The record-union., 1895-11-27

Uprooted, Buildings Unroofed and
Wrecked, Telegraph Lines Broken
and Boats Torn From Their Moor
ings and set Adrift.
CHICAGO, Nov 26.-This morning
/ found Chicago cut off from all telegraphic
communication with the outside world,
and with very uncertain and inadequate
means of transportation, not only to
other cities, but TO its own suburbs. The
steam railroads were blocked with drifts
of wet snow, while the cable lines made
little headway against the frozen slush,
and the trolley wires Of the electric roads
lay in tangled masses in the streets, shut
ting of the motive power on the cars and
lnenacing the lives of men and horses.
The telegraph and telephone companies
threw up their hands and admitted that
they had gone out OF buslnenE-.empo-
rarily, at least-and even the nre-alarm
lines, which are carefully guarded against
any ordinary contingency. had gone
down in the general wreck, and orders
were carried to the various engin houses
by messengers.
&C. There had not been such general de-
| moralization OF telegraphic and intra-
mural railroad communication since
1888. The trouble was due To a comblna-
tion of peculiarly unfavorable weather
conditions. Snow began falling Sunday
night. Ii was of that peculiar puIty-llke
consistency, which caused ii 10 stick to
everything it touched as if applied by a
| whitewash brush. On Monday morn
ing there was a thick coating of this
sticky substance Oh the walls or build
ings, on the sides of street cars and on
the clothing of pedestrians, while the
wires OF the telegraph and telephone
companies and the copper conductors OF
the trolley lines bad begun TO assume
| the shape and size of new manila cables
an inch in diameter.
| Under foot the situation was even
worse. The trampled slush was a foot
deep at the street intersections. and the
sewer openings, that were blocked with
mud aud debris since carly in the fall,
| did nothing toward carrying OIL the sur
| face water. The sidewalks were slip
| perry, and the unWary pedestrian who
stepped on a coal-hole cover was sure to
| find himself on his back IN mass of in
| describable stuff of dirty grayish color.
| Teams of horses tloundered and splashed
through the halt-melted snow and the
snow sweepers of the street car lines
cOntrl rlbuted their quota to the general
unpleasantness by piling up great wind
| rows OF slush in close proximity TO the
sidewalks and over the street crossings.
AS the day wore on the thermometer
rose slightly, with the effect OF making
the streets even more Impassabie and
| toward evening storm of mingled rain
and sleet set in.
The situation had thus become about as
! disag as IL we'll could be, but the
actual damage was yet to come. About
! q o'clock the rain and sleeL ceased and
| the sticky snow again made its appear
ance. The temperature also fell percept-
| IDLY. and the snow froze to everything it
| touched as it fell. The telegraph, tele-
! phone. trolley and electric light wires,
! already loaded TO almost the breaking
! point, rapidly increased III diameter, and
as the wind rose TO a velocity of forty
! five miles an hour spans swayed, wav-
cred and finally gave way, falling into
the streets, blocking all travel and threat
| ening death TO passers- by.
Telephone wires broke under the strain
and 1ell across trolley lines. Great flashes
| of vicious looking blue and green fire
| snapped in the air at the point of contact.
! Ien-inch sparks cracked and sputtered
| in the telephone exchange, and drove
| the operators away from the switch
| boards in the telegraph offices. Hello
girls screamed, SuperinIendents swore.
! fusible plugs melted like wax, and by 10
o'clock the telegraph and telephone sys-
TENS we're at standstill to all intents
and purposes. At midnight both tele-
graph companies admitted that they
were absolutely cut of from every point
ON their respective systems.
AS Tor the transportation systems
within the city, they gave the fight up at
/
| instances suburbanites were compelled
! to walk long distances or remain at the
! downtown hotels over night. Up to
! midnight twelve inches OF snow had
! fallen, the greatest quantity for any
twenty-four hours OF November for
! twelve years past.
! Meantime the wires continued to tum-
! BILE. 4 Milwaukee avenue cable car ran
iuto broken telephone wire at Kobey
street. 1t an instant the trolley current
! heated IL white hot, and the passengers
rushed from the car while the motorman
dragged the dangerous wire away aud
threw it into the street. at Thirty first
/ street and Calumet avenue q red-hot wire
was drawn up 10 pole and fastened
with ropes. At Twenty second street
! and Cottage Grove avenue and at South
Park avenue half dozen wires writhed
and twisted IN the air. sending out green
sparks as they touched each other. Ali
along West Twelfth street wires charged
/ with death hung in the air or wriggled
| along the ground. At the intersection of
/ Chicago aud Milwaukee avenues q tangle
of wires were down in the middle of the
street emitting sparks and blocking all
/ traffic.
TERRIBLE WINDSTORM.
CINCINNATI, Nov. pa terrible
windstorm swept over this section last
night, doing considerable damage to
! property. Trees were uprOoted, build
ings unrooied or wrecked, telegraph
| lines broken down and boats were torn
from their nIoorings and set adrift. The
watehmen and crews of packets and tow
boats were all aboard and CONSERVATION
/ reigued among them. None of the boats
hau steam up, and were left to the mercy
of tho gale after the lines had parted.
Just above the Big Sandy wharf were
| moored the steamers L. j. OConnell,
| Rob Roy and Lee Brooks. The shore
lines of all three were snapped, and
/ when the wind subsided they were all III
a bunch at Browns coal dock, fully halt
a mile distant y $1,000 barge was sunk
at the marine dry dock. Nearly q hum
dred empty barges were set adrift from
| the Queen City landing at the foot of
| Washington street. The damage III the
river here will amount TO $4,000
Gotlieb Lautenschlager, aged 5S. mar
rled, living at 1912 Pulte street, was
frig ghtened to death by the storm. He
was awakened by the heavy wind and
feeling the house shaking, he lett his bed
and walked the floor constantly during
the storm, wringing his hands and pray
ing for deliyerance After the storm lie
became somewhat calm, but every nerve
in his body suffered from the effect
of his awful fright. Shortly after day
light reaction set in. and he was so
prostrated that he was forced 10 lie down.
| From that moment he aank rapidly and
was corpse in . short time.
FURIOUS WINDSTORM.
BUFFALO (N. ". Nov. 26.-One oi