The record-union., 1899-02-14


service, but the cars are not heated.
and not well patronized. The elevated
roads are running, but trains pay no
regard to schedule time.
In the suburbs. where the wind has
free sweep. the riffs are five to ten
feet high, street railroads have stopped
altogether, and suburban steam roads
are blocked. Many neighboring towns
are cut off from New York altogether.
Few trucks and delivery wagons were
seen on the streets tonight. Floating
ice cakes in the river hinder the ferries
greatly.
Few persons ventured from their
homes to-day unless obliged to do so.
Courts had to be closed because of the
cold, and the special Lincoln Day cele-
brations and the tneaters We're thinly
attended.
To-day was a legal holiday with the
banks and exchanges, and an enforced
one in the business districts generally.
As there were no shoppers, the big
stores closed their doors and sent the
clerks home. The streets even in the
theater are almost deserted.
All the charitable institutions are
taxed beyond their resources. owing to
the sudden demands made upon them.
Of the $4,000 destitute families in the
city as estimated by Blair, Superin-
tendent of the Outdoor Poor, nearly all
are either freezing or starving to-day.
The continued storm has handicapped
all efforts to aid, and the blizzard of to-
day has necessitated a complete sus-
pension.
The thousands of poor Jews, Italians,
Greeks, Syrians and Armenians who
make living by selling fruit, confec-
tionery and other small articles from
push carts and stands have been
driven out of business altogether and
brought to the verge of starvation.
Persons employed outdoors have lost
employment temporarily. They num-
Der many thousands and some of them
will swell the list of destitute.
The task of keeping railroad trains in
motion was almost herculean. Par
ticularly was this the case with the
lines running out of the Grand Central
station With each hour the severity
of the conditions increased and those In
charge of the work were reluctantly
compelled to admit that total stagna-
ton of traffic stared them in the face.
When told of the continuation OF the
existing conditions was to be expected
tonight, officials of the roads said 1t
was likely that traffic would come to
standstill before tomorrow.
Tonight orders were issued to st1s-
pend operations on the main line and
branches of the Long Island Railroad
until the storm subsided.
Drifts nearly ten feet high were pre-
valent throughout the island. All OF
the Sound steamboats, are tied up by
the storm, and it was announced that
none of the Fall River, Stonington or
Norwich lines would venture to make
trips until the storm ceases and the
entrance to He'll Gate is free from ice.
No out-of- town malls were received
he.e to-day, with the exception OF TWO
morning consignments from Boston.
Chief of Police Devery tonight issued
an order to the Captains of the various
precincts in Greater New York to give
shelter to all who apply for it, and to
afford gene,al assistance to destitute
persons. -.s
Mayor Van wyck to-day notified
Commissioner John W. Keller of the
DEPARTMENT of Charities that he had
$40. coo subject to the Commissioner
draft for the purpose of relieving the
pcor. Tammany Hall gave half the
amount end Richard Croker and James
Kecne contributed $1,000 each.
FIERCE STORM IN PENNSYL-
VANIA.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 13.-After
day of heroic battle, all the human
forces that could be brought to play
against the elements has been forced
to succumb, and tonight the city is
fast locked in the embrace of the worst
blizzard in the history of the local
Weather Bureau Steam and local
traffic are at standstill, and the snow
heaped streets are deserted.
From 8 o'clock Saturday night to
the same hour tonight there has been
a steady snowfall, the aggregate depth
of which at the latter hour was lI94
inches. The high winds have whipped
this into impossible drifts, and there
is no sign of the storms abatement.
Early in the day the Pennsylvania
Railroad abandoned it's through trains
to the West, the last one leaving here
at $50 this morning for Harrisburg.
At last reports it was stalled near Lam
caster The Western trains due here
from New York at 1:25 and 11:52 a. m
went no further than this city All
incoming trains from the South and
West which contrived to reach Broad
street station were held heres The de-
cision to entirely abandon the New
York division was not reached until Z
O'Clock tonight, when it became appar-
ent that the attempt would be of too
desperate a nature.
Early in the day the Reading Road
posted a notice that all train service
was abandoned until further notice.
The Baltimore and Ohio abandoned its
local service early in the afternoon. No
trains left for the West.
There were a number of deaths and
a good many casualties attributable in
the prevailing conditions. John w.
Yeamans fell dead at Seventeenth and
Cherry streets; Benjamin Zeebley, aged
70 years, became unconscious on the
street, and died within a few minutes;
James Hall was found dead in a yard
downtown.
Those districts which rely on Phila-
delphia for a supply Of anthracite are
threatened with a famine, not single
coal vessel having passed out of the
since the middle Of last week,
and shipments by rail having been cut
off.
SITUATION IN COLORADO.
DENVER, Feb 13.-The entire Den
yer and Rio Grande Railway system,
with the exception of the Blue River
branch from Leadville to Dillon, is
open to-day. Traffic has been resumed
in all departments. and no fear of any
further delay is felt, as the storm has
abated The Colorado Midland is also
open to Leadville and is rushing coal