Evening star., 1915-12-14
15|NCHES OF SNOW
BLOCK RAILROADS
Trains Entering and Leaving
New York Are Eight
Hours Late.
COMMUTERS SERVICE
is SERIOUSLY CRIPPLED
Through Expresses Along the Hud.
son Are Compelled to Stop Fre-
quently by Heavy Drifts.

NEW YORK. December 14.-The
center of one of the heaviest snow
storms this section of the country has
experienced in several years passed
northeast of New York today. leaving
in its wake a tangle of broken tele-
graph poles and wires. railroad trains
stalled in snow drifts. or long. delayed.
and large portion of New York, New
Jersey. Pennsylvania and New Eng
land blanketed with snow from six to
fifteen inches deep
Snow was still falling early today
although the severity of the storm had
abated. Predictions were that the storm
would continue through part of the
day. clearing tomorrow
Fifteen Inches at Poughkeepsie.
The heaviest fall of snow reported in
this vicinity was at Poughkeepsie, N
Y. where it was fifteen inches deep
Some of the New York Centrafs
through express trains from and to the
west forced their way through the
ldrifts and arrived here today bours
behind their schedule. The where
abouts of other through trains were
unknown to the railroad officials. and
none would say when they might ar
rive.
The blockade of the electric zone of
the New York, New Haven and Hart
ford railroad between New York and
Stamford. Conn, was described by Of
ficials of that road as the worst in
years. Electric feed wires broke down
and held up every train in the zone.
last night in the stalled trains or ma
rooned in the sta tions until steam loco
motives were sent out to pull the
trains to their destinations. The cleo
! tric service was still suspended when
the morning rush of commuters to the
city began and the steam locomotive
service was in effect.
Trains Back on Schedules.
New Haven officials said that the
through trains between Boston, and
New York began to move from six to
eight hours behind their schedule early
this morning and that the situation
was then clearing They expected that
lit would become normal: before noon.
by which time they hoped the electric
service would be resumed. The snow
was not deep enough. to interfere with
the movement OF steam trains in the
Immediate vicinity of New York, but in
Connecticut many trains were held up
by drifts.
Telegraphic communication between
New York and points north were cut
| by the breakdown of wires and poles
under the weight of clinging snow.
| The telegraph companies stated that
| their service had been affected as far
| south as Virginia and that in New Jer-
| sey the main trunk lines leading from
| New York to the west suffered Sc
! verely.
| At one time the Western Union Tele-
| a wire leading to cities up the Hudson
| river and all signal wires of the New
| York Central railroad used in operat-
| ing its trains were down.
Cable communication across the At
lantic was badly hampered by the fail
ure OF the cable companies land wires
| between New York and Nova Scotia.
The snowfall in New York city is es-
timated at six inches. but as a consid-
cradle part of ii melted almost as fast
as it fell the streets and sidewalks
when day dawned were deep with
slush. During the height of the storm
the wind here attained velocity of
sixty miles an hour, the highest
er bureau stations. Because of it's un-
expectedness the storm caused come
damage to shipping in the harbors
and along the coast.
Mr.. Taft Is Stormbound.
All east-bound New York Central
trains were from one to eight hours
laIe- III dlInOSt every case serious de-
lays were due to interruption Of tele-
graphic communication by the high
| winds and heavy wet SHOWS. Before
noon all the New York Central tracks
between here and Albany had been
cleared OF snow and sleet, and in most
cases switches had been thawed out or
cleared for operation. West bound
trains were scheduled to leave here on
time.
Though an army of laborers was at
work along the New Haven lines. con-
ditions were still badly demoralized all
forenoon. Former President Taft was
among the stormbound travellers. He
| boarded train for New Haven at
Grand Central station last night. only
tc be informed that because of a break
| in the electric feed wire there would
be indefinite delay Never mind" said
Mr.. Taft. 'Tll be quite comfortable
here and. doing, he waited patiently
| until. with the aid of steam locomo-
| tive. the train crawled out of the sta
| tion. Although he first climbed aboard
at . pm. 1t was this morning when
Mr.. Taft reached New Haven.
Killed While Clearing Tracks.