The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-14

New York, Feb. 13.-With unabated
violence has the storm ragged here to-
day 1t is the combined effects of two
storms, one from the northwest and
the other from the Gulf of Mexico
1t is the elimination of climatic rig
ors SO far as the poor and distressed of
the city is concerned. The city today
puts on the appearance in side streets
OF some large villages, so far as snow
drifts are concerned. Even the main
streets of New York look like those of
village. There is drift of snow in
front of st. Paurs Church nearly three
feet in depth, and this in the very heart
of the downtown district. This is du-
plieated in front Of several other large
buildings on Broadway.
The traffic was practically suspended
on Long Island sound today. In the
various harbors and coves there are
over hundred vessels of all descrfp
tions. storm bound All are frozen
soidly in the ice. The sound has NOT
been SO choked up since the blizzard of
10 years ago The high wind this
forenoon which increased as the dav
Wore on, was SO strons. that it was not
safe for any sailing vessel to ATTEMPT
70 make passage Though the sound
1t has BEEN 'snSWing Steadily steadily along the
Jersey coast since shortly before s
ocioek on Saturday night. The snow
- 90 inches deep ON a level, but some
urlItS are dozen feet high.
Inc labor of keeping trains in motion
was almost herculean. Particularly
was this the case with the lines run
nlhg out of the Grand Central station
WIN each hour the severity of the
conditions increased, and those in
charge of the work were reluctantly
compelled to admit that total stagna-
tlon OF traffic stared them i'll the face.
Inc M Z. Central trans mad snow
ufl1tS to contend with almost all the
way from Syracuse. All the plows and
sWeepers available were pressed into
service, and they partially succeeded in
keeping the tracks clear. The high
WIND, however, soon drifted the snow
onto the tracks, and this, with the in
tense cold, combined to hinder the prog
ress of trains.
Inc New orl1, New Haven and Hart
ford officials ascribed the delay in get
ting their trains through to the difficult
ty of getting them through the Grand
Central yards. They said that many of
the morning trains that reached Wood
lawn only 25 or 80 minutes late, lost
from one to three hours going in from
that point
The line has four tracks to New Ha-
ven which helps it to some extent
against snow drifts, but east of New
Haven there is great difficulty in NOV
ing trains 1t was stated that the Old
Colony express west bound, was stuck
in a snow drift somewhere east of
New Haven, and that all trains on the
New London division were having
much trouble The officials Of both
roads declared at 4 o'clock this after
noon that no through trains had been
abandoned, but admitted that the local
service was badly demoralZed. Many
of the suburban trains were abandoned
as the day wore on. Throngs OF people
who crowded waiting rooms, asking
when trains would depart for various
points, in very few instances were able
to get satisfactory answers. When told
that a continuation of prevailing con-
ditions was to be expected tonight, Of
ficials of the road said it was likely
thar traffic would come to standstll
before tomorrow Tonight orders were
issued to suspend all operations on the
main line and branches of the Long
Island railroad until the storm subsid-
ed. Supt. Potter said it was useless to
attempt to do anything, as they could
not move wheel or work sWltch IN
such a raging blizzard
Traffic which was light today on ac-
count of its being holiday, Will De
necessarily so tomorrow. The snow
storm which began Saturday night, to-
day developed into the worst blizzard
in the city's history.
=, During the day a northwest gale blew
through the snow banked streets at
the rate of rs miles an hour and at
nightfall it's velocity. increased to ~
miles an hour driving before it the
fine, icy, binding snow. such as usual
ly accompanies blizzards.
Great drifts piled up in the principal
thoroughfares, and traffic on all the
street car lines in the city except the
Broadway and Third avenue lines was
practically at standstill. The under
ground trolley lines were forced to
stop early in the evening, and only
few cross town cars, drawn by four
and six horses, made occasional trips.
The railways running into New York
are paralyzed. The Pennsylvania at
tempted to get but one train through
to the west today, while only one train
from this city reached Washington.
Local traffic has practically ceased.
Disasters in the ice filled barbor and
rivers have multiplied. The huge drifts
in the streets have produced coal
famine in parts of the city where It is
impossible to make delivery. Coal,
-four and staple provisions are rapidly
going up, while gas and water. pipes
are frozen up in many parts or the
town. The suffering from cold mas
never been so widespread In this city,
it being estimated that at least 10000
persons are in misery from cold and
restitution. New York Is the storm
centre, or rather the centre Of two OPP
posing storms, one from the gulf OF
------.~~ and the other from the north