The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-20
WIRES ARE TANGLED,
City in ness--Communioation Out Off.
Immense Damage to Trees---Traffic
Greatly Impeded--Postal Switch
Board Burned--Firemen Pa
troll Streets All Night.

March, always noted for the variety
of its weather, has outdone itself. After
running the gamut of rain storms. snow
storms, wind storms, fair weather and
foul, wet weather and dry, slop and
siush, along comes an ice storm. All
the people of Worcester now lack is an
African simeon, accompanied with a
sand storm.
When the world awolIe yesterday
morning the world looked out from its
many windows 70 see all nature clad
In an icy mail Every branch was
sheathed with d covering of Ice. Ice
enveloped every twig, magnifylng 1t
and allowing the dark dead wood to
show family through the crystalline
wrapper.
Ice covered the sidewalks, ice made
slippery She roads 1t was ice above,
below, aloft and under foot. The ar
dent cyclist who last week read The
Spy's special bicycle number, and was
lured by a few fine days into fondly
imagining he would try a turn on the
avenue next Sunday, derived cold com
fort by standing at the window and
softly whistling How'd you like to be
the ice MANI"
Walking has not been worse at any
time in the winter than it was yester-
day. The thin icy surface formed over
the brick walks brought many an UNI
suspecting pedestrian into sudden and
intimate contact with mother earth.
Climbing hills was like climbing a slip
perry pole. 1t was one foot UP and a two
foot slide backwards. People with
large packages had a hard time Of it.
Dignified deacons and devotional df-
vines looked less dignified and less de-
votional than they had in many long
months of Sundays.
Horses always have the biped pedes-
trlan at disadvantage on 8 slippery
day. The stable equilibrium afforded
by four legs and the hold on the ice af-
forded by sharp iron shoes, makes them
rar superior to man on a day like yes
terday. But the ice was too much for
some of them. Numerous prostrate
equines attested that an icy footboId
plus q steep hill, plus a heavy load
puts even a horse hors de combat oc-
casionally. A chamois would find loco
motion no easy pastime.
The small boy who always reioices
IN good slide was for once happy.
he found 1t an easy matter to slip
away from his parents and go sliding
with the other boys. Whenever he
had to go anywhere, he slid nine
tenths of the distance.
Rain added to the discomfort OF the
day A fine, small drizzle fell from
morning to night. The rainfall added
to the constantly growing layer OF ice,
and as the day turned into night, the
trees began to sag lower, wires to bend
deeper and all frail objects to give way
under the constantly increasing weight
of their burden.
The one compromising feature Of the
storm Is of course it's beauty If is
such scene as that described by Mark
Twain in his celebrated toast on New
England weather" The view across the
common was like a peep into fairy
lard The trees were like crystal il
needed only bright sun to make them
glitter and scintilate IKE diamonds.
Telegraph wires bent almost to The
swapping point They looked like ice
cables strung at random. AS the day
went on, and the ice formation grew,
hundreds Of tiny icycles formed under
each wire. The wires looked like so
many huge necklaces.
But all this beauty was not to be had
without some disadvantage. The de-
structive effects Of an Ice storm are
worse than those Of the severest bliz-
zard. They rival the effects OF any
wind storm short Of "a Kansas cyclone.
There is no buster or roar about an
Ice Storm Nothing but dead weight.
a constantly increasing heaviness
which weighs down all it rests upon.
till the breaking point is reached
The tender branches Of trees and
shrubbery which bend to the slightest
touch, bend readily to the ice burden.
They curve dOwnWards till they strike
the ground. Then they snap. In this
way incalculable damage is done. The
trees that do not break sometimes are
deformed and caused to grow IN di-
rectiOns contrary to that in which they
have been trained
The damage done 10 Worccsters trees
yesterday was immense. There was
scarcely street in which instances OF
the storm ravages were not Observa-
bic in the shape Of broken limbs and
huge branches fractured. In some pOr-
lions OF Belmont and Summer streets,
traffic was suspended by huge branches
obstructing the way. Elm street lost
much Of its handsome shrubbery. So
did almost every other thoroughrare
on the west side.
Perhaps the greatest loss TO the city
was the partial destruction Of the ia
nous elephant tree on the common.
Y L..