The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-02-05

from Fridays Daily.
The hardest blizzard in fifteen years
struck this section last night and
ragged all day today. The city was
completely isolated from the outside
world. both as regards transportation
and telegraph and telephone service.
Not a train was moving today except
a couple of passenger trains that stare
ed from this city, but it is not thought
that they got very far. Wires and
poles were snapped off by the weight
of the ice that had formed on them
and the wind that blew a terrible gale.
Rain fell practically all day yester-
The rain and sleet, driven before the
wind. froze to poles and wires and to
everything else. and the wet SNOW
formed thick coating outside OF that
Sometime after midnight the wind be-
Gan to blow from the north, and in
creased steadily in velocity until by
daylight it was blowing gale and the
air was filled with binding snow. Ice
particles beat pitilessly in the faces and
eyes of all who were obliged to 90 out
and snow drifts encountered their feet
| The temperature also fell rapidly, and
| was only few degrees above zero by
| morning.
Change Was Most Severe.
| The change from yesterday was most
severe, yet similar changes have Otter
occurred in the past. The snow fall
was not excessive, but the ice that
formed preceding it was the cause OF
all the decentralization.
All railroad traffic today was aban
doned, for all practical purposes Al
efforts were directed to getting passen
! ger trains through, but the roads met
| waukee train left Mankato on time
this morning, and expected to get
| through to Wells. The Great Western
train left forty-fi five minutes late, but
how far it went is not known. Tn,
last passenger train to arrive i'll Man
kato OH the Omaha road was the 1874.
a. IN. train for the south known al
No. 8, and the last one on the Chicago
& Northwestern road was No. sol. west
bound, that passed through at ll:E
p. III.
Telegraph Wires Out of Commission
All telegraph wires of whatever des
cription went out of commission during
the night so that train dispatcher
had ne means of sending orders today
1t was thought that this would no
interfere with sending passenger train
out, but only those going in one drec
ton would be sent. 1t is hardly though
that any trains will arrive in Mankat,
today. or until the storm subsidies.
The local telephone companies wer
hit as hard as the telegraph com
panies. The Citizens company was TIN
many cross arms caused a strain OF
its poles that could not be witnstoot
when the heavy coating of ice wa
backed i'll its destructive ability by TIN
high wind Scores of this company
poles broke off i'm North AIankatO. oh
structing streets and alleys. Yves
Mankato and other outskirts. Wire
snapped all over the city, but TN
poles went over only in the more ex
posed places. In the alley betwee
State and Front streets line of pole
went down. and on West Fourth stree
every pole went over
Dangerous to Pedestrians.
On Front street crossing the slough
fallen poles blocked traffic. 1t wa
dangerous for anyone to try to driv
or walk through the mass of tangle
wires. for the electric light wire
crossed them in places and the cleo
tricty could be seen swapping an
shooting off the ends of the broke
wires. A person ran danger of cleo
trocution to touch the wires.
The Northwestern Telephone syster
suffered in the city, poles being dow
and wires broken. Outside of the cit
every line was out of order excer
one wire to st. Peter. No other tow
was III communication with Mankat,
The Citizens company was cut off frol
all outside connections.
The fire alarm system suffered wit
the rest, and also the electric lightin
system. The electric fire alarm sy:
tenn was put out of commission, an
, Chief Kleinschmidt requests that peop
telephoning fire alarms be sure and gi,
7 the location, street number, etc, di
: tinctly.
: The wind was so strong that it BILE
/ down one of the railway gates at til