New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-21
HARD DAY FOR TRAFFIC.
FALLEN HORSES BLOCK 1T.
slippery Streets Cause Long De-
Tags and Confusion at Crossings.

Traffic the surface In this city yesterday
was conducted under conditions and In a man
ner almost unprecedented in its history. North
and south. east and west. wherever cart-acks
ran. main thoroughfares and cross streets there
was one long line of cars and vehicles continu-
ous unbroken. starting. stopping backing or
moving forward as a unit. Policemen stationed
at street crossings and points where there is a
congestion OF traffic, the starters of the Metro
po1tan Street Railway Company, dri<ers, horses
and those to whom time was valuable will re-
member the day for the remainder Of their lives.
Just little sleet. just little rain. tenn
perature sufficient to freeze: that did the bust
ness, and transformed the city into skating
rink. The sidewalks and the streets asphalt.
Belgian block no matter what the pavement.
Were glazed with thin coating which human
feet could tread and still preserve the balance
OF the body though not without feats of dex-
terity. But on this thin, black veneer no horse
could pull heavy load: as we'll he might try
to gain foothold on glacier hill.
Hence the drivers sought their objective
points by way OF car tracks; hence the cars
had to proceed at the snail's pace of a slipping.
floundering horse; hence the long. black lines
running down the middle OF streets. the massing
of pedestrians at crossing corners. the trials OF
policemen. the tribulations OF drivers, the suf-
ferings of beasts of burden and the dismay of
car passengers.
East Side, West Side, all around the town.
in the words of a song popular. uptown.
downtown these conditions prevailed. One Of
tina most treacherous spots was at Fifty-ninth-
ST and Broadway One who stood there and
watched saw five horses go down within a half
hour. Each time a horse went down a line OF
and vehicles. extending from Broadway to
the Columbus Monument and from Broadway
to Fifth-ave.. stalled, unable to proceed
IL. 1o,- ami
mails feet and he once more stood four legs.
for when q horse fell IN turning out from the
tracks the vehicle he drew invariably lay
across the rails.
Until the two policemen stationed there got
a supply of sand from and sprinkled It
plentifully from the tracks to n spot beyond
the upgrade OF the asphalt. IN Broadway. any
where from half an hour TO an hour
cupied in going from Third-ave. to Columbus
ave. on the Fifty-ninth-st. crosstown cars.
At Herald Square the street was bestrewed
with ashes to allow horses TO turn out from the
car tracks. At Twenty third-st.. Broadway and
Fifth-ave.. too. some substance placed on
the CLASSY surface on which hoofs and wheels
could grip.
Downtown the conditions were the
Among the places were Nassau-st.. Cen
tre-st., and the narrow and steep inclines of the
streets on either side Of Broadway from Leon
ard-st. south. Near the end OF Centre-st. there
is q sharp incline Here the horses fell and
struggled TO get TO their feet oil the afternoon.
until the shopkeepers in the block took pity on
the brutes and sprinkled the street for a couple
OF blocks with ashes and sand AT this point
at one time there were no less than nine horses
down at once From spruce-st to Broad-st-
there were struggling. sprawling horses in every
block Between Beekrnan and Spruce SITS. four
horses were down at time. thoroughly block
ing all movement. AT the rise in Nassau and
Broad SITS. where they cross Wall-st.. when
horse went down he lay there from 1--WE minutes
to half an hour before he could be got TO his
feet Finally the janitors OF several OF tho
buildings near the intersection OF those streets
sprinkled ashes over the ice.
A permanent sand bureau. under the control
OF the Street Cleaning Department, is the solu-
ton offered by Superintendent Charles H.
Hanknson. OF the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty TO Animals. to prevent
the conditions that prevailed yesterday.
THE sand department should be divided off
into districts under the Of special agents."
the superintendent said. Though it would
doubtless cost the city many thousands Of dol
lars the money would have been cheaply spent.
Consider the vast amount Of suffering to dumb
brutes. the serious Inconvenience 20 men and
business, and the consequent loss of money
that would be done away with by the organiza-
ton Of such department which would be not
only useful under such conditions as prevailed
today but on many a muggy day in summer,
when the streets are only one degree less slip
perry
The superintendent pointed out that Commits
sioner Woodbury. last year had sand boxes
placed ut many Of the principal intersections OF
the thoroughfares. This now had been practi-
cally abandoned
Superintendent Hankinson denied that the
condition OF the streets. had anything to do with
a prevalence OF either asthma spinal menin-
gifts among horses reported.
Mr.. Hankinson is the inventor of overshoe
for horses, whose construction he gives FREQ to
owners. The overshoe can be made by any sad
dlery house the continuance consisting in
arctic shoe with felt soles. strengthened by
sheet OF galvanized iron inserted between the
strips of felt. The shoe is being used with
marked success in his department. Its disad-
Vantages. however, are the cost and lack of
durability.
For some time 1.-The Rider and Driver has
offered prize Of 500 for the best all around
non-slipping shoe
1t is charged that the Metropolitan Street
Railroad Qnterurban) largely responsible
for the many tumbles by horses it's tracks
yesterday by a failure to provide proper sand
box facilities. Motormen complained that there
was either sand in the boxes the sprink-
ling apparatus refused to work. being out OF
order
uTkTTERSON WOITIn RETURN tn 1890