The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-02-19
in GRASP or THE ICE KING.
WHOLE CITY WRAPPED IN COW
ERING OF ICE FRIDAY
MORNING.
Considerable Damage Done to TeIe-
phone and Telegraph Lines by SIcet
and Icc-Number of Limbs Brok-
Ell down i'm City.

Ell down i'm City.
During the night the ice King" ST.
lently entered the city and Friday
morning people awoke to find that he
had made fast his clutches on every
thing in the whole town. Nor was
his coming unexpected, for the wealth
er man had sent out his warning of
the approaching cold wave and those
who had needed him were prepared
Tor the unwelcome visit Extra blank
cts had been brought out and placed
at hand for use during the night and
supplies Of coal and wood ordered. in
order that the colo might not affect
their comfort
There was not great deal Of dam
age done by the ice and sleet, a num-
Der of telephone and telegraph lines
were put out of commission and
branches were broken off trees in
several parts Of the city. Other than
this it was only the personal comfort
Of citizens which was affected. The
cold Gather did not to any extent de-
lay trains passing through here, all
though it possibly to some extent in
terfered with the passenger traffic,
which was noticeably light.
Every tree, fence and building had
in
the night The rain and sleet of
Thursday afternoon and evening had
been solidly frozen although the tenn
perature gradually rose during the
day and the ice gradually melted off
trees and buildings, and fell from
the overhead wires in little crystal
heaps on the street where it speedily
melted. The thermometer did not
go down as low as had been predicted,
although it fell to two degrees
below freezing at one time. All of
the trains coming into the passenger
station yard during the morning were
lce-coated, presenting a very un-
usual spectacle in Sumter. :
At the Postal telegraph Companv
office it was stated that the ice had
not injured any Of their lines, al
though it had put their call box SER
vice out Of commission for the time
being. The Western Union office had
suffered more. The wire to Charles
ton, one to Florence and one to At
lanta by way of Columbia were the
only ones in working order, and much
difficulty was being experienced in
getting messages through. The lines
men had been sent out, but had not
yet made any reports. Several poles
were down on the Florence line, the
Augusta line was out of commission
somewhere between CrestOn and Cam
eron and half a dozen wires had been
popped off just on the edge of the
city. At the Sumter Lighting Com
pany Office Mr.. Moses reported that
he had at 10 o'clock heard of no
breaks or damage to the wires. He
reported his lines to be in good shane,
as far as he. knew, and feared only
damage from falling branches or
loose telephone wires.
The Sumter Telephone Company
reported six or seven lines TO be down
as the result of damage from falling
branches. The linesmen were out
hunting up breaks and making re-
pairs as fast as possible and it would
not be long before the system would
be put back into its usual service.
Throughout the city a number of
limbs fror trees were broken off and
fell in the streets, while at other
places limbs were bending down over
the sidewalks and had to be cut off.
The evergreen trees such as the mag
nolia and mock oranges suffered most
on account of the freeze, as their TO-
liage gave support to a large amount
of the frozen moisture. The city
force of hands were out at work all
day clearing broken limbs off the
street and cutting down limbs which
obstructed traffic.