Connecticut western news., 1891-01-28
BYWNDANDSNOW A Forest of Poles Felled in New
 York. VERY FEW WIRES WORKING, The City and Its Suburbs in lnky
 Darkness.
VERY FEW WIRES WORKING,

Streets Strewn with Splintered Poles ana
 Covered with a Network of Dangerous
 wires-Seseral Horses Killed by Elec-
 tricity and Many Narrow Escapes from
 Death-The Worst Storm of the Kind
 the City Has Seen in Years-Few New
 Jersey Poles Left Standing-Pennsylva-
 mia Feels the Disastrous Effects of the
 Unruly Elements-A Cyclone Lost in ths
 Confusion.
 NEW YORK, Jan. 26.-The streets of New York yesterday looked as if a cyclone had passed through them. About Il o'clock Saturday night brisk rain storm began falling, which rapidly turned to sleet and snow heavy with moisture, and which soor covered the sidewalks with a mushy mass of slush that it was nearly impossible tc wade through. The snow chung to the telegraph telephone and electric light wire in big ropes, and the weight soor proved too much for the poles and they broke with loud reports, and came crash ing down on buildings along the streets o5 into the streets themselves, breaking them selves into fragments and burying them selves deep in the roadway.
 a Pedestrians in Peril.
 Pedestrians were in eminent danger from the crashing poles, and many narrow escapes from death were reported through out the city. On every side in the cit. l1,e- to1o or telephone poles, while the walls and roadways were covered with a network oi twisted, broken and snarled wires, which before the storm were used as electric, telephone or telegraph wires
 As If an Explosion Had Occurred.
 Thirty-ninth street, from Broadway clea1 over to the North river, looked as if gigan- tic explosion of giant powder had wrecked the street from end to end. A big pole that was almost kindling wood lay in front of the Oriental hotel, at the corner of Broadway and Thirty-ninth street. It fell with fearful crash about a. m., car rying down with it one hundred and twen- ty-five telephone wires, and thus cutting off telephonic communication the entire length of Broadway.
 Another big pole, with nine cross trees loaded with wires, lay prostrate in front of the Metropolitan Opera house, opposite the Oriental hotel. The pole snapped at the base about midnight and whirled into the street in three separate pieces. In falling it broke away from the wires with which it was loaded, leaving them hanging in a Tense mass like huge veil from the top of the opera house roof.
 A Night of Terror.
 The street cars were almost unrecogniz- able from the mass of snow and ice which accumulated about them, making them appear as if they had just weathered some fierce Dakota blizzard The elevated trains were similarly coated, and as the wind con- tinued to roar down the streets and great banks of snow began to pile up everywhere fears were entertained of another blizzard similar to if not worse than the disastrous storm of March, 1888. In many respects Saturday nights storm was far worse in it's disastrous effects than the memorable blizzard.
 It was a general war of the elements upon telegraphrpoles and wires Pole after pole in every section of the city, with their thousands of telegraph, telephone, electric light and fire department wires, came crashing to the ground, forming gigantic snarls and tangles that it will take weeks of hard work to unravel.
 With the falling of the wires darkness and confusion fell upon the city, as the electric lights went out and the fire alarms and police calls failed to respond to their respective signals. It was night when thieves and thugs and incendiaries had. did they but know it, the entire city al most at their mercy
 It was night of innumerable accidents and mishaps, and the advent of day, as the storm eased up, revealed such a widespread scene of desolation and destruction as neve, was witnessed in this metropolis.
 The Storms General Course.
 The general course of the storm seems to have confined itself to narrow track along the Atlantic seaboard, from Florida t1 Maine. Throughout this entire district the telegraph wires are down in every direction As this city lay right in the track of ths storm it was, naturally, the heaviest suffer CT thereby. In fact, the storm left this me tropolis, in addition to the general confu sion regarding it's own wires, almost entire ly cut off by wire from all parts of the country.
 Together with the general wrecking O. the telegraphic systems inside and outSi3t the city came widespread interruption O. railroad traffic, the train dispatching de
  possible of operation.
 Deadly Wires Made Safe.
 And as particularly grewsome climax to this chapter of tempestuous misery night of black, inky, groping darkness fel upon the metropolis again last night-no an electric street lamp in the length ant breadth of the city throwing out spark tt light the timorous pedestrian on his way.
 
 from the precaution wisely suggested b, Superintendent J Elliott Smith, of the fir alarm system, to Mayor Grant early in th day that all electric light currents should be shut off to prevent danger to life iron contact with the numberless wires lyins around loose in the streets or danglin! within easy reach. The result was uni versal blackness in the city last night. Horses Killed by Live Wires. The live wires that were down all owe the city were sources of terror to all passer by. Two horses were killed outright, on by coming in contact with a live wire ant another was struck on the head by piec of telegraph pole. In both instances tn drivers narrowly escaped death. The frs received a shock which knocked him dowl and the other was covered with splinter from the shattered pole.
 The first accident happened shortly afte | 1 o'clock a. m. at Chambers and Churcl streets. Two electric light wires fell ol S''" round, emitting a shower of blu :. They fell into i l.ile of snow ol 'i"''k. and ;''.- ...'., '"man on pos | failI-- .ct-, ..rst to discove the wires was Edward Callahan, a ca | driver of the Eighth avenue line. A | Church and Chambers streets one of tn | horses planted his iron shod hoof upon tn | sputtering wires. The force threw tn | wire around, and the live end struck tn | animals side. The horse reared and blu | sparks flew out from it's hind hoofs Cal | lahan ran to the fallen horse. It lay per | fectly quiet and he caught the bridle t. | raise if Elnetricity had charoed the ami