires were down and it
was impossible to get news of any wreck.
The steamer Ericsson. from Philadelphia for
Baltimore, had her rudtler chains broken dur
ing the storm Saturday night and was towed to
her dock from Townpoint, arriving at p. m.
yesterday. Her schedule time is am.
UNUSUALLY SEVERE STORM IN NEW YORK.
A special to the Philadelphia Inquire. from
New York, brought by messenger, says:
The storm in this city was one of the heaviest
recorded since the great blizzard in 1888. and
the damage done will be fully up to the injury
wrought to property by that phenomenal
storm. But for the fortunate fact of its COM
ing upon q Sunday the additional loss caused
by business delays and stopped travel would
have reached far into the tens of thousands.
Tho metropolis has been cut off from commu-
nlcation with almost the entire country for one
whole day, this being probably the first time
that such state OF affairs has existed since the
advent of the electric telegraph. There is one
wire open to Chicago and two to Buffalo, and
by way OF Buffalo communication can be hal
with Boston. .lr.
CUT OFF FROM wAsHISaToS.
Philadelphia and Washington and the south
are entirely cut of and not word Of news has
been received in New York all day from tho
greater portion of the United States.
LoCoMoTIoN DIFFICULT.
The elevated railroad tracks were buried be-
meath a slushy mass and trains crawled along
only at long intervals. Street car traffic was
risky and uncertain, especially around the
streets in the lower section of the city, and
crowds surrounding fallen horses were common
sights during the early part of the day. Later
on the big sweepers combined with the in
huence OF the thaw that set in. somewhat cleared
the tracks and rendered travel easier. Ihou-
sands OF hnemen have been out all over the
city during the day trying to bring order out
OF the chaos of fallen wires. The streets have
been literally blocked in many sections by the
tangled lines and several minor accidents have
been reported, caused by pedestrians and ami
mails becoming entangled in the dangerouspetc
work. ~
BETWEEN PHILADELPHIA AND TRENTON.
An inspector, who has just come back from
tour over the Western Union lines between
here and Philadelphia, reports over 1875 breaks
in the wires between that city and Trenton.
On the Newark side of the trestle. which sup
ports the wires across Raritan bay. every scant-
ling has been swept awaY. 1t will take fully
week to replace these. but it il expected that
a temporary arrangement can be made by
which communication can be opened up by
noon tomorrow. None of the telegraph COM
panies would receive messages today not even
on the promise to send them tomorrow.
There has been some delay in railroad travel.
but not OF much consequence. Through trains
over the New York Central from Chicago ar
rived an hour or 80 late and reported the tracks
clear. but slippery. The ferries were running
all right during the day. At the Pennsylvania
railroad Office in Jersey City it was stated that
the telegraph lines were all down as far down
the line as Waverly, but trains Were running
In and out on time or but a few minutes late.
SMALL TIDINGs FROM THE SEA.
1t was an on-shore gale, the kind most feared
by incoming navigators, and it is conjectured
that they stood out to sea rather than run the
risk of humping up against the Jersey coast,
as very few vessels of any sort got in yesterday.
Neither of the two passenger steamers due at
New York, the Aurania and the Bretagne. had
been reported at midnight last night. The
wires connecting the Ship News Office with Fire
Island, the Hook and with quarantine were
down and all nautical information from the
bay was brought up to New York by the Staten
Island ferry boats.