Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-02-18

continued all during yesterday and last
~forty-eight at Schnepf's, and to fifty at
many points throughout the city dur
ing the afternoon. AS a result, the
snow, particularly in localities exposed
to the direct rays of the sun, disappear
ed rapidly, and two more such days will
see the end of it in this region, except,
perhaps, in sheltered ravines and on
hill sides with a northern exposure.
Running water was everywhere yester-
day, and a vast quantity of melted snow
and ice found its way into the small
streams and river without, however,
materially affecting the stage of water.
Such a gradual thaw, without rain, will
scarcely cause a sufficient swell to
move the ice, and it will require many
days of sunshine to break the letters
the frost fastened upon the streams.
There has been no very marked melt
ing of the 10Y in the mountains about
headWaters as yet, and reports from up
stream points, printed elsewhere, give
little indication of a freshet as yet.
alarmist reports are in circulation, as a
matter of course-they always are-but
the Register would counsel the await
ing of further reports and a consulta-
ton of weather conditions during the
ensuing few days. AS we have remarked,
prompt information OF any possibility
of danger will be given early and ac-
curately, and all interested in a pos
sible flood will have ample notice.
The condition of the streets were bet
ter in a marked degree, yesterday and
last night, over the preceding day, and
to-day pedestrianism may be accom-
plished without much risk of pneu-
mOnia through wet feet. In the bust
ness portion of the city the B. P. w.
force kept the principal crossings fairly
clear of slush, and the sidewalks were
comparatively dry, with few exceptions.
a good deal of slush at street intersec-
lions, but by this morning conditions
will have materially improved, and by
this evening cause for complaint will
have largely ceased to exist.
During the past two days leaky roofs
and broken water pipes have engaged
the attention of a large force of men.
Tin roofs have been particularly vul-
nerable and troublesome, for some rea-
son. Where these roofs are anything
near fiat, a layer Of ice from an inch to
three or four inches thick, formed I'M
der the snow, and with frozen conduct
ors, water lay under the ice until it
found vent through previously I'M
heard-of interstices, and caused a con-
siderable amount of damage. Yester-
day ice six and seven inches thick was
thrown off roofs in the business portion
OF the city, thousands of pounds being
often taken from the roof of one build
ing. The danger from hanging accu-
mutations of ice has largely disappear
ed, and the dripping of water is almost
at an end.
Last night at midnight the thermom-
eter stood at about forty, with indica-
tons for warm and partly cloudy
weather to-day. No rain or snow ap-
pears to be in sight, and thus the
thaw promises to be a gradual one,
possibly continuing as at present until
Monday.
Reports from the country are that
the ground is not frozen to any great
depth, the heavy snow having been a
protection; but in the city the reverse
is true, as plumbers compelled to dig
for broken water pipes can readily tes-
tify. In one instance near this office
men worked all day Thursday and yes
terday, with the aid of a big coal fire,
to find a leak, and yet but a few feet
of earth was e%xcavated, and the job
will have to be resumed this morning,
with a possibility of another full day
of labor.