Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-12-14
Twenty BELOW ZERO
Unusual and Unexpected Drop in
the Temperature Follows
Mild Weather.
Range Of Forty.four Degrees in
Twenty.four Hours Accomp-
anied by High Wind.
Frost Plays Havoc With Tele.
graph and Telephone Lines.
Traffic Delayed.

One cold wave on top of another
sent the mercury scurrying down the
tubes of the thermometers and the
chills coursing down the spinal columns
of the populace. Twenty degrees be-
low zero was the record of the govern
ment instrument, the fall in the tenn
perature being forty -four degrees with
in twenty four hours. The intense cold
and frost, accompanied by high wind.
snapped many of the electric wires. the
telegraph companies suffering more in
this regard than the telephone lines. e
The first cold wave sent the temper
azure down to 8 below zero at 10
o'clock Friday. followed by slight
moderation. Then the second wave OF
frigid atmosphere swooped down from
the northwest with great rapidly, and
the prediction of the weather. bureau
that the, temperature would fall to 10
degrees below zero by this morning was
more than verified. and this figure was
doubled. The cold Increased all night
until a. M, when 1t remained station
airy at 90 below, and remained at that
point until the sun was well up. The
temperature has remained near the zero
mark all day.
The high wind that accompanied the
cold wave made it almost impossible
to keep the warmest of houses COM
Portable, and citizens We're up at all
times of the night firing furnaces in
the effort to keep water pipes from
freezing and the children from suffer
Ing. Among the poorer families of the
city there was some suffering, as there
always is when sudden cold snap
comes unawares.
WIRES BROKEN.
The frost, aided by the high wind.
caused many of the wires to go down.
The telegraph companies and the rail-.
way lines were the grea test sufferers
in this regard. The most serious break
in the telephone lines was the swapping:
OF cable of the Marshall Telephone
Company near the central station. at a
point on North Center street half a
block north of Main. The cable was
an old one and did not contain a large
number Of wires. as some; of them had
been removed and placed in newer
cables.
The damage to the telegraph wires
was due largely to the breaking of guy
wires holding poles on turns in the line,
thus letting down poles and wires. The
Western Union had but one wire west
this morning. and the break was To-
Gated somewhere between this city and
Nevada. Wires in all directions We're
crippled and messages were received
and dispatched in many instances by
roundabout routes. The damage is be-
ing repaired as rapidly as possible.
Railway telegraph wires were also
damaged by the severe cold, all of the
roads experiencing distractions in one
quarter or another. Attic the lines We're
not wholly obstructed, the service was
more or less impaired and business was
generally delayed. The Northwestern
had no wire east at all this morning,
and but one west. The Central did not
suffer very much, altho break In the
west yards caused some little trouble for
a time this morning. So badly crossed
were they that the Central yard office
had connection with the Northwestern
Office at Boone. The Great Western
wires were not down at any point at
fecting the Office here. but all were
badly.
ALL TRAINS DELAYED.
All trains into the city during the ear
ly morning, and after daylight. were
late, and especially was this true of
trains that left terminal points last
evening or last night, and had to travel
during the night against the high wind.
The Northwestern trains from the east.
No. 3, No. 81 and No. is, the fast mail,
were all two, hours and more late. No. 5
on the Great Western. from the east,
was an hour late, and No. 4, east, an
hour and half behind schedule time. |
The only train OF the morning in on
time was tie Northwestern local from
Des MONIES, and it was about ten min
ties ahead OF schedule time. No. 9. I
about ffteen minutes late. but No. Ill
rom the north. was three hours and |
thirty minutes late. being held at Abba
or the Wabash connection.
Passengers who arrived on early I
morning trains after having Travelled in
leepers all night say that for once they
experienced the sensation OF not being
oasted alive in their berths. 1t was ut
erly impossible for the locomotives to
,eep the trains warm and the sleepers
we're disagreeably cold.
MUCH SUFFERING AMONG POOR.
There was intense suffering among the
'oor of the city. The sudoenness of the
old wave found many families unpre-
AIRED to meet the chilly blasts OF an old
ashioned winter. and with poorly built
ONES the north wind found crevices in
he walls that had not been known be-
n which is kept q fire, and with the
arge families, in many instances, it was
ext to impossible to keep warm and OBJ
ain any sleep. Oversesr of the Poor
'emberton, when asked this morning
egarding the assistance given. said 1t
as not noticeably increased UP till to-
ay. but thai. he expected many requests
Or coal now that the cold wave had ar
;ved. He spoke of many families that
tere In dire straits and of whom he
1ought last night would suffer exceed
Ugly from the cold. Many are in need
{ any assistance that car be rendered
lem and the names of these he will fur
ish to any of the charitable societiesi
nat are anxious to assist One house
old in particular, that suffered last
light. was that of one Mrs Denison,
,ho lives on East Nevada street, on the
ank of Linn creek, In little cheaply-
INSTRUCTED shack, 14x20, unceiled and
upholstered, with walls only of rough
cards, standing lensthwise. Mrs. Deni-
on is a woman of about 40 years and
'as deserted by her husbaIid in October.
he has a child years of age, and with
err lives her daughter. rs wears Old and