Evening star., 1908-01-13
ODD WINTER WEATHER
Wide Scope of Country Treat
ed to Erratic Changes.
SEASONS ARE COMPOUNDED
Rain, Hail. Fog, Heat, Thunder and
Lightning.
FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST
Three-Hour Thunder Storm in Phila-
delphia-Big Display at Balti-
more-Snow at Chicago.

CHICAGO January i3.zChicago's tele-
graphic communication with the outer
world. which practically was paralyZed
by yesterdays sleet storm. was slowly be-
ing restored to normal conditions today.
Emergency cables were sent out by the
| telegraph companies. and were strung
along fences in the rural districts.
Two hundred poles in the vicinity OF
Grand Crossing We're carried to the ground
and a number along the Chicago and
Northwestern Railroad Company's west
ern division. There was less damage to
lines Of the Illinois Central. which left
open communication to points in the
south. Telegraphic service on all roads.
however. was more or less affected. and
considerable inconvenience was also
caused to patrons of the long-distance tel
phone service. many wires being blown
down.
With fire alarm and police telephone de-
vices practically out of commission the
old watch-tower system-used only upon
extreme occa asiOns-was resorted to. All
day Yesterday and throughout last night
firemen were stationed either in the tow
ers surmounting station houses or at van
to detect a blaze in the vicinity, in order
that the department might respond
promptly.
Most of the mail trains entering Chi
cago are behind their schedules The
heaviest sufferers were the through
trains from the north and the south
and southwest. Only one train. how
ever. was reported absolutely lost. Ihat
was the Pacific coast train OF the santa
Fe system, due in Chicago ut 9:17
o'clock in the evening. Dispatchers
along the line reported at that hour
that the wires were all down and that
they were unable to locate the train.
The steamer Iowa of the Goodrlch llne
nut into Racine yesterday In bat
tered condition. The boat had left
Chicago Saturday night bound for Mil
waukee and northern ports. t'arly IN
the morning she was struck by the
heavy seas and buffeted about in a
manner that threatened destruction to
the steamer.
The storm gave employment TO many
idle men. Today the city authorities
may give employment TO the great
army Of idle men now dependent upon
Many thousands or dollars will be put
into circulation as result of repairing
the damage and clearing away the de-
bris.
Seven Inches of Snow.
The wild storm of sleet and snow,
riding on a blast Of fifty miles an hour.
struck Chicago at l o'clock in the
morning and ragged all night. The
snow was of the. wet. clinging kind
that put all the telegraph. wires out of
commission and blockaded most of the
traction lines Seven inches of snow
fell, the heaviest of the winter. The
city's street-cleaning department Is
overwhelmed by the downfall.
Phenomenal Variety in New York.
NEW YORK. January 13.-Any New
1o nnt soft wit a
variety of weather yesterday must be
mighty hard to please. Most of the
day 1t rained. The storm that had
of rain over the Greater New York in
the twenty-four hours ending at pm.
In the technical language OF the weather
bureau, that Is raining some.
Then, at different times. 1t hailed, as
IL to emphasize that this is really win
ter-not a torrential season. And the
hail cleared and cooled the foggy, sui
try atmosphere. And, as ii the con-
founded seasons were worse ,confounded.
while 1t was hailing the hardest. at 5:55
pm, thunder storm broke and lasted
three minutes.
Two brilliant flashes of lightning zig
Jagged across the western sky and IL
lumined the bulb crystals with all the
prism colors, until they shone for an
instant like myriads of gems. Two
loud peals Of thunder sounded. Any
one could easily imagine that time had
rolled backward to the last days OF
July.
There were six varieties of weather
count them-rain, hail. thunder light
ming, fog and 'Warmth-or rather lack of
cold.
The highest temperature during the
day was ~ degrees at am: the lowest
Al at am. So the average temperature
for the 18th day Of January was 45 de-
grees, which is not even near-wintry.
The average temperature January IL for
thirty-three years Is 50 degrees. Ine
official weather observers said the winds
greatest speed was twenty-five miles. but
it whistled faster than that through the
downtown corners. and on the shores or
Grayesend bay and In other exposed
places ii shook substantial houses so
that more timid persons could not sleep
after midnight.
Lightning and Hail at Baltimore.
BALTIMORE. January IA thunder
storm of summer-like ferocity, with vivid
thunder that rumbled over the heavens
in awe-inspiring volume. broke over Bal
timore yesterday afternoon. Not only
did the thunder roar and the lightning
fash. but rain came down in torrents and
hail descended with stinging force The
storm was distinguished by the fact that
II was accompanied by hail. 1t was un-
usual at lnlS Time Of the year. II was
not sleet or snow pellets that came down.
but real hard-frozen spheres of ice.
Up to 3 o'clock this morning the wealth
er in the preceding twenty-four hours
ranged in every stage possible with the
exception of snow and dry heat. The
thermometer rose and fell from cold to
warm and then back again to cold.
The assortment of weather began about
$50 m. when it-began to rain in steady
drenching volume. The air was cold and
raw at that time. After the rain had
poured down for about three-quarters OF
an hour the wind rose TO a velocity of
forty miles an hour from the mort beast
and what looked at first 10 be a mere
January rain was converted into howl
ing storm
Wild Storm OF the Capes.
NORFOLK. Va, January 13-Shipping
on the Atlantic and in Chesapeake bay
suffered greatly in the easterly gale which
broke Saturday night. The wind. accom-
panied by a driving rain and heavy fog.
blew fifty-six miles an hour at Cape Hen
ry and fifty-two miles in Norfolk The
Norwegian steamship Fortuna. which left
hare SATURDAY. with of for