The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-16
THE bronx, AFTER STORu.
Strange sights There Marking the pner.
ence Iietwecn suburb and the Real CITY.

StT uffRt FfhNt- httfC ffbINllI lHt INneE.
ence Iieiwecn suburb and the Real CITY.
For several days after New York had
converted the first big snow fan Of the
winter into mt, k and slush. the rural sub
urbs lay robed In white and staring VI a,
the gray wintry sky. Not even twenty
four hours Of rain suflced 10 clear the ,ub-
urban fields. and they were stu white
and glistening when at length the sun
shone out. although downtown New Workers
had almost forgotten that there had been
a snow storm at the end Of January.
It is ri such times that one realizes NOSE
strongly hat New York has two, perhaps
three climates, that the region from fifteen
TO c'g teen miles north Of the Batter, /, DO
q dit climatic zone from the lower
end OF Manhattan Island and much -
Brooklyn. The upper portion Of the Dor
ough Of The Ir nx has a winter climate
frosty but kindly" Over her miles OF
meadow, marsh and forest, winter holds
sway for twelve weeks of the year with
lust the same manifestation that helped
so long 10 make old-fashioned Westchester
county folks feel that the great city at
their doors was an alien community.
The big snowstorm Of the last of January
was the first that took complete possession
Of the suburbs and seemed for the moment
10 turn back the po litical clock and proclaim
divorce between the borough Of The Bronx
and the rest Of the city. For hours the
snow fell until the hedgerows and the wood
lands loo ked like Cecply bitten etchirgs
on a vast backgrc und Of white. All DAY
and all night through the snow -pelted at
mcsphere came the shrek Of the siren
warning sailors Of the s. und the widest,
loneliest call, emphas 2 ng the isolation
Of the suburbs from all things urban, but
accentuating the cheer and comfort OF
the glowing hearth fire DOM :, v.. UNI,
an unfamiliar landscape that suburbans
looked out. The gray old stone walls
had been turned TO marble. The hedgerows
were no longer dense masses Of brown.
green and yellow twigs, but plated with
white. So that each twig stood out thrice
it's natural diameter and stiff as II newly
starched.
Upon the face OF the woodland was written
the story Of the storm. Viewed from the
southeast Il appeared a dense moss or
urcc mprc missing dun against q tazzling
white background. II you view ed II from
the northeast il appeared a spectral assem-
blago Of giant limbs and trunks. for the
northeast wind had driven the snow with
force gains every trunk and limb and
plastered Il there until II seemed a part OF
the trees themselves Seen from a point
where both the white plating and the dun
bark were visible, the woodland suggested
a picture Of exaggerated lights and shadows.
Seen from within, il was a marvellous
reveld ton Of the winters handiwork. In
pla COS il suggested a w ST cathedral wrought
In purest ma rble and hoored with the same
material. The gigantic arches were not
without sculptured beauty, for the blast
had wrought fantestic patterns into its
hendiwork. The trees Of smooth bark.
such as the beeches and the black birches,
were ma rbled in delicate tracery. Here and
there a giga ntic beech, the limbs OF which
happened 10 be disposed in such fashiou
as 10 present a peculiarly fair mark to the
northeast wind, was marbled in every part
from base 10 top, so that II stood out from
among its neighbors, a thing OF serene ana
s~potless beauty The trees OF rougher
ha rk. the chestnuts and the shS guHrK
bicL o-ies. for example, we're " hitened only
in snots The evergreens were deeply
nowdered with white in tufts which sug-
gestod cotton oils. Here and there "A
crotch, rightly disposed TO catch the onset
Of the storm, was filled for a foot or more
with a mss IS of snow.
and serried mass Of pa~rti-colored trunks
and branches. A call was echoed WIN q
peculiar freshness through those long
mn rbled aisles. So well had me STORM
done lis work that the wind which yed
the treetops and moved in slow rhythmic
chorus the trunks down even 10 the gIouhu'
did not suffice TO displace the White plftins.
Only here and there the serenity OF tho
scene was accentuated by the fall OF pow
derry fakes from the eyergreehs, l., a..
The purity OF the white carpet In the
woodland was unsullied bv any human
footstep. Here and there II obliterated
tracks told that some one had passed IN the
midst Of the storm, end there were dehcateiy
traced footsteps Of birds or small animals
,La latter sometimes leading TO a hollow
tree. the former mysteriously beginning
from nowhere at the point where the bro
had aligned, and as inysteriously disap-
rea in the cir where the bird had risen
rom The ground. None of the four-footed
rreatures could be seen, but the wintrv
aspect Of all gained an added interest by
he sudden appca rance in swift flight OF
birds large and small, interesting strangers
seldom seen in winter time save When deep
snow is on the ground.