The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-16

Company as to what could be expected
from the gas supply. The answers were
not satisfactory. John r. Pearson. superin-
tendent of the Indianapolis company. said
that his concern Is doing all in its power 10
make consumers comfortable, but that
there Is no getting away from the 1act tnat
the gas pressure at the fields is very low.
At the city limits Mr.. Pearson said the gas
pressure in the pipes OF the company Is only
twelve pounds, and by the time 1T reaches
the fireplaces of the consumers there is not
much of IL. Mr. Pearson also said that the
efforts of the company to provide more fuel
were neutraliZed largely by the piggishness
OF people i'm boring their mixers and using
gas wastefully.
w. II. Shackleton, of the Consumers
Gas Trust Company, said that the blizzard
has materially decreased the pressure or
his company and that the pressure at the
city limits is not more than eighteen or
twenty pounds. He stated that very few
kicks" have been received, and that the
people seem to understand that the COM
pany is doing all in it's power. The COM
pany has reached the limit. he said, and
can do no more than il is doing now.
The telegraph service into the city Suf-
fered yesterday, and repair gangs were
kept busy repairing snapped wires. the
extreme cold causes the wires to contract,
and as the poles are immovable the wires
break and dangle to the ground.
All gas companies, both those furnishing
natural and artificial gas, suffered the
usual annoyances of frozen pipes. There is
always some water in gas pipes, and the
sudden coming of cold freezes the water
and interferes with the service. The hot
water heating companies were troubled TO
some extent by the same difficulty.
MOST PERSONS STAYED INSIDE.
Men whose business requires them TO be
constantly outdoors felt painfully the eff
feet Of the biting frost. Patrolmen last
night had an unpleasant time on their beats
and wisely took the chance of dropping into
all-night restaurants for a few minutes
comfort to nipped ears and noses. Cab
drivers, muffied in fur caps and big coats,
were not so greedy for business as usual,
and preferred to keep we'll within doors
unless the size of the fare was sufficient
TO tempt them outside. Street-car motor
men and conductors were among the keen
est sufferers.
Few persons cared to face the polar air
yesterday, and the fierce weather had con-
siderable effect upon church attendance.
In all the churches yesterday morning.
however, there were plenty of women pres
ent. For them the cold had few terrors,
but the mSp who had fought their way to
street cars and had faced the breezeS Sat
urday evening preferred to browse over
the Sunday papers at their fires rather
than to appear in the places of worship.
Around the hotels the usual Sunday loiter-
ers were conspicuously absent. Last night
church attendance was even less, and the
pastors, for the most part, addressed empty
pews
The kid" with his red and yellow sled,
suspicious moment, he would arouse the
ire of street-car conductors by hitching on
to a car and following it for blocks, around
sharp curves, at peril of life. Drawing the
wrath of the custodianS of the monument,
he would start from the spot just under the
inscriptions telling # the deeds of Mexican
war soldiers, and would slide almost to the
doors of Englishs Opera House. But it
was in Military Park that the climax of
his joy was reached. There he was well
coined by the park superintendent and
treated as a friend and brother For his
exclusive enjoyment toboggan slide was
prepared, and he was given the whole do
main for his very own. Yesterday after
noon until dark he flashed down the slide
and trudged up again. Last night the Mil
itary Park toboggan slide furnished a lot
of fun for older people, and the inevitable
pair snuggled happily TO each other and
held on for dear life.
Oddly enough three fires from overhead ted
stoves were reported to the fire depart
ment during the day. None of the fires
caused large damage. One was in an In
diana-avenue store, the other two in BeV-
ille-avenue and College-avenue homes.