The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-02-28
STORM STORIES.
Some of the Happenings of a Night
Battling With the Snow.

There are many fresh blots on the
book of the recording angel and the list
of persons eligible for membership in
the St. AnaniaS club has grown. Both
the blots and the list were caused by
the snow. The blots on account of the
awful things that people said and the
eligible candidates on account of the
Munchausen stories told about previous
snow storms.
The street car line. excepting one
track on Kansas avenue, was entirely
blocked early in the afternoon. Cars
managed to push out to the ends of the
line but could not get back. The snow
drifted around them and they were de-
serted. Two cars on Sixth avenue west
and one on East Sixth avenue, more on
Twelfth street and other suburban
lines were showed under. One car was
snoWbound in Oakland. The crew tele-
phoned in for instructions and were told
to leave their car and come home. They
refused to desert their posts and re-
mained there all night in preference to
walking five miles to town. They bor-
rowed coal and some quilts and made
a night of it, and still no one will call
them heroes for staying by the ship.
1T is an i'll wind that blows nobody
good and while business in general
was suspended it was a harvest for
others. The man who sits in front of the
indicator at the A. D. T. office was al
most driven distracted. From o'clock
until midnight the bell went ding
ding and the indicator pointed to 'cab"
about three times a minute. Every boy
in the office had orders to find hacks.
The hackmen were busy. Call after call
was made for hacks until it became
necessary to give out numbers and have
the people take their turns. Those who
pulled the little boxes and turned the
arrow round to cab" became desperate.
They turned it to cab, policeman, eX
press wagon, messenger and all and got
nothing until their turn came.
Anybody who dares quote that famil
lar line about The snow. the beautiful
snow is liable to immediate arrest. The
order has been issued and the fine for
saying ''how's this for snow" has been
placed at 81. But despite the inconven-
ience some people took it good natured-
" In one restaurant the snow packed
so deep on the sl1yhght that a glass was
broken and the water spattered down
like a rain storm. The hole in the sky
light was directly over a table. When
the other tables and the counter had
been filed by hungry people who dared
not brave the elements and go home, a
party of eight A. o. L. w. men filed in
and before the walters could warn them
they sat down at the i'll fated table The
water dripped down with setady cadence.
They looked up. A big drop hit one
right in the eye. He was equal to the
emergency. He grabbed an umbrella,
raised it over his head and continued
his meal The rest followed suit and
eight meals disappeared under eight
umbrellas. OF course the center of the
table was unprotected and the water
from the umbrellas dripped onto the ia
BILE cloth and into the sugar bowI-but
who cares for small Inconvenience of
that kind when hunger is to be appeas-
ed. The meal was finished with more
fun to the square inch than party of
school girls could have had on a fishing
trip.
The real fun came when the stores
and offices closed at 6 O'Clock. The clerks
and statesmen rushed out to find the
street car tracks blocked, the snow Is
inches deep and home perhaps Z blocks
away. But they were full Of resources.
One young man, who VOluntee to pi
lot a half dozen young ladies' home.
bought a snow shovel and instead of
spreading his coat for them to tramp
upon he ShOVeled paths through the
deepest drifts and won their heartfelt
gratitude for life. They all agreed in
their minds to knit him a pair of red
slippers for Easter. The maddest man
was the one who decided last summer to
try a coy home in Oakland away from
the din of the city. He talked bad talk
as he tramped that three miles through
the snow and saw only a layer of pure
white where the car track was sup
posed to be. He was warm Rather hot
under the collar and wifey probably
suffered and the steak was probably on
" half cooked when he reached home
but he had prOvocation enough for a
few lapses from church rules
The man at the transfer station had
a set of stereotyped answers No. the
line is blocked. Transfers for Quinton
Heights2 Yes. but you can't use them
until tomorrow Is the line blocked2 ?
Well-No. No cars to Oakland. If you
want to swear please step in the coal
shed" But he tried to pacify the people
and the people felt like aanihilating
him But it wasn't his fault.
Girls from a dry goods store stood in