Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-02

Boston, Feb. 1.-The storm of Monday
night has practically isolated Boston
and the suburban towns from the rest
of the world. Telegraph, telephone and
trolley wires are down; street cars and
suburban trains are stalledj through
trains have been intercepted; business
and industries of all sorts have been
impeded or checked utterly, and the
entire city presents an unique spectacle,
with its winding streets piled high with
great drifts of snow, against which for
a long time the vast army of workers
seemed to make but little impression
The city was besleged by, two mighty
storms, one from the region of the west
ern lakes, the other from the southern
capes.
1t is impossible to tell which was the
stronger of the two unwelcoms visitors,
but it is certain that their combined
force has rarely been equalled in this
city. Mot since March, 1885," were the
words on the lips of every old weather
prophet
Flakes which at o'clock yesterday
morning fell in fiurries, gradually, as
the day wore on, became thicker, and,
| at last, all-conquering Those who went
to the theatres emerged three hours
later into a savage, shifting blizzard
Already huge drifts blocked the streets
| Trolley cars crawled along tracks hid
den by dirty white mantle, and wires
overhead sagged and swayed.
Persons who had come in from the
suburbs to spend the evening in towr
could not get home. Some who made
| the attempt spent the remainder of the
night in the trains which soon became
blocked after pulling out of the city
Late yesterday afternoon the Boston
street railway system began to feel the
| effects of the storm, and as evening
came on, the cars began to straggle
| through the streets. Some of the Off
Gals of the Boston Street Railway
| stayed in the office all night. and, see
ing the new turn that affairs had ta-
ken, called for Gen. Bancroft. He was
summoned about o'clock this morning,
and, taking a sleigh, started in from
Cambridge, but when Chambers street
was reached, the way was so blocked
with snow drifts and broken wires, that
the sleigh could go no farther and he
walked to the office arriving there
about $50 a. m. Every division of the
Boston Street Railway system was COM
municated with in some manner, be-
tween 3 and 4 O'Clock, and it was found
StnGTdI.
Gen. Bancroft marshalled his forces
for long and determined fight. The
Boston Street Railway Company has
about 1000 conductors and motormen,
5000 laborers and 100 linemen. Every
division superintendent was given in
strG.tions to hire every man who had
horse and sled or a shovel The force
of motormen and conductors, of course
could not be utilized in full, but the
aI,c
from the other employees of the COM
pany and all the help that could be Sc
cured elsewhere, so that at present more
than 1000 men are at work digging out
the Boston Street Railway system.
The greatest damage was suffered in
Charlestown, East Boston, East Cam
bridge Dorchester avenue, aud all lines
south of Dudley street. Here the tle-1p
of street cars this morning was com
plete. Fifty cars were stalled in the
Charlestown district alone, and about
800 cars which started on trips late last
night had not returned at O'clock this
morning.
Early this morning reports were re-
ceived from every division of the Boston
elevated street railway system, showing
how far the work Of clearing out the
lines had progressed. At II O'clock the
street railway officials received irforma-
tion that cars were running on fremont
street as far as LennoX street; from the
Park street station of the subway and
out Pleasant street subway as far as
Dudley street; on Columbus avenue, as
far as Dudley street; the Forest Hills
line to Dudley street and the South
Boston cars to Park square. Detailed
morning reports from the different di-
visions follow:
Roxbury, Grove Hall, Dorchester and
tNf.r~e le.
from the business district AT O'clock
the official in charge of the Grove Hail
station said that "a cars running from
that place were stalled at different
places, to say nothing Of the many
snow ploug'hs that were tied up all
along the division. Seven inward
bound electric cars We're stuck in the
snow between Park and Bradiee streets.
ON washington street, Dorchester, and
the conductors and motolmen inside
said they had been there since mid
night.
Back Bay, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain
and Brookline suffered severely from
the storm and from poles falling across
the feed wires of the Boston Street Rail-
way Company, crippling the service so
that all-night cars were stalled about
midnight. On the Roxbury and Jamaica
Plain lines early in the evening the SER
NASS pSSeiiie lAIeB uidI. MS morning
none Of the Egleston square cars was
running, The Jamaica Plain lines were
also tied up, although few cars got
through from Old Heath street. These
cars were started again early this morn
ing, and at noon the fremont street
cars We're running from the subway to
the end of the line without serious diff
Guilty.
Not a single BrooIline car entered the
subway from 6,S5 until nearly o'clock
suspended on the Brookline division.
The Boylston street entrance OF the sub
way became useless tunnel.
Up to late this afternoon no cars had,
been run on the Brookline division
Mt, Pleasant, Milton aud Neponset