The herald., 1898-02-02
BUSINESS
OF BOSTON
Paralyzed by Storm of
Wind and Snow
SEVERAL LIVES LOST
Damage Reaches Hundreds
of Thousands
ELECTRIC WIRES TORN DOWN
THE CITY Is ISOLATED AND IN
DARKNESS
Shipping in the Harbor Suffers Great
Damage-Reports Of Very Wild
Weather From MANY Other
ELECTRIC WIRES TORN DOWN
THE CITY Is ISOLATED AND IN
DARKNESS
Shipping in the Harbor Suffers Great
Damage-Reports Of Very Wild
Weather From Many Other
Eastern Cities y.
Associated Press Special Wire

Associated Press Special Wire
BOSTON, Feb. IA northeast snutk.
storm, which set in yesterday and ragged
this afternoon, completely paralyzed all
branches Of business and street car and
steam railway traffic, and for a time
shut off the city from communication BY
wire with all places outside the lirnltD
of Boston. The storm was the most Sc
we're this city has experienced in twenty
five years, and caused the loss of several
lives, besides doing money damage o9
hundreds Of thousands Of dollars. L.
Between / and o'clock this morning Z
foot of heavy, wet snow settled over the
city and leveled wires in all dtrectlona
The snow chung to the poles and WIRES.
and. aided by wind blowing at the rata
Of fifty miles an hour, prostrated ell teae-
phone and telegraph lines out OF tho
city. More than half the electric lights
of the city went out and In the suburban
towns the fire alarm service was crfp-
pied.
In Newton broken wires falling across
others started a fire in the electric room
of the elegant residence Of Charles ),
Travelli, the wealthy .Pittsburg steel
| manufacturer, and In two hours nothing
remained Of the house but pile ofruifis,
Mr. Travellis family escaped i'm their
nightclothes without saving anything.
The loss amounts to about 100000. the
house being valued at $4,000 and the
furniture and art treasures at $4,000.
Late last night the big three masted
schooner Charles T. Briggs Of Bath.
Me-, coal laden, was dashed to pieces on
the Nahant coast, and It Is believed her
crew Of men perished. The body Of one
of the crew has been recovered.
In the business district It was nearly
noon when many employees reached their
places Of employment, all suburban troll
ley lines having been abandoned at mid
night and the steam railroads being
unable to run more than two or three
suburban trains during the forenoon
All through trains from New York and
the west, as well as those from the east.
were from four to six hours late, and
many did not get in until late In the
afternoon. Tracks were not only blocked
with snow, but masses Of broken poles
and wires were encountered at many
places Tonight the few trains moving
are running without telegraphtc serv-
ice. The city and suburbs are covered
with broken poles and tangled wireA.
Many horses were killed in the streets
by stepping upon the ends of telegraph
wires which had fallen across the
streets.
| Tonight the situation assumed such q
dangerous aspect that Mayor Quincy
ordered that none of the electric lights
| be turned on except in districts where
the wires are under ground. sa
| 1t will require weeks to restore the tel
ephone and telegraphic service Not .
single telegraph wire out Of Boston was
| in operation all day, and the telephone
wires were in almost as bad condition.
| This afternoon telephone service as far
as Worcester was established. The
| wholesale districts Of the city were de-
serted all day. The stock exchange was
Iifeless and transactions were very Inn
| ited 7.'.
Shipping in the harbor was damaged
greatly and it is feared that many disas-
ters to coast shipping will be reported
when teiegraphic communication Is re-
stored.
The center of the storm appeared to
| be in the vicinity Of New Bedford and
the brunt of 1t fell on Boston and terri
tory within radius of fifteen or twenty
miles. From meager reports received
from the middle and western parts Of the
state the storm there was less severe.
| Hereabouts twenty inches of snow
Foil