Evening star., 1909-03-04
Storm OemoraIizes Conditions
on the Railways.
TELEGRAPH WIRES DOWN
No Means of Knowing Where Late
Trains Are.
CITY IS ALMOST ISOLATED
Baltimore Specials Unable to Reach
Here in Time for the Morning
Parade-Traffic Blocked.

The officials at the Union station will
remember this inauguration day prob
ably for many years to come. the
storm has tied up enormous length
or railroad track and there was abso-
futely no telephone or telegraph connec-
ton with any of the stations between
mere and Baltimore. This condition has
resulted in making everything late. All
10 O'Clock this morning passenger trains
due last night came lmping into the
station covered with snow and filled with
hungry passengers. BY the time the pa
rade TO the Capitol was we'll under way
this morning not a single citizen of Bal
tmore had entered Washington by any
steam railway. The railroad had planned
to send long passenger trains from Bal
hmore every ten minutes, and had sent
over hundreds of empty cars to bring in
the hundred thousand visitors who were
expected from that city.
Several hundred trains due to arrive
this morning before the parade started
carrying thousands of visitors from every
state and principally from towns and
cities within forty miles of Washington
did not arrive in time for the first part
of the parade. and the trainmaster. who
had nothing to do but smoke cigar at
his desk, could not tell whether they were
ever coming or not because he was aD-
soiuteiy cut on from practically every
source Of information along the road
A few messages would reach him now
and then. He told reporter for The
Star that as far as he knew all the spe-
cial trains carrying civic organizations or
military companies, which were due last
night, had arrived in the city, although
some of them were caught in the early
part OF the storm and were late all the
way from half an hour to seven hours
4 train bearing Gov. Fort of New Jer-
sey was four hours late.
Train Numbers Lost Sight Of.
The train bearing several New York
state republican clubs were three hours
late. but the regular passenger trains
were late without any telling when they
would get here, and SO great was the con-
fusion that many Of the more fortunate
trains that have been able to get into the
city today arrived and no one knew what
train it was.
said there had been no trains in from
Baltimore or to Baltimore since midnight
last night. The Baltimore and Ohio is
in the worst fix. 1t is reported that their
wires are down for forty miles out from
the city, and the extent of the storm. as
far as railroad officials are concerned IS
not known. The Pennsylvania railroad is
a little more fortunate, as some Of their
trains are coming in now and then and
they are sending some out, but no one in
the station seems to know what chances
there are of any outgoing train getting
outside Of the District Of Columbia.
Locals All Tied Up.
There has been a mob of disgusted citi-
zens in the station all day. Some of them
have been waiting for little suburban
train to leave the station for four hours
-
which had been announced at 6:15 this
morning still had a load of hopeful peop Q
on board. but it was standing still, with
no promise for a signal to go ahead
ID all questions about the departure or
arrival Of trains the men at the informa-
ton booth are truthfully saying that they
do not know.
The special trains due this morning to
be switched off to various freight yards
may have come and they may not have
come, as no one is able to get in touch
with the freight yards by telephone or
telegraph