The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-17
SNOW FELL
AND DRIFT
Temperature Fell to 6 Degrees
Below Zero.
ALL TRAINS WERE LATE
Sunday but Were Running on
Schedule Time Yesterday.

snow fell Saturday and Sunday The
storm was accompanied by a rather high
north wind, and the snow drifted badly.
Telegraph and telephone wires went down
in all sections of the country. affected
by the storm, and traffic was delayed
many hours on account of the snow
blockade.
In spite Of the wind and blowing snow
great many people were out sleigh
riding Sunday. and seemed to enjoy 1T.
1t is so seldom that good sleighing can
be found in this section of tribe country
that the people get out in almost any
kind of weather to have the fun.
The street cars in this city did not at
tempt to run on schedule time. They ran
whenever they could. The rails were
smooth and the brakes would not hold.
and when a car stopped the wheels
slipped. The snow drifted over the rails
and there was trouble keeping the track
clear. The cars were cold, TOO. 1t be-
came necessary early in the day to turn
off the heat in order to make any time,
and some of the cars were taken of. In
spite of this the cars had a great deal
of traffic. 1t was really surprising how
many people faced the storm.
Yesterday morning the government Their
mometer registered six degrees below
Zero the coolest of the winter. Some pri-
vate thermometers registered below this
and some hardly got past the zero mark
The snow amounted to "a inches of water
Within the last four years February
has been regarded as the coolest month
of the year in Wichita. The coolest day
since the weather office was established,
fifteen years ago, was on February II,
1899 when the thermometer registered %
degrees below zero. In the first ten years
of the weather office in this city January
was the coolest month, with an average
temperature of 81 degrees above zero,
while February, during that time, aver
aged 81 degrees. Four years ago this
changed, and since that time the average
| temperature for January has been 3.S
and February "A degrees.
| December, 1892, takes the cake for the
amount of snowfall, 1873 inches being re-
| corded while February, 1900, comes next
with foot of snow.
! Very few trains got in on time Sunday
on any of the roads. but Sunday night
! the lines were opened and Yesterday the
| trains were all right again. The Mis-
souri, Pacific had the worst trouble, al
most all of their lines running east and
| west. The Missouri Pacific people think
they are lucky, however. as their Colo
RADIO lines had the least of the trouble.
They put two engines on each passenger
train running to Colorado, and snow did
| not interfere.
Around Wichita they had all kinds of
| trouble Sunday. The west-bound Kan
sas City train due here at $50 p. m, did
not get in until ten minutes of l Monday
morning. The east-bound St. Louis trains
| from Kiowa due here at 915 Sunday
evening. did not get in until 3 o'clock yes
| terday afternoon. They were stuck good
and hard in snow drift west of Con-
| IL
due here at 4:50 Sunday afternoon, came
in at $50 yesterday morning.
The road was opened between here and
| Conway Springs Sunday night and Mon
day morning, and then work with a rotary
/ snow plow was started east to get the
| COffeyville train out of a snow bank near
| Belle Plain. When this was done the
| plow went to work toward Kiowa, and
| that train was released. Today all trains
will run on time, as the road is opened,
end unless another storm comes. no more
/ trouble is expected. The crew of the
| train that arrived here at 1850 Monday
morning was out almost % hours con-
| tinuously getting into Wichita yesterday
at o'clock.
The Frisco experienced very little diff
! ficulty because of the snow and only two
trains were reported very late The train
| due at Sis a. n. did not arrive until II
Il. m. and the train from ST. Louis due
at $40 p. m. was two hours and twenty
( minutes late.
The Santa Fe suffered considerable from
! the blockade. Train due NJ $50 yester-
/ day morning came in at $40 a. m. Sew
eral trains during the day were only a
| few minutes late, but the train due at
| 10:15 from the south last night was re-
ported indefinite and stub train was
! run between Arkansas iCty and Newton
| last night to take its place. The Ensle-
wood train due at 2:20 p. m. came in al
O'Clock behind double head snowplow
which went out on the Wichita and IVES
| tern to clear the way. No trains have
passed over that line since the storm
began.
The Rock Island had very little trouble
| Train du from Kansas City at 6:35 yes
! terday morning came in % minuts late
Train due from Fit. Worth at e:45 a. m,
| arrived one hour late and train due at
$40 p. m from Kansas City was only .
! minutes late. The poorest record made
by the Rock Island was by the Chicago
/ train. which was three hours late. The
tracks were all clear last night and trains
| were running on schedule time