The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-15
Gradually Rising Mercury Leads to
the Forecast that Back of Cold
Wave Is Broken.
sTREET-cAR SERVICE AFFECTED
ICY STREETS PUT Pedestrians IN
DESPERATE PLIGHT.
Philippine Soldier Frozen to Death i'm
Kentucky-Heavy Snow i'm Nebraska
weather Conditions Elsewhere.


for a siege of sloppy weather. the weather
man says, and all indications point to un-
settled conditions for some time to come.
A grain of comfort is extracted. however.
by the statement that the back of the cold
wave is broken. The temperature has been
rising gradually for twenty-four hours. and
everything points to wet overhead and
underfoot.
The coldest hour yesterday was at 6
o'clock in the morning, when the mercury
was at 16 degrees above zero. The tenn
perature then began to go up, and at I
o'clock last night 1t was at IS degrees, the
highest point reached during the day.
About that time it commenced sleeting, and
as the precipitation Immediately froze on
the streets and sidewalks the annoyance
and positive danger to which pedestr;s ms
were subjected was considerable. Indica-
tions pointed last night to further rise
of temperature with rain, and the local OBJ.
servers limited at bad conditions for the
next few days. Rain was reported at
Louisville and was expected at Cincinnati
and Chicago.
SLEET-COVERED WALKS.
A fine sleet mixed with rain began fall
destrians In the downtown streets and
made walking unpleasant. The tempera-
ture increased about o'clock and the sleet
changed to rain. This continued for several
hours. and as fast az II fell it froze. making
a fine coating of ice over all the sidewalks
and streets. Late pedestrians down town
found it almost impossible to walk for any
distance. 1t finally became so bad that
walking was nearly out of the question, ex-
cept for those who cared to risk breaking
a limb. There were many, however. who
tried to get to their homes, and in their
efforts were able only to walk few steps
until the slippery fee caused them to fall
to the pavement. About Pennsylvania and
Washington streets, where many waited
for street cars, the sight of people falling
on the sidewalk or in the street was COM
mon. When people went to the rescue of
those who had fallen others laughed as
the would-be rescuers also fell.
Fortunately no horses were out last night
If any had been they could not have MAIN
tanned their footing on the icy pavem >it
Blacksmith shops opened earlier this morn
ing than for many months in order to ac-
commodate the rush of business. On Sat-
urday many owners of horses being unable
to get their stock shod took the shoes
from the fet of the horses and let them
walk on their hoofs. On account of this
rush blacksmith shops were overcrowded
this morning.
No cold wave is IN sight for this part of
the country, according to the observers
The temperature in the lower Mississippi
States is unseasonably high, as much as 20
degrees in some places making reports.
ALL TRAINS LATE.
Railroads and telegraph companies have
been inconvenienced badly. Particularly is
this true of the railroads All through
Station yesterday and last night, one or
two being as much as twelve hours late.
All trains having long distance to go
and limited schedule were uniformly off
their time. The Southwestern Limited on
the Big Four, which should have left In
dianapolis yesterday morning at Has a.
m, did not get out of the city until SAB
o'clock last night. Panhandle train No. IL,
the fast mail which negotiates the distance
from New York to st. Louis in twenty
three hours, and which carries no passen-
gers, was one hour and forty minutes late
last night. Bee-line train No. 50. due at
1910 o'clock last night, was marked six
hours late. Other trains had bad marks
against them, ranging all the way from
one hour to twelve hours.
Sleet on the tracks and heavy falls of
snow In the East were given as the prin-
cipal cause by railroad men The preatast
trouble lies in the East. where Westbsr
conditions have been very bad for trans
portation. While the weather is perhaps
the principal cause, there are other rea
sons for delay that affect the running of
trains. The congestion of freight has much
to do with It, Engines are like men. rail-
road people say. and when they are over
worked they do not behave we'll
A night such as last night was is always
passed with nervousness by railroad men
There is always more or less probab bilitv
of wrecks, and wreckng crews are esne
cially instructed to be on the alert for hurry
orders
TELEGRAPH WIRES DOWN.
Telegraph companies suffered as much as
railroads, If not more. The Postal Tele-
graph Company probably experienced the
greatest trouble. The heavy sIeet storm
has crippled the service between Knights
town and Richmond and to-day the COM
pany will have 800 men at work repairing
broken wires and setting up fallen poles.
All damage, Ii is hoped, will be repaired by
tonight, unless another sleet storm should
make the work of no avail Manager Sam
uels of the Postal, said last night that his
company had not been so annoyed I'm years
as by the unsettled weather of the past
day or two.
The Western Union has also had bad
time over east, where sleet and snow has
burdened the wires and caused their fall
The company has not had much trouble
near Indianapolis, and last night the wires
were working fairly well.
Street-car service was interrupted 10 some
extent and cars on many lines were badly
off their schedules, to the ANNOYANCE of
people who stOd on corners waiting for cars
that never came. Sleet-covered tracks was
the chief cause OF impaired service
FROZEN TO DEATH.