New-York tribune., 1899-02-12
CONTINUED COLD WEATHER.
THE TEMPERATURE. HOWEVER, "oi
ABOVE ZERO.
4 SLIGHT FALL. OF sNOW-MUcH sUFFERIN"
CAUSED AMONG ALL CLASsEs-CON-
TRACTION or THE BROOK
LYN BRIDGE.


LYN BRIDGE
The lowest temperature in this city ever re-
corded by the local Weather Bureau was o'- "
grees below zero at 1:3O a. m. yesterday 1t
marked the climax Of the cold wave which mas
been remarkably severe and prolonged Except
that the mercury in the tube Of the oilciai 'hsl-
mometer on the roof Of the Manhattan Lie
Building marked two-tenths OF degree 'o"e'
yesterday morning than on Friday morning '"e
record Of the instrument for the two rnor"'"s'
was almost identical 1t marked beIo" zero a'
o'clock in the morning and did not gel ABOVE
zero again until after 10 a. m.
Yesterday afternoon however. there was
change for the better although slight. Inc
Temperature rose steadily to : degrees ABOVE
zero at 2 m. and continued TO rise after sun
down At 8 p. m. the thermometer marHeo
above ~ degrees and the temperature was sun
a trine warmer at a later hour. The severity
az the cold wave appeared 10 have been broken
and at a lat, hour TIE Weather Bureau an
nounced snow for to-day. with continued co'o'
brisk west 10 northwest winds light sho"
began falling late last night
New-Yorkers who walked abroad in the early
par, Of yesterday found the cold as painful 10
endure as at the beginning Of the previous day
but in the afternoon. when the sunshine was
abundant. they moved about the streets with
comparative comfort. Snow actually melted a
little in spots where the pavement was warmed
b. the suns rays
SUFFERING CAUSED BY THE COLD.
The cold was felt in many houses yesterday
more than on the previous day. Travel in the
street-railway cars was more disagreeable
There was more trouble with frozen pipes stop
ming sunplles of water and gas. The intense cold
rot only caused great suffering to the poor, but
brought discomfort and even actual suffering 10
many who had ordinarily comfortable homes
In many houses heated by steam the pipes did
not throw out enough heat to counteract Inc
cold At the Waldort-Astoria there are at pres
ont many persons who have comfortable homes.
but who have been driven out Of them by these
causes and have been compelled TO seek tempo
rary quarters until repairs can be made other
hotels have such guests and while the hotel
men have been working TO keep their houses
warm and struggling with water pipes. they
have been benefited by the patronage OF those
who were compelled TO seek hotel shelter
The City Lodging House. at Twenty-third-st.
and First-aye has been Overcrowded. There
were 3I3 men, 81 women and four children there
Yesterday They came in Friday night, half
frozen Their sufferings were intense. Or.
Bauer. the physician OF the City Lodging House,
worked over the poor people until o'clock yes
terday morning relieving their pains and pre-
venting serious consequences from the freezing.
At other lodging houses there were similar
scenes.
The Department Of Out-of-door Poor has been
beseged by applicants for food. fuel and cloth
ing There have been many pitiful tales OF des-
titution and suffering told Women and men
with children have waited in the offices TO get
warm and to plead FOR assistance.
There was a large throng Of poor people at the
Bellevue Hospital dispensary yesterday morn
ing asking for medicines and attention Most OF
them suffered from frostbites. There was
large demand for cough medicine. The dlspen-
sary had the largest crowd II the year
Frank Tucker. secretary OF The Association
FOR the Improvement OF the Condition of the
Poor. said Yesterday afternoon that the asso-
citation was doing all it could possibly do TO
alleviate the suffering which the intensely cold
weather has caused among the poor. He said
that the coal dealers who are distributing tree
coal are doing all they can do. but they nave
found II almost impossible 70 secure men and
wagons enough to fill all the orders The deal
ers say that the scarcity Of wagons is due 10
the fact that the owners can get more money
by hauling snow.
The Salvation Army IS doing its share in re-
leying the general distress among the poor.
The four shelter houses in Manhattan Borough
have been filed to their utmost capacity. 1t
has been noticed that at the evening meetings
poor people have been gathering earlier than
usual and staying later, to take advantage OF
the warmth, and Commander Booth-Tucker has
boIi for
night shelter. wherever there has been in
dication that they were needed
CLEARING THE STREETS OF SNOW.
Mr. Bradlsh, who directs the work Of remov-
Ing snow from the streets. said yesterday that
the work was going fast as possible. but
much Of the has turned to ice on the
pavements. Many Italians who were obliged TO
stop shovelling snow on Friday returned to work
yesterday afternoon. About 400 Stow shovel
lers were at work in the streets yesterday. Mr..
Bradish said that eighty OF the men were taken
TO the hospitals suffering from the cold
The work OF removing the snow continued all
last night. About five hundred and fiGty men
and nearly one thousand carts were employed
in cleaning the downtown streets which were
free from traffic. The work Of snow removal
Will continue with greater energy than ever to-
day. Commissioner Mccartney said last night
that more carts can be had on Sunday than
any other day. Every man and cart that
can be obtained will be hired.
THE EFFECT OF THE COLD ON THE BRIDGE.
one of the peculiartles Of the cold snap is
the extreme contraction Of the steel and iron
work OF the Brooklyn Bridge. The centre and
lateral giveways which We're allowed for the
contraction and expansion Of the steel and
iron in the Bridge wider than ever before
in the history OF the Bridge. The engineers say
that the limit of contraction has been reached
ard il now matters little whether the tempera-
ture falls a few degrees more or not. there will
be no more contraction
The cold weather has congested the North
River and the East River with floating ice. In
some places the foes are so large and thick as
10 prevent the passage o. river craft. The East
River looked yesterday like the top OF an enor
nous corrugated meringue pie. Only the smart
est tugboats and the strongest ferryboats could
get through this mass of ice. The steamboat
Thomas : Brennan started on Friday night