Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-04
STORM DAMAGING
Plays Havoc With Both TeIe.
phone and Telegraph
Wires.
ALL BEHIND SCHEDULE
Double the Rule-Streei
Car Traffic Affected
Also.

The predictions of the weather de-
with the addition of an hour or more
of driving rain that was not mention
ed in the bill of lading. The consign-
ment, however, was not as bad as it
might have been.
The snow turned to- rain about dark
last night and in Il short time every
thing was coated with ice. even to the
snow, which became covered with Il
crust that made walking out of the
beaten path extremely difficult. Be
fore o'clock the rain had again
turned TO snow and the fall of the
beautiful continued for the greater
part of the night and well into this
morning.
The crust on the snow formed last
evening prevented drifting and thus
served a good purpose, while the snow
that fell during the night and today
was light and did not pack solidIy in
drifts. The entire fall amounts to
perhaps between eight and 10 inches
on the level.
Wires Are Affected
The sleet greatly affected wires.
both telegraph and telephone. and
laid out the street cars for brief
period. On the lines of the Tri-City
railway, however, the sweeper was
kept out all night and the battle with
the beautiful was finally won so that
there was little trouble experienced
today. Telegraph service on the rail
roads and otherwise was badly Grip
pied today and furnished one of the
elements that hindered further in the
handling of trains.
In general passenger trains were
only slightly behind the schedule on
the roads entering the city, but the
freight traffic was badly out of joint.
| There were no blockadeS reported.
however. The Rock Island ran one or
two dOuble-headers this morning and
the Burlington put the heaviest en-
gines on the passenger trains. The
wind was said to cause more resist
ance to north and west bound trains
than snow on the rails. The morn
ing burlington train from the north
was nearly three hours late. the
Rocky Mountain Limited on the Rock
Island was seven hours late and the
Golden State Limited was 10 hours
late. all of which was charged to the
storm.
| Shovel In Play. +.
| About the city the sound of the
/ snow shovel was heard late and early
/ The city's forces were out on the
streets clearing the crossings and the
i three one-horse snow plowS were used
on the sidewalks i'm certain sections
with good effect. Travel from the
country was light during the day, but
the rural highways are reported all
lpassable.
The storm will probably introduce
another variation in the coal situa-
ton. but the coal men do not antici-
pate a critical state of affairs unless
the storm is followed by an unusually
severe and protracted cold spell.
There was a slight delay experienced
today getting coal from the mines,
and the haulers who bring it to the
city by wagon were able to do very
A little. Likewise delivering about the
city was conducted with difficulty.
Dealers are generally well up with
their orders, and a day or two of in
lterruption will not matter greatly.
The snow will cause the railroads
to require much more coal than they
have been using. Double headers on
Il the trains will assist in increasing the
consumption of fuel. However, the
roads generally have laid by little
coal for just such emergencies, and
while the reserve is being drawn upon
the public will not feel the effects of
the increased rate of consumption.