The Helena independent., 1892-11-25
A WHITE THANKSGIVING.
The Snowfall in Helena and VI
cinity Reached About Six
teen Inches
Street Gar Travel Entirely Inter
rupted and Few Other
Wheels Turning.
IL Was the Storm That Started ON tho
Pacific Coast-Reports From
Other Sections.

S0m6DOuys ulbboEy uoH . EoooIu wiz ~
was. suoUested to Weather Observer Glass
on the eve of Thanksgiving, that Thanksgiv-
ing day without snow wouldn't seem like
Thanksgiving at all. In order that Helena
might have n real Thanksgiving, Observer
Glass climbed all the way up to the fourth
floor of the Montana bank building. pulled
out the snow plug, and went home. In the
light of subsequent events there Ia sus-
picion that he forgot the plug was out.
Every body knows the rest.
From the time the snow began to fall ON
Wednesday night mp to the latest reports
last night fully sixteen inches of snow fell
on the level. Where 1t drifted, which "
did almost everywhere it was anywhere
from two feet to four feet. This 10 the
same storm which started In Oregon, and
laid over for day or 80 in Washington.
In those two states it came down in
the shape of rain-or rather. accord
ing to reports, in solid blocks
of water. washing away everything movable
and delaying railroad traffic When it
struck the Rocky mountain range it hit n
current of cold air. The result was snow
much snow. Now it is travelling east, and
all the indications say it will make itself
felt in the Dakotas and Minnesota. The
chances are this section has seen the worst
Of it,
Very few people realized how cold it was
in Helena yesterday morning. That was
because there WAS no wind blowing. At
noon on Wednesday the thermometer at the
weather Office here registered nearly 62.
Fifteen minutes later it began to drop.
And it kept on dropping. At six O'Clock
yesterday morning it was only ten above
zero. Still it kept going down until j. was
only seven above, and there it staid until
noon, when it went up a few points. After
dark it went down and lowered around zero.
The upward movement of the barometer,
slight and gradual though it was. pointed
to colder weather, but no wind.
The storm was pretty general at points
west, south and north of here, and for a
slight distance east. At HAVE, in north
ern Montana, on Wednesday, the thermom-
eter WAS thirty-fve degrees lower than here,
and it was blowing even harder than in
Helena. The chances are the people in
that section caught the snow shortly after
it struck here. Trainmen who came In on
the west-bound Northern Pacific express
yesterday say they saw no snow east of Big
Timber, though the mercury Vas somewhere
around zeto as they came through No th
Dakota. The west t-bound express over the
same road was three hours late through
the delay is not laid to the storm in Mon.
tana. the trains bound that way having
been several hours behind time for some
days on account Of the troubles caused By
the heavy rains in Washington and Oregon
The Great Northern west-bound express
was two hours late. having caught the
storm north of here.
The streets of Helena yesterday presented
quite holiday appearance. Very few peo
pe were out, and those who were out wer,
IL l., l...
away from home. Nothing went on wheel,
except few hacks, milk wagons and othe
vehicles which had to. 1t was a marked
contrast to the usual buat!e and commotiol
on the streets. The fact that it was holi
day indeed no doubt Influenced many house
holders to defer breaking path in front o
their residences until late in the day, or t.
put it off for another twenty-four hours
The result was great inconvenience to thos
who had to be out.
The street car companies and suburban
residents were the severest sufferers in Hell
ena. Both companies worked all Wednes
day night in an endeavor to keep thei
tracks free from snow. but were unsuccess
full. The Helena Electric company directe
their entire attention to the east ttac
from the barn to the depot. and after har
work all day at $50 p. NJ. they had
cleared sufficiently to make trips with fai
regularity. he Rapid Transit compan
directed its labors to the line to the Broad
water. Supt. Cahill managed to get tn
line open we'll out to the Broadwater. bu
it was iml ossible to keep either the cars O
the snow plow on the track. Some tim
this morning Mr.. Cahill expects to hav
the line open from one en- to the other.
Fortunately yesterday WAS holiday, q
that few suburban residents were com
pelled to come into town. Those who dit
used sleighs and carriages. The storm wa
a harvest for the hackmen. Regular tariff
were doubled, and in some Instance
trsbled, betwesn up town and the de OF
and those who were compelled to make tn
tip paid whatever was asked.
Old-timers recall similar storm tina
began Nov. 25. 1871, and was the forerunnel
of deep SHOWS till the next spring.
From all reports the snowfall in Helen
was greater than in the valley, where onl
six inches fell. At Baxendale there was
fall of only four inches. Special dispatohe
to The INDEPENDENT from various section
show the storm WAS not general. At Mis-
soula there was no snow yesterday and tn
thermometer registered 33: there was Ii
snow at Hope, Idaho; at Dillon there wa
three to five inches of snow on the levt
and the temperature Is above; at Butt,
eight or nine inches and 25 above; at Liv
inRston eight inches of snow. temretatu
II above; at Billings it was showing las
night, with an inch on the ground and til
temperature 30 above: at Bozeman ther
was fall OF six inches and the lowest ten
perature 1S above. There was no snow a
Glendiye or Forsythe.