The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-02-08
.SLEET BREAKS MANY
TELEPHONE WIRES
Northwestern System Loses
$4,000 i'm Wrecked Switch.
board andProstrated Lines.

The innocent looking snow furry
Saturday night caused the Northwest
ern Telephone conf any between $780,
600 and $4,000 damage. 1t also caused
the residents of Merriam Park much
inconvenience and walking on account
of the blockadfng of the Merriam
Park and Selby trolley lines.
For more than a mile telephone
poles were Frustrated early yesterday
morning. The weight Of sIeet which
lodged on the wires broke down the
poles and tangle of wires covered
the street The poles along the trans
fer bridge on University avenue were
all broken down and for a distance
or a quarter of a mile beyond the
bridge at the north end. The distance
is about three-fOurths of a mile
About twenty poles on Selby avenue,
beyond Chatsworth street, fell across
the street car tracks, blocking all serv-
Ice beyond that point Dozens. of poles
IN various parts Of the city were also
snapped off, and a number on the Still
water long distance line were also laid
low.
Dale Exchange Damaged.
The poles on Selby avenue in fall
ing brought their wires in contact
with the high voltage street car trolley
wire. The heavy current shot through
the Dale street exchange at Laurel
avenue and Dale street, badly dam
aging the switchboard there The
small wires were fused, setting fire
to the woodwork and for a time en-
dangering the entire building
The switchboard was nearly wrecked
ana service with Dale subscribers was
interrupted until about o'clock last
night when Manager B. l.. Freely,
after heroic effort, got a temporary
service in operation. 1t will be several
weeks before a new switchboard can
be put in. The value of the board
destroyed is estimated at $4,000.
The damage at the Dale street ex-
change occurred about o'clock yes
terday morning. Two operators, Miss
Jane Keith and Miss Thea DiImarsen
were at the switchboard at the
time. Suddenly there came a flash,
the high current interrupting
board became a mass of electric
sparks, the wires fused and the switch
board began to burn.
With rare presence of mind, Miss
Keith dropped the plugs, and rush
ing out of the building to the street
car barns on the corner Of Selby
avenue and Dale street, reported the
fire. The fire department was noti-
ned and few minutes after the ar
RIVAL of the firemen the blaze was ex-
tlnguished. Neither of the operators
was injured.
Switchboard Loss $4,000.
''The Dale street switchboard" said
'B. L. Freely, manager of the North
sMestern Telephone company, was in
stalled four years ago at a cost of
$4,000. 1t was purchased from the
Western Electric company of Chicago,
who will put in the new one. The loss
Is partially covered by insurance
Inc board as one of the best that
money could buy and was as efficient
as any in service anywhere today. 1t
was connected with high current in
terrupter, designed to protect the board
from just such an accident as this The
current which suddenly shot over our
wires was SO great, however. that.
while the small wires on the inter-
rupter fused as designed, the current
jumped across from one plug to an
other, completing the circuit.
y Besides the damage to the board,
the company has sustained about $4,000
damage to pole and wires. The poles
which broke We're practically new and
were the best Idaho cedar. Many of
the wires and cables on the poles were
broken, and at the present price of
copper, 1872 cents per pound, it will
require considerable sum to replace
them.
THE cables along the Transfer
bridge, | understand, are broken in a
number of places. The cables and
wires are strung over houses and 9th
er buildings, and it will require some
time to get things Strengthened out
again. Service with Minneapolis is
1mpracticable through the Dale street
branch.
Making Temporary Repairs.
"a force of twenty men will work
day and night under my direction un-
til we can replace the switchboard as
we'll as possible with a temporary sys-
tenn. We expect to have the majority
of Dale subscribers connected with the
main line before 8 o'clock Monday
morning. Our men have made rapid
progress in the work of repairing the
damage and we do not think that the
service will be badly crippled for long"
A large force Of men was at work
yesterday propping up the poles which
leaned at a dangerous angle all over
the city. The poles which carried the
greatest number of wires, some more