The Mankato free press., 1908-02-21
IN WAKE OF STORM
Several Deaths and Many In
juries in Chicago.
BLIZZARD is VERY SEVERE
Traffic on S uburban and Surface Lines
Practicail y Tied Up-Two Lives
Lost by the Wreckins of Vessel
In the X; arbor.

Lost by the Wrecking of Vessel
In the X; arbor.
Chicago, Feb. 19.-Several deaths,
many fujuI les and much. suffering fol-
lowed in Il e wake of one of the worst
blizzards experienced in this section
in several years. Traffic on surface
and suburb an lines is practically tied
I'M and dc wntown hotels are filled
with resid, ents of outlying districts
who found themselves unable to reach
their homes. The storm, which broke
early in the day, ragged with increasing
fury until ni..htfall, subsiding some
what toward midnight.
One of the most tragic occurrences
in connection with the storm was the
wrecking in the harbor at Waukegan
of the fishing boat Anspach, in which
two plen lost their lives and six 9TH
ers had narrow escapes from death.
The boat left the harbor to visit nets
set ten miles out in Lake Michigan.
Caught in the storm on the return
trip. the vessel battled with the ele-
ments until it reg,ained the harbor,
only to ba blown against a projecting
wall and crushed. Captain Oliver
Rubber with five men composing the
crew, were thrown upon an ice-pack.
-Four Of the men succeeded in cling
ing to the ice and were rescued. Two
slid into the water and were drowned.
nI
nv the storm were run down by
train and fatally injured. In the same
vicinity a woman, overcome by eX-
haustion, was found dying In the
snow
Binding Clouds Of Snow.
The wind at frequent intervals
blew with a velocity of fifty miles
an hour and it hurled the snow
through the streets in such binding
clouds that it was impossible to see
for a greater distance than half a
square and aft en- the range of vision
would be limited to a few feet. A
great number of accidents of a minor
character were caused by the colli-
sions between wagons and between
wagons and street cars.
When the home-going crowd was at
its thickest the wind was blowing so
heavily and the snow was falling in
such binding sheets that it was posi-
lively dangerous to attempt to cross
Michigan avenue at its intersection
with either Jackson boulevard or Van
Buren, streets. These crossings are
used by thousands of people every
night to reach their homes in the
southern part of the city and in the
suburbs by means of the Illinois Cen
trail railroad It was found necessary
to station a large number of city and
park police at these corners to assist
women, and often it was more than
one officer could do to pilot a woman
across without assistance. 1t was out
of the question for woman to cross
the street by herself. An officer was
stationed a half square west of the
crossing of Jackson boulevard and
Michigan avenue with orders to send
women back or to bring them through
the Stratford hotel, by which means
the worst portion of the crossing was
evaded.
But littlo effort was made to remove
the constantly drifting snow even In
the business district of Chicago, and
it was said by transportation off cials
that traffic would be greatly impeded
before the lines can be cleared. The
elevated lines suffered less than any
others and maintained fairly regular
service. Their cars were heavily
overcrowded in consequence of the
failure of surface lines. The govern
ment forecaster announced that there
was little relief in sight, more snow
being in prospect with falling tenn