The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-01-31
SNOW VERY !.
EXPENSIVE | !.
It Comes Freely and Lightly
Enough, But Costs the Cities
Thousands Of Dollars.
A SMALL FORTUNE. IN sLEDs
Money Represented by Them Of,
Streets a Most Desirable
Fortune.
A SMALL FORTUNE IN sLEDs

rcv Injuries are ever so expensive to
!, cltv as snow. 1t comes SO Rightly and
freely, but 1t Is heavy when 1t Is moved,
and IL Is difficult and costly to get rid OF.
IL tho street cleaning department un-
dcrtakes to clear the thoroughfares OF
i tI tho present visitation will cost the
city. as a government, hundreds Of dol
lars, while another large sum VIII oc
paid by the residents to get the sldcr
walks In front Of their houses Cleaned
of. ~
Hundreds Of mon, either in the employ
Of tho city, tho street car company, or
citizens, were put to work early yester-
day morning moving the monster from
tho sidewalk to tho street. Tho work
had hardly gotten well in hand before 1t
camo to naught by the snowmans get
ting out another edition OF his pure
white sheet. Citizens throw the blcached
article into tho street, the street car
company's snow plows pile 1t up on
each side Of their tracks, and 1t de-
wolves upon Superintendent Cohn and
his men to get the whole business out
OF the way SO that traffic in vehicles.
may be carried on; Hundreds Of cart
.onds are hauled away with as clear a
conscience as II 1t were garbage or.
ashes, and 1t Is dumped into the l1ver
or dock, as may be convenient.
COSTS SEVERAL FORTUNES.
In tho large Northern cities thousands
upon thousands Of dollars are spent
every winter in getting the beautiful
snow out Of the way. In New York It
Is carried to lighters, towed down the bay
and dumped. Quite frequently In Rich
mond snow IS followed by much higher
temperature, and rain and tho sewers
take the place of city carts. But all the
morning Yesterday men with shovels
were seen going from door to door getting
contracts for cleaning off the snow. OF
course, as soon as the second supply be-
gan to come, al effort at cleaning was
suspended.
With hous.e-owners the snow on the
roof is a far more serious problem than
snow on the sidewalk. The weight upon
the house is enormous, and when the
melting time comes few roofs will not
leak or be seriously damaged
a genuine snowstorm has the effect
to revolutionize life in "a city for day
or so. It brings about a demand for
certain goods that the merchant rarely
has q call for anygother slime during the
year. Sheds rubber boots and overshoes
are in special demand. Newspapers and
magazines arc 1850 more than ordinarily
popular. Men stayHinS the house at night
and they want something to read. The
newspapers do a farSbetter business in
such bad weather than ION other occa-
sions. One news i ealcrE+said latea yes
,terday that he had; sold cuts very Rich-
mond and every New1iYork paper he
had, because the boys had gone off the
streets early. and, furthermore, the peo-
pie were planning to spend the evenings
at homo reading. # Sa
Thousands of dollars we're represented
in the children's sleds ION the streets
yesterday, and many parents went down
into their pockets for hard-e coin
with which to buy other seds Grown
people may fume and fret, but thu chill
dren, the real philosophers OF life, are
happy and are having the time OF their
life,