The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-24

Forecast for Thursday:-For Eastern
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, partly
cloudy weather with continued nOrther-
ly winds: for Western Pennsylvania,
partly cloudy weather possibly light
local SHOWS; slight changes in temper
ature, fresh to brisk northerly winds.
Santa Claus will come to Scranton
with his reindeers. sleigh and plenty of
snow. The Washington weather dis
pensary promises it.
This will not he a green Christmas;
there will not he a fat graveyard. The
first assertion is proved by the album
dance of snow and the latter by an old
adage. Scranton's confines and the
country for miles around are cloaked i'm
a mantle of the beautiful-beautiful to
the small boy and the liveryman but
more or less horrible thing to street
railways and railways which have
steam for Il motive power.
The Scranton Traction company suf-
fered yesterday on all its suburban
lines, although but slight impediment
was caused within the city. But while
the street railway officials had their
troubles, nearly everybody else was
joyful and welcomed the snow as u pre-
cursor of an old fashioned Christmas,
holly, Santa Claus and sleighbells.
The fall of snow during Tuesday
night did not seriously impede street
car traffic but during yesterday morning
the continued fall and the addition of
high wind piled up innumerable drifts
in the outlying districts and put the
c., ,pla nt Il I, IN ~.
ELECTRIC SWEEPERS IN USE.
The two old and one new electric
sweepers Of the Scranton Traction COM
pany We're pressed into service and their
capacity was taxed all morning in keep
ing open the lines in the city The cars
ran but at irregular intervals.
Meanwhile the tracks outside the city
had become blocked. 1t was not until
late i'm the evening that traffic had
been resumed On the ThrOop and Pitts
ton lines. Only two trips of cars had
been made on the Throop line up to .
o'clock last night. and the regular runs
on the Pittston line were not made
possible until after midnight There
was practically no travel of any kind
on the latter division up to o'clock at
night. The Taylor and Peckville lines
the cars ran at long and irregular inter-
walls.
To the merchant and the pleasure
seeker, however. the snow was god
send. All day the streets of the busi-
ness section We're literally thrOnged
with Christmas shoppers and through
out the residence sections the avenues
resOunded and We're alive with the jim
gle of sleighbells and passing equip
pages.
For several weeks past the retail deal
er i'm merchandise had just cause for
complaint. Sales We're conspicuous by
their absence and the shelves loaded
with winter goods. found no purchases
because no winter had arrived. All
that was changed yesterday. Every
body bought something suggested by
real cold weather. All the stores were
thrOnged and it was with difficulty that
customers. because of their great num-
bers. could be waited upon.
CROWDS OF SHOPPERS.
But the daylight hours We're not a
circumstance to what the electric lights
saw at night. The streets on Lacka-
wanna and Wyoming avenues We're al
most impossible, and the more prom
inent stores found it difficult to accom-;
mOdate the throngs that crowded about
the entrances and jammed into the
aisles. In several instances it was nee
essary to close the main entrances at
intervals. Then the doors We're opened
to admit squad of pushing, showing
aud impatient shoppers while q squad
of similar size passed out.
And the merchant smiled.
Every hill whose incline gave even
a hal. excuse for cOasting had it's quota
Of red-faced, shouting and happy ur-
chins. When night came no accidents
had been reported that might mar the
pleasant anticipation of Christmas in
any locality.
There was no serious delay of trains
on any of the steam railroads entering
the city, although precautions We're
taken on all lines to prepare for
continuance of the fall and hurricane
weather. There were drifts on the Po-
como and on the hills north of the
city along the Delaware. Lackawanna
and Western line. but all of yesterdays
passenger trains pulled into the city
within a few minutes of schedule time
The engines were enshrouded in
mould Of white and the coaches resem-
bled horizontal icicles from Polar lands,
evidences of a battle with the elements.
but the lost time was not in any case
serious enough to chronicle.
Unless all signs fail. cold, wind and
robustness may be expected until long