New-York tribune., 1900-12-12
TRAFFIC IN A BAD SNARL.
LIGHT SNOWFALL DRIVES EVERYTHING
TO RoUGH-PAvED STREETS.
sIXTH-AVE.. MADIsoN-AvE. FORTY-sEC-
oND-sT AND OTHER THOROUGH
FARES BLOCKED FOR HOURS
IN THE LATE AFTER
NOON
SIXTH-AVE. NJ

The light fall Of snow yesterday afternoon
caused one of the worst blockades Of traffic that
New-York has witnessed in a long time. For
I.early three hours Madison from Forty
second-st. as far up as Fiftieth-st.. and the
main crosstown streets-FOrty-s y-secOnd-st.. Thir-
ty-fourth-st., Twenty-third-st. and Fourteenth
st-were almost a solid mass of tangled trucks,
drays. carriages and street cars, surrounded by
a wildly yelling crowd of drivers. every one of
whom seemed to want to go in different direc-
ton. Sixth-ave. was blocked from below Eight
eenth-st as far up as Fifty-ifth-st.. long after
the other streets were cleared. Just enough
snow fell to make the streets slippery. and not
enough to give the horses chance to Gig into it
and get foothOld. The consequence was that
most drivers at once turned to the rough-paved
streets and those where there were car tracks.
Sixth-ave. the favorite thoroughfare be-
cause the elevated railroad protected the car
tricks from the snow, and this avenue and the
streets leading to it were almost impossible.
for pedestrians.
Above Forty-second-st. Madison-ave. came in
for its share of the congested traffic. For some
reason the horses seemed able to make headway
on the asphalt pavement of Madison-ave. when
going in Fifth-ave. was an impossibility. Fifth
ave. at what is usually it's busiest hour was
practically deserted. Even the stages turned
off to Madson-ave. at Twenty -third-st, and dld
not return to their regular route until they had
passed Fiftieth-st The automobiles were the
only vehicles that could use Fifth-ave. Nearly
every horse that tried it came TO grief One cab
driver said that he had counted seven teams
down at once the hill from Thirty-fourth-st
to Thirty-seventh-st. Blankets were put under
the horses to give them foothold bagging was
tied on their hoofs and every possible expedient
was resorted to without avail. 1t was next to
impossible to get them up
When the stream of vehicles that had turned
into Madson-ave. met the cars at Forty-second-
ST. and the motJrmen and conductors Joined
their imprecarions to those of the drivers, there
was tumultuous scene Cars. cabs. street
cars of two lines, stages, etc, were mixed in an
ugly snarl and the angry shouts Of the enraged
drivers made bedIam of the neighbOrhood. -Four
policemen had all they could do to keep up even
a semblance of motion among the vehicles, and
the cabmen from nearby stands volunteered
their services in plotting foot passengers across
the street. To make conditions worse, the Met
rOpolitan Street Railway Company had changed
the route of its uptown Madison-ave cars in the
morning The cars had been turning into Van
derbiIt-ave., at FOrty-second-St-, but yesterday
they began running up Forty-second-st. "a
Madison-ave.. in order to save the two extra
curves. on the other route The order to re-
sumo the former route not given until the
blockade had been in progress for nearly two
hours, and the double row of cars stalled on the
| curve, in addition to the wagons. made IL the
worst blocked corner in the city
By little after b O'CLOCK the Jrsrnc hao pc
gun to thin out, many wagons taking to the
side streets and others gradually working theli
way, to their destinations. SO that Stxth-aye.
which was still receiving wagons from the lower
part of the city, the only street badly
blocked. At that hour it was sttll in such q
congested condition that one wagon was more
than an hour in making its way from Twenty
third-st. to FOrty-second-st, and the same state
Of affairs continued for some hours longer.
The snowfall continued only few hours ano
amounted to one hundredth of an inch. One
sleigh went out John j Quinn, Harlem lv-
eryman drove to McGowan's Pass Tavern, in
Central Park and got the bottle of champagne
which "Gabe' Case offers to the first man who
arrives there in the first Snowstorm each year.
F. P. Sargeant, Superintendent of the Snow
Contract Department issued an order for the
employment of 5000 men to clean the streets.