The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1909-02-18
Ohio Towns Without Fuel
or Light
Causes Break
In Main Near Wooster
Telegraph and Tele-
phone Wires Break
Under Burdens Of the
SIeet.

Cleveland, o., Feb. 14-Traff1c on
many steam and electric railroads in
Northern and Western Ohio has been
suspended, several towns are in dark
ness while a number of other depen-
dent upon natural gas are without
fuel and telegraph and telephone
wires are out Of commission on ac-
count of a sleet storm that is sweep
ing across the northern section of the
state from the west
The storm began Saturday evening,
continued with more or less severity
all night and reached it's height early
today.
Along the line of the western di-
vision of the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern railroad only one out of "a
railroad and commercial telegraph
wires was working during the day and
tonight the wires along that road east
of here gave way under the heavy
weight of sleet and cut off all commu-
nicRtion.
The city of Findlay is in total dark
ness, wind storm having accompan-
led the fall of sleet there. Practic-
ally all wires in the city were either
blown down or otherwise put out of
commission. The electric light COM
pany is unable to supply current for
either street lighting or domestic pur-
poses.
Chilly homes all day with nothing
but cold lunches to eat and the added
discomfort of dark rooms tonight have
been the prevalent conditions in towns
along the main line of the Michigan
Oil & Gas company. A washout at a
point about IL miles south of Woos-
ter caused the bursting of the large
gas main of the company and the fuel
supply was thereby cut off from Woos-
ter, portions of Akron, Barberton,
Orrville, Shreve and Doylestown.
The best encouragement the man
agement of the gas company holds out
to the people of these towns is that
the repairs to the main will probably
be completed late Monday night, but
that it is possible that the work can
not be completed before some time
Tuesday. AS the gas supply originates
in West Virginia it will be some time
after the repairs are completed be-
fore the pipes can be filled and suf-
ficient pressure secured to supply
consumers, at /, the upper end of the
line.
No fatalities have beer reported on
account of the storm but there have
been minor accidents in several of
the towns affected principally due
to pedestrians slipping on the icy
pavements and fracturing limbs.
Canton escaped both the wind and
the sleet storms that swept over
Northern and Western Ohio beginning
Saturday night, although this city was
visited by heavy rainfall. The pre-
cipitation continued practically all day
Sunday.
The greatest inconvenience in this
city was suffered by the Postal Tele-
graph company. The Canton off ce
was practically cut off from communi-
cation with the outside world from
late Saturday night until about 4
o'clock Sunday, and business could
only be sent out over telephone lines
to Cleveland from whence the lines
TO the east were working. Last night
the company's lines to Cleveland were
restored but were seriously involved
to points west of there. A wire chief
working in the Cleveland Office late
Sunday night said on the wire that he
had been constantly at the switch
board since o'clock Saturday night,
and relief was not yet in sight.
The Western Union Telegraph COM
pany in Canton was more fortunate
the majority of it's through lines run
ming along railroads south of the storm
belt. The local Office reported ser
ious trouble in the Toledo district,
particularly along the Wabash-Wbeel-
ing & Lake Erie railroad. the tele-
graph lines of which pass though Can.
ton.
Local operators of the long distance
telephone companies said they had ex-
perienced little or no difficulty on
account of wires. This was probably
largely due to the fact that there is
not much commercial business on
Sundays and they probably had few
calls to make through the storm dis.
trict, for the wires of the telephone
companies are reported disabled in
many towns. The fact of it being
Sunday also saved the telegraph com
panies a great deal of trouble.