The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-01-31
Effects OF THE
GREAT STORM

The worst storm that has yisitef
this section for many years occurred
this week, when Hood River aud tb,
di ,rclct west OF the summit of tn,
Cascades was covered with from one
to thee feet OF snow, aud the cossI
section in the Columbia basin bad
one of the most destructive storms in
its history.
Drifting snow and slides from the
mountains filled cuts in the railroad
right OF way, until it took the rotary
snow plow nearly two days to open
thet rack for the passage ot trains.
There has Eeen no damage outside
OF the sleet storm belt Ihe sleigbinQ
Is the finest Of the winter in the val.
ley, the wheat section of eastern Ore.
gon is rejoicing over the heavy snow,
that ensures moisture and protection
to the wheat crop, and the snow will
prove benefit in the valley to straw.
berries and crops generally.
Portland, however, is the greatest
sufferer, through the destruction of
Telegraph md telephone lines, and it
Is feared that many orchards around
Portland have been damaged by the
heavy coating OF ice break ing down
the trees. The following from Port
land papers give an idea of the dam
age done:
The Pacific States Telephone g. Tel.
egrsph company was by Tar the heav
lest sufferer from yesteId days "silver
thaw." Its loss will probably reach
S2OO, 900 and may 60 to a much L,gher
figure when all the returns are in, ac.
coIding to the statement of District
Manager III. Hickman.
"We cannot give all accurate esti-
mate OF our losses until we get into
it," said Mr.. Hickman. "All that we
are attempting to do this morning is
to clear the streets of fallen wires and
poles. 1t is probable that the damage
will reach $500, 600 and may 60 much
higher when the returns are all in.
1--WE know that hundreds of tele-
phones are burned out, that miles of
wires and poles are down and that
many of our underground cables art
out of commission. 1t will be several
days before we Can make any progress
In Strengthening up the system. ."
The Vancouver telephone system is
reported to be in worse condition
than the Portland ssy stem. The freeze
along the Columbia was severer than
q few miles back from the river. The
Ice WAS thicker and the pt.es and
wires went down more generally than
here. Above Milwaukee, along the
willamette, the damage to the tele-
phone lines is said to be nominal.
In st. Johns the system is entirely
out Of commission.
The big Milwaukee cable is down in
the street for a mile, putting every
telephone i'll that section out OF busi-
ness. Between Portland and Bridal
Veil the condition is very sad, nearly
all the wires reported as going down
early yesterday morning. Mr.. Hick.
man states that every effort will be
made to get he Portland and subur.
ban systems ia shape with ! he utmost
possible speed.
The railroads have been affected
only slightly and the telegraph COM
panies have suffered little excepting
from the loss Of business owing to be-
ing unable to insure prompt service.
The most fortunate feature of the ser
ious situation is the fact that no hui
man lives were sacrificed. A few ac-
cidents due to persons coming in con
tact with live wires have been report
ed, but none were of a serious nature
so far as is known.
The damage to parks and gardens,
while not especially serious from
financial point of view, is felt perhaps
more deeply than anything else be-
cause favorite beauty spots have been
transformed into scenes of total ruin
and desolation. Where yesterday
stood shade trees that years of train
Ing had bt fought into perfection, to-
day lie only bI oxen twigs aud branch
es among heaps of cracked icicles.
An army of men has been at work
on the west side clearing away the de-
bris and it will likely be possible to
furnish residence lights and some
street lights on the west side, but it
is not even certain that residence
lights will be furnished ON the east
side of the river for several. days.
where the tattered lines ale still lying
in great confusion on the streets.
StreetCar traffic was demoraliZed for
a couple OF days. The entire Portland
fire alarm system was out Of order and
will not be in order for three or four
days and it will take two weeks to get
it into good repair.