Evening star., 1897-01-25
AWAY BELOW ZERO
Intense Cold in Different Parts of the
Country.
over FIFTY OVERCOME IN CHICAGO
The Wave Extends From New York
to Colorado.
NEW ENGLAND IS WAITING

CHICAGO, January 25.-The cold wave
struck Chicago worse today than either
yesterday or the day before the mercury
going materially under the point yesterday
when the records of twenty-five years were
broken. At am. today the signal service
reported temperature of 20 degrees below
zero, with no relief in sight AT s O clock the
temperature was exactly the same. The
heavy fog from the lake. which enveloped
the down town districts, made the cold
doubly dangerous. Frozen fingers, noses
and ears were common, and numerous cases
of a more serious character were reported.
Realizing that during this severe weather
delay in offering relief to the destitute
might be fatal in many cases, Mayor Swift
called upon the police force of the city to
aid in the work of gathering information
concerning the urgent needs of the thous-
ands of suffering poor of Chicago. Through
the complete organization of the force, COW
erfng the entire city by divisions and pre-
cinctS, and the elaborate telephone system
by which each precinct may be in ready
communication with the headquarters of
the department, the mayor hopes to pre-
vent the loss of life which might ensue
through a more tardy dealing with urgent
cases.
1t is the mayors purpose, pending the
time when the work of reli"f through intel
lisence gathered by the police can be put
into organized form, to be personally re-
Sponsible for whatever sums it may be
necessary to eXpend to relieve extreme
cases OF need. and save the poor from
freezing or starving. Fifteen hundred home
less men partook of the hospitality of the
city last night, and SLEPT under the roofs
of the police stations.
Fifty-Three Overcome by Cold
F1fty-three persons were listed over
come by the terrible cold in Chicago yes
terday. and were rescued in a partly frozen
condition. One death occurred which was
due to the cold and number of persons
are likely to die the result of frozen
limbs or exposure. Most of the sufferers
succumbed to the cold while about their
usual tasks, but a number of the victims
We're homeless wanderers.
Indications received at the weather
bureau are for still more freezing weather
today. Worse and more of it is the way
the weather man puts it.
A wave of arctic cold is sweeping down
from the northwest, propelled by one of the
lowest barometer areas known to the ex-
perts in the service of the weather bureau.
Last evening the cold wave had moved a.
far south as Oklahoma: to the east 1t had
advanced to the western boundary of Penn
sylVania; in the northwest the temperature
went down to 30 below at Medicine Hat.
From a meteorological standpoint. the
cold wave is especially interesting 1t was
caused, in the first place, by tremendous
atmospheric pressure in the extreme north
west, the barometer there registering 81
inches. This is phenomenal Prof. Garriott
says, the highest reading in his memory.
One Death Reported.
Only one death had been reported 10 the
police up to noon-that of Freda Busch,
five years old, who succuEnbed as the re-
suit of exposure. The smbulances, how
ever, We're kept busy conveying people
to the hospitals with their feet and hands
frozen.
George Grant was found in a freight car
near North street almost dead and with
his feet badly frozen, SO that they will have
to be amputated.
The work of clearing the downtown
streets of snow has been abandoned on ac-
count of the intensity of the cold. Many
of the men had no gloves or Overcoats, and
nearly 400 Of them were more or less Sc
vcrey frostbitten.
Joseph Few, driver ON a snow plcw of
the street cleaning department. had his
body and limbs SO badly frozen that lie
will probably die. Many Of the men were
the ambulances. On some lines passen-
gers on the street cars suffered badly. Miss
Emma Smith, while riding from 35th street
to Madison a Clark street car, became
unconscious and resuScitateG only
after nearly an hours hard work by physi-
clans.
The various police stations were crowded,
the Harrison street station alone sheltering
over 300 unfortunates. The Salvation
Army barracks on West Madison street
were kept open all night and many were
taken care of there.
NTW ENGLAND