The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-12-24
THE COLD WAVE GENERAL
Snow. Wind and Frost Sweep the
Whole Country.
Biiszsrds In the West and new York State
Goal Supply short In Many
Citiee-Zero weather.

new SOrk CNy.-SuOW. WIN aAu
frost swept the whole country. and
from every quarter "the coldest wealth.
er Of the year. was reported. Biz
yards ragged In many parts Of New
York State. and in some places the
thermometer had dropped to zero.
Two feet of snow fell in Chautauqua
County. blocking street car lines and
seriously delaying trains. while the
country roads In every direction are
impossible. At Coxsackie the Hudson
River was frozen over from bank to
bank, and all traffic was suspended
above Kingston.
From st. Paul, Minn.. comes the re.
port Of temperature twelve degrees
below zero, and the Weather Bureau
held out NO indications of relief. Five
deaths from the cold occurred In Chi
cago, where the thermometer hovered
about the zero mark all day.
The northwestern part Of Pennsyl-
vania was in the grip Of q bowling
blizzard. A fierce wind piled the snow
into dangerous drifts In many places,
and though the railroads had kept
their snow plows In operation to keep
the tracks clear, trains on all the roads
In the district were delayed.
The heavy swirl of. snow that de-
scended on New York City was the
first bitter warning that the cold wave
had reached this city. and a special
forecast was issued by the Weather
Bureau ordering the display OF storm
warnings here and at Sandy Hook.
Similar warnings have been issued all
along the Pacific Coast from San Fran
cisco northward.
As notices foretelling the approach
Of the cold wavewere seat out through
the interior there Ii hardly Stnte In
the Union that could hope to escape
its taste Of real winter.
Even in the Southern States the
Temperatures have fallen. From the
slope region eastward they range from
eight to thirty.six degrees below nor
NAL average Of other seasons, and the
slightly higher figures received from
the districts west of the Rockies are
due to a local disturbance Of marked
character.
An Northern New York suffered Sc
yerely. At Plattsburg the thermometer
was four degrees below zero. At sara.
nae Lake forty-two degrees or frost
were registered. and Saratoga was
caught in a sudden nip when the ther-
mometer dropped ten degrees between
noon and dark. Heavy snow had fallen
and the same conditions prevailed In
the Adirondacks.
The blizzard, which struck Rochester
with o wind blowing forty.fve miles
an hour, caused great suffering, as the
city Is almost destitute Of coal and the
poor are in the utmost distress.
Not more than three Inches or snow
fell In Chicago. but with the ther-
mometer at zero the city was In the
grin OF the coldest wave Of the year.
Delay Of traffic on the steam. street
and elevated lines was general. many
of the suburban trains being half nm
hour late, while through trains from
the East and West were delayed as
much as four and six hours.
The shortage Of the coal supply was
felt in earnest for the first. time. and 1t
Is said to be impossible to buy any coal
at all In some Of the outlying districts.
Throughout Wisconsin and the cities
Of upper Michigan the thermometer
ranged round and below zero. and there
are said to be heavy losses OF stock
in the country districts.
Throughout Kansas and the Terri
tories It was the coldest day OF the
year. and q further fall Of tempera-
ture was expected. Along the Pacific
Coast heavy gales have ragged. with In
cessant snow. The steamer Cottage
City. which reached Seattle from the
north, reported a continuous gale since
December /, and telegraphic communi-
cation between Seattle and the country
north is suspended, as all the wires
ara down.