The Penn's Grove record., 1899-02-17
COUNTRY STORM-SWEPT.
Rival Of the Blizzard Of 1882 Strikes
the Atlantic Coast.
WHOLE SOUTH FROZEN UP.
An Avalanche of Snow Descsnds, a Hur-
ricane sweeps the Coast, and the Bit
tug Cold Etytapds Over the Whole
Land, Bringing Death and Disaster
Eastern and Southern Cities Tied Up.

Land. Bringing Death and Disaster
Eastern and Southern Cities Tied Up.
NEW YORK CRY (Special) The entire
country from Florida to Maine and 1000
miles inland was swept by the blizzard OF
1899.
The storm extended from New England
to thu Gulf and as far West as Oregon at
the North and Texas at the South. The
dispatches received from the various Sec
lions ottde large territory affected show
intense suffering and general delay of
,raflc.
The South has not been spared, and
Washington in particular has suffered Sc
yeTeIy, the fall OF snow there having
reached more than twenty inches. The
mercury there, however, did not fall so
low as at other places further south.
Some thermometers In Kentucky registered
AS low as thirty degrees below zero.
Pennsylvania is suffering much, and the
lmPediment to traffic in the coal regions, it
is feared, may result in a serious coal
famine. Trains are delayed on all roads,
and in sons instances all effort to get
trains through ceased for a time.
The snowstorm that began so gently on
Saturday evening and continued at inter
walls during sunday developed Monday into
the %seyerest storm that has visited the
country since the blizzard of 1888. As the
day advanced the high wind took on the
force Of q hurricane and piled up the snow
in such a manner that almost all the rail-
roads leading into the city and into Jersey
city practically suspended the running Of
trains by nightfall. The surface cars and
the elevated tsains managed to keep run
ming at uncertain Intervals. but all the
other traffic was at a standstill. The city
was practically isolated before night came
IN.
stories Of the effect of the blizzard come
in from all along the Atlantic slope. Early
Monday evening, after much delay through.
out the day, train service on the railroads
Oentering at Philadelphia and Baltimore
was abandoned. In the form er city the
snowfall had reached almost a foot and a
half, and business was practically para
lyzed. The snowfall in the mountain re-
Rions OF Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vir-
ginia was even greater, and with the severe
temperature caused much suffering.
The storm extended as far South as Mo-
bile, and in the South Atlantic and Gulf
States much loss of early vegetables and
fruit was caused, and the cold was severe
ly felt.
Danger Of coal famine was reported
from a number OF Virginia cities and at
Pittsburg,
Train wrecks, due to the cold and storm,
occurred near Pittsburg and near Lancas-
ter, Penn, with the loss of the lives of an
engineer and two lremen.
The steamer William Lawrence, of the
Merchants and Miners Line, OF Baltimore,
was wrecked off Port Royal, s. c., and a
rumber Of lives were lost.
In Washington the storm was the most
severe ever known. The city was cut of
from railroad communication with the rest
OF the country, and a coal and provision
famine Is feared.
Three state Legislatures, those OF New
York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, were
left without quorums.
The Ohio aud Mississippi rivers are
choked with ice. Coal cannot be carried
down them to waiting cities. Death, suf-
tering, restitution, privation and discom-
fort are more general than at any peaceful
time in the history of the country.
Through the northern part of the coun-
tiy the blizzard was merely a severe trial.
e~utailing a great deal of inconvenience and
some suffering; in the South it was UMPIRE |
oedented disaster and ruin. Not only did
the snowfall In the Southern cities paralyze |
tratic and suspend business, but the low
temperature breaking records ali over that
part OF the country, has probably ruined
the general fruit crops and has made it
almost certain that the orange groves are
frozen. what the damage to the orange
crop will aggregate it is impossible to learn
at present, but the indications are that 1t
will 20 far into the millions.
From every Southern point In telegraphic
communication with New York City came
bad news Of the storm. In Delaware the
coast patrol has been abandoned, railroads
ran on short schedule or not at all. tele-
graph lines are down, and in the cities the !
trolley lines stopped running. Virginia
TBDOrfaI blhGRan rOnha and iaaH pf ~ ~ I
plies. In Norfolk there is fifteen inches Of
snow, the harbor is filed with ice and
business was practically suspended. Rich.
mond IS also having a hard time and is
worrying about necessary fuel. Baltimore
Is buried twenty-one inches deep and the
trolley wires are On vacation. Savannah,
having had only five snowstorms in thirty
years, was inclined to regard this one as a
Joke at first. and everybody turned out to
SNOWFALL his neighbor. When the tempera-
ture dropped to eight degrees, thereby
establishing a new record, the joke wasn't
so evident, and the jovial inhabitants re-
tired to their houses to embrace the stove.
stopped and labor is budding under
blankets and declining to be tempted by
double wages, on account Of which ship
ping is at n standstiIl. Atlanta also
stopped business aad devoted all its
energies to keeping warm.
Mobile reports the destruction of the
fruit and vegetable crops, snd probable
ruin for most of the farmers OF that Sec
ton. Chattanooga has a new record, ten
degrees below zero, also six inches of
snow. New Orleans, full OF shivering
strangers In light clothes specially con
structed for the occasion, celebrated Mardi
Gras with its toes and noses and fingers
nlpped in a temperature OF six degrees
above zero, the coolest snap by several
degrees ever known in that sunny city.