The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-01-22
WAS A HARD FIGHT
Street Railways Battle With
Last Weeks Storm Expensive.
Cars Consumed 5000 Pounds of
Extra Coal a Day.
USED A CARLOAD OF. SALT
Every Line in City Was Affect
ed by Severe Snap.
Regular Force and All Extra
Men Were Employed.
USED A CARLOAD OF. SALT

The Topeka Railway company had
one of the hardest fights of its exist
ence during the blizzard weather
last week to keep the traffic moving.
Despite the fact that extra thousands
of pounds of coal was consumed in the
effort to keep cars warm, there was
scarcely u line in the city on which
one or more cars were not either froz-
en- stiff or held stationary on account
of drifted snow which covered the
rails in places to a depth of several
inches.
The severe weather of last week
caused the company equally as great
inconvenience as one storm did three
years ago.
Besides the loss to the street rail-
way company in passenger traffic. the
extra expense incurred through dig
ging away snow, spreading a carload
of salt to melt the snow. and sprin
king sand to take the smooth sur
face off the rails, amounted to hum
dreds OF dollars,
1t required approximately 5000
pounds of coal to maintain a tenn
perature above the freezing point in
the street cars, during the worst day
of the recent storm, and the motor
men who shoveled the extra load
knew that they had done a days
work when their shifts had ended.
Almost the entire personnel of the
street railway force was summoned
TO the car barns at Twelfth and Jack
son streets, with the real beginning of
the storm which had got a foothold
before midnight on Tuesday. Extra
men were added to the barn crew and
were kept busy throughout the night
and all day. while the blacksmith and
carpenter shop forces were called
from their regular routine to assist in
doing the small mending jobs that
were necessary every minute in the
day.
The regular force that operates the
snow sweepers was augmented with
every available man for that work,
and their efforts were necessarily con-
tinuous, despite near-frozen fingers,
toes and ears-if cars were to be run
at all.
Fires Kept Up All Night.
During the zero weather, fires were
kept in cars housed at the barns, to
prevent windows bursting when a car
was started on it's schedule for the
day. 1t was explained by street rail-
way men that many windows become
so frigid in zero weather, that the
glass breaks with the mere starting
of a car. Several instances were noted
in Topeka.
It was practically impossible. How
ard W. Patten, superintendent. said,
to arrive at definite figures showing
the total cost to the company as a
result of the storm.
BY many it was considered phenom-
email that the street railway was able
to maintain even half schedule on
Wednesday ard Thursday of last
week. and the company received
many calls from patrons who desired
to offer a word of congratulation on
the effort that was being made to
handle the traffic.
"Oh, of course we had some COM
plants" said Mr. Patten, but as 4
general rule the majority of the pub
lie bears with Us thrCugh such wealth
er. A glance at our working force
out on the lines and in the car barns
and shops during stormy weather will
always disclose that we do everything
possible to keep traffic moving. 1t is
not only for the accommodation of the
public that every energy is strained,
but quite naturally. the companys in
forests VitallV cOnCprDPd' -