The Topeka state journal., 1909-03-09
BIC SNOW STORM
Sweeps Over Kansas During
Early Morning Hours.
Foot Of Snowfall Is Reported at
Wichita.
FOUR INCHES HERE.
HERE.
At Nine O'clock Atmosphere
Had Cleared.
Railroads Report Trouble With
Trains and Telegraph Lines.

| About O'Clock this morning the
lightning began to flash and moment
or so later the thunder roared and Their
came a shower of rain which lasted fol
a moment. Then the snow began to faI
and continued till 8 o'clock when foul
inches had fallen. The storm was moi
unexpected by the weather department
which predicted it Monday morning al
though it has in all probabilities ex-
ceeded the fondest expectations of this
! department.
Everywhere the snow lies inches
deep on the ground and the beautiful
is finding it's way to earth after a fash
ion which quite outblinds the pedestrian
caught out of doors. Even the weather
department refuses to hazard guess
as to the area covered by the storm for
which it has appeared in this section OF
the world.
When the snow began to fall a swift
| wind prevailed from the northwest and
it hurried the snowflake laden atmos-
phere before it. At times in the early
morning the air was so filled with
l snowf1akes that it was almost impos-
sible for pedestrian to gauge his dis
tance.
The temperature throughout the night
and day has been but a few degrees
removed from freezing and much of the
snow melted as it fell The tempera-
lures have gradually fallen since the
snow began to fall excepting for few
brief intervals and yet there is no com
plant from this source for the fall has
been slight.
| At daylight this morning the ground
was covered with snow in Topeka to
the depth of several inches and there
was nothing on the surface of the
/ snow to indicate that the grass was
/ just commencing to peep through. In
! fact when the night went to bed it
J seemed that it was sure to omen new
; day which should be a free for all
| While snow began falling at
! O'Clock last night the worst of the
storm did not reach Topeka until be-
tween and O'Clock this morning.
past "a hours was 26 and the maxi
mum has been but a degree or so
| higher. The wind which has accom-
| panied the snow from the northwest
| at the rate of Is miles an hour has
| made the day particularly disagree
{ able one.
From up and down the railroads
come the assurance that the lines are
doing plenty of business, that is the
few of them that are in commission,
while miles of side tracks are un-
taxed. Trains from all directions were
slow reaching the city today on ac-
count OF the heavy fall of snow in the
adjacent measure and all of them are
late.
The total precipitation for the night
amounted to "a inches, barely enough
to make a fair sized snow storm, and
an hour or so later this had dwindled
down to almost nothing. The indica-
the greater part of the central and
western portions of the state.
Railroads in Trouble.
In the eastern half of the state
there was a heavy sleet storm early
last evening which kept up in some
places. for a larger portion OF the
night In the western part, however,
there was no sleet but a heavy snow
fall is reported.
The railroads are having consider
able trouble in operating their trains
owing to the fact that wires are down
in many places. The Santa Fe is ex-
periencing the greatest trouble. Be-
tween Emporia and Junction, dis
tance of more than half a mile,
the wires are all down. The weight
of the frozen sleet on the wires caused
the break. The Santa Fe also has
another break between Burlingame
and Scranton, where 70 ra consider
able distance the wires are all down.
The dispatchers who work at En-
Topeka and ottawa while the wires
are down at Emporia.
The heavy snowfall together with
the sleet has greatly impeded the run
ming of the trains. All the roads CEN
tering here report trains from an hour
to two hours late and in many cases |
later still.
The Santa Fe reports no wire trou-
BILE east of Scranton. The Rock |
Island reports no serious wire trouble I
although in several. places the wires /
are weather bound by the sleet and |
snow The Union Pacifs has no seri- |
Gus breaks.
The sleeet area seems to have ex- |
tended clear across the state from
north to south in a path about thirty
miles in width extending from EN-
poria eastward. Light sleet prevailed, /
however, clear to the eastern line of
the state.
Heavy Snow in West. L
Advices from Newton and Wichita
report a heavy snow in those places,
which averages about a foot in depth.
West of Newton the snow is still |
heavier, fifteen inches being reported |
in the vicinity of Great Bend, while in |
Garden City and Syracuse, the snow
fall aggregated about eighteen inches
In the northern part of the state
inches is reported from Belleville. At
Smith Center and Phillipsburgh the
snow amounts to a foot, while at Nor
ton and Colby, there is snowfall of
fifteen inches.
In the central portion of the state
the snowfall varies from six to ten
inches At Manhattan. there is fall
of six inches, while at Junction City
twenty miles further west the falls
to eight inches. Salina and
Abilene report a fall of about ten
inches.
There is not such a heavy snowfall
in the eastern section of the state At
Atchison, Leayenworth and Kansas
City, the snowfall is reported about
two or three inches.
In the central and western sections
of the state, the snows ceased falling
during the early morning hours, but |
snow flurries are frequent and another