Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-01-21

Ottumwa Telephone Co., is the heavier
loser and this company has over 500
wires down. Overga hundred lines af-
fecting more than that many phones
on the Iowa line are down.
Results Of the Storm.
Telephone poles are broken and
their wires are stretched along the
ground or hanging in mid air, a men
ace to drivers and pedestrians. The
trees are covered thickly with sleet,
the limbs straining under the heavy
burden they carry. Massive oaks
which have stood the storms of years
are bent many of them with broken
limbs. 1t was the worst storm of its
kind experienced here since the one
in the winter of 1899, which was more
severe as the weather was below the
zero mark and nearly all the over
head wires were broken down.
The storm began with a light drizzle
last evening about o'clock. This
continued for several hours, gradually
turing into a heavy sleet. This
morning the landscape as far as one
could see was mass of snowy white,
and it was then seen that great dam
age had been done.
The Railroad Situation.
The railroad situation so far as the
telegraph wires are concerned is al
most as bad as it was last spring at
the time of the big flood. The Bur
lington service west was entirely cut
off this morning. The first message
came through about 10 o'clock from a
little station west of Ottumwa and
stated that eleven poles were down in
sight of the station. The service
east of Ottumwa was not seriously in
terfered with largely from the fact
that the wires east were mostly re-
placed during the past summer and fall
with new copper covered wire.
Milwaukee Crippled.
The Milwaukee service is badly
crippled though there are enough wires
to permit of the train orders being sent
through. The Rock Island can reach
ElGon but in the other direction has
no service at all. The Wabash has
nc service.
Trains. Are Running.
On all roads trains are running
though somewhat behind time. The
east bound trains have suffered more
in this respect than the west bound be.
cause the storm was apparently much
heavier in the western part of the
state.
The Telephone Loss.
The toll operators at the telephone
Offices upon investigation found that
there were but few lines connecting OF.
tumwa with the outside world in serv-
ice. The Iowa Telephone CO., has
been able to use three lines out of
twelve. These are the wires connect.
ing with .Oskaloosa, HeGrick and AL.
bia. The Ottumwa Telephone Co., has
but two lines out of nine. These are
the lines connecting with Bloomfield
and Belknap and Kirlsvilfe and Keb.
Loss in the City.
In the city the loss is greater but is
easier to reach, The loss to the OF.
tumwa Telephone Co., will be very
heavy. Miles of wire are down, many
poles have fallen and numbers Of ca
bles have been burned out. The main
line east, which runs in the alley be
tween Main and Second street, is Grip
pied and seven poles have broken. The
4 line west of Court in the same alley
and those on Marion and Washington
streets have also many broken con
nections. Over 500 telephones were
cut off this morning and the linemen
have been able to make but little head
way. The Iowa company did not suf
fer very heavily in the city as work
men have been engaged constantly in
improving the service preparatory tc
connecting with the new building tc
be erected by the company here mex
spring.
Repairs viii Take Six Weeks.
Manager Howard Herr, of the OF
tunlwa Telephone Co., stated this af
ternoon that it. would probably be six
weeks before the complete service can
be restored He stated that it will be
necessary to run complete new cables
on the lines in the East End, while an
entire overhauling will be necessary
before the damaged property is re
paired.
The Telegraph Loss.
Linemen have been at work all day
on the telegraph lines around Ottum
wa and reinfcrcements are being sent