The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-01-21
JACK FRosT's FRANKS.
He Does a Great Amount Of Damage
in Stores and Dwellings.


Get the plumber! The pipes are
Frozen" was the universal exclama-
tiou yesterday morning when folks
who enjoy an extra hour In bed on
Sunday mornings, gave vent to on
going to the realms downstairs to
prepare breakfast. Many houses In
every section of the town had been
visited during the night by Jack
Frost, and the plumbers reaped rich
harvest during the day and far into
the evening. The suddenness OF the
extreme cold snap caught household
crs unawares and the usual precau-
tions to prevent the water pipes from
freezing were not taken, in most cases.
Breakfasts and dinners were late In
many private and boarding houses.
and the customary morning baths had
10 be "cut OUT of the Sundays pro-
gramme in lots of instances, while a
man clad In greasy overalls and jack
ot. with a smell of rosin and burning
waste about him. invaded the pre-
cincts sacred to the housewife or the
hired girl and pocked and prodded
and hammered in an eSasperating
rnethodical manner on resoundins
tubes wherein was concealed the
household supply of water.
The Globe store was inundated dur
ing the night or early morning by an
overflow from a burst water pipe and
within the store the drip of the water
landed impartially on goods piled on
shelves and counters from the front of
tho store to the rear The stock was
badly damaged by the flood and in
every department the destruction was
great. The damage was not confined
10 the main floor, but the water found
It's way down to the cellar. drenching
the goods stored there. 1t is quite
probable that the sign now ornament
ing the windows advertising clear
ing sale, will give way In q day or so
70 some OF a more recent origin, some-
thing like this: Saved from the
Flood. Washed Goods Going! Every
Variety of Watered Silks, Everything
in Stock Damaged But the Sponges."
Or. Walter Spencer, the dentist,
sized up the weather on Saturday
night and concluded not to take a
chnaoe on his water pipes freezing, so
he left the tap turned on his faucets
and the water trickeld forth in a. gem
tie stream all night. But he failed to
take one item into account, and that
was the waste water pipe. After the
mercury had got lost In the bulb OF
the thermometer, during the night,
The waste pipe became filled with
frozen water and the water commenc-
ed to overflow the sink and drip and
flow over the edge onto the floor. From
there il found it's way downstairs into
The Fair, and the front part of that
store was soon turned into a good
sized skating rink. greatly to the inl'
pairment of the value Of the goods
there. Nor was this ALL Long icicles
formed on the front door and lovingly
clung to the plate glass front and rs
they hugged tighter to the pane. the,
pressed in until n crack was river
diagonally across the front of the
glass. Considerable damage can be
counted upon when inventory of the
cash outlay required to make gooc
is taken.
At the First Methodist Episcopa
church the water motor, which fur
nished the power for the pipe organ
was incapacitatcd by the frost, and
the organist had rest at the morn
ing service. The water froze i'm the
tubes and no melody was Forthcoming
The choir went back to primitive
methods in consequence. The choris
ter, w. p. Evans, pitched the key o
the tune and the congregation JOINED
In the singing after he had gotten un
der leeway. lie did eXcellently il
most of the hymns, but on one occa
sion he started in too low, and th
bassos growled away down in the sub
cellars of their vocal chords. while tn
tenors developed frogs" and hoarse
ness, the altos hemmed and hawe'
appealingly and the sopranos had al
easy time of it. 1t was exceeding.
like the good old times" our daddie
tell us of. before the ban on musica
Instruments in the churches was lifted
In the evening the services partook o
their usual character musically, tn
frost being compelled to vacate.