The morning times., 1897-01-25
BITTER COLD Fun 4 WEEK
A Frigid Wave Sweeping Down
Upon Washington.
ITS ADVANCE AGENT HERE
For Nearly Week the Capital
Will BE in a Shtver-With "a Few
Exceptions the Whole Country Is
in Jack Frost's Einbrace-Texas
and Florida Not Spared.

Quite a good-siZed and well-deyeloped
billow Of the great cold wave w hich is just
now rolling over almost the whole coun-
try. from Puget Sound to Passamaquoddy
Bay, and southwark to Florida is due to
enguf Washington.
The chilly winds, as they whistedthrough
the leafless trees and swept down the de.
serted Avenue stnignt, were the heharbing-
ers of its approach. Gripmen and cabbes
drew on their long mittens and crouched
down in big, high coat collars, while
empty pews in downtown churches told
plainly enough that last night was the cold
est that washington has titus far expert
cnced this season. old people with rheu-
matte bones felt the marrow chilling with
in them. and even the weather man said
it was cold last night What is worse, ae-
cording to this prognesticator, the cold
est is yet To come. --------
Tonight, or by tomorrow evening at the
latest, the mercury will fail TO zero But
what is that when pp in Washington State
and Montana the thermometer registers
80 degrees below that point. And even
the inhabitants of the plains of the Dakotas
and the residents of Minnesota would con
slider this a tropical region, and lit
place to spend a summer vacation, for
there the boys and girls are sleighing
with from three TO fifteen feet of snow,
while the mercury indicates 20 degrees
below zero, and the Missouri River is "A
| continuous skating rink for hundreds of
| miles, with the ice two feet thick. a
| quarter Of a million dollars, which a former
| State treasurer left behind when he went
! to Central America, IS iii a bank thirty
| miles from the capitol of South Dakota.
But the bank is. a snow bank, and the
| train upon which it is guarded by the
State militia is snow bound; while tie
| governor is about to bribe the Weather
! Bureau to produce thaw.
| The cold wave, which had its origin
! in the Northwest, is surging eastward, and
| spreading over the entire country, save in
! Arizona and a small corner OF Utah and
! Southern California, where tie zephers
| blow mildly, and the orange blossoms
bloom Even Texas is coming in for its
| share, and the latest reports from that
! section last night indicate a fall Of so
| to 40 degrees within the past twentyfour
| hours preceding, and every prospect Of
severe cold spell. II is freezing in the
Mississippi Valley ana Tennessee, and be-
| low zero in the central and Ohio Valleys,
while in New York and New England zero
has already been reached, and ten above
| in some parts is considered mild.
The cold wave viii sweep over the entire
Eastern, South Atlantic, and Gulf States.
North of Virginia rather below than above
zero Tor the next few days may be ex-
pected, and the freeze will extend down
| into Florida, Tut Ma jor Dunwoody has
promised, with a degree of generosity, that
the frost shall not be severe enough To
destroy the growing vegetation Of that
State, as was done in the cold wave two
years ago Cold ware signals have been
ordered displayed all along the Southern
/ coast
But with all this there VIII be no
snow-it Will just be cold, and that is
all-"cold as Jehosaphat, as the office
boy at the Weather Bureau expressed it
last night, as he came in beating his hands
and rubbing his ears. There may be few
scattering flakes Of the beautiful, but
they are not expected. Generally, the
weather will he clear and the skies fair,
and no clouds to speak Of.
snow storms, Tut she viii have them al
to herself. Tie weather promises to re
main cold for nearly the whole of the
week. The barometer has fallen upon the
Atlantic coast and risen rapidly in the
Northwest. 1t is highest in Montana ana
lowest in New England.
The sudden fan in the temperature found
many unprepared, and the biting cold vino
forced many to leave their accustomed
haunts and seek shelter from the chilling
blasts at the Central Union Mission and
the Municipal Lodging House. Early IL
the afternoon the number of applicants fol
''only nights lodging at the Central
Union Mission far exceeded that OF any
other day this winter, and it was mo-
long before the place was filled to It's
limit No one was turned away, and as
long as there was bed accommodations al
Were made welcome. But soon all th'
beds and cots were occupied, ana sui
the men came. Not one, however, was
turned adrift, for, as the superintendent
the Rev. E. d. Bailey, said; 'On such Q
night we would not turn dog away.
When all the ''housing room was takei
up all others who applied for shelter wer
allowed to gointo the furnace-roon, Where
huddled around the great heater whlci
warns the immense mission building, the
made merry and laughed at the wlnd
bowling without.
The Rev. Dr. Bailey, when seen at
late hour last night, said that he expected
even greater numbers of applications fe
shelter and food to be made today. Man!
of these, he said, would no doubt conn
from the outlying district, who, having eH
lausted their resources and not being able
no matter how willing, to work, woGi'
be forced to apply for charity. In cas-
they do come, he said, we VIII do Tn
best we can to shelter them and reliev
their wants, for we never close our door
to anyone.
AT the Municipal Lodging House pra'
tically the same scenes were enacted, am
all who applied up to the! hour of closin
were admitted.
"The Bread Prayer.