Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-01-12
Railroad Service in and
Out of Rock Island is
Paralyzed.

,sht and today placed Rock Island in
state of paralysis.
II had the following effect:
Completely destroyed railroad
service in and out Of the city.
Crippled street car service.
Administered body blow to bus
mess.
For the first time in years all rail-
,oads entering the city operated no
,rains, The Rock Island railroad felt
The blow most heavily. The last train
IN from the east arrived at $40
o'clock Yesterday afternoon. 1t was
No. Z, due at o'clock.
No. q. local, due at o'clock last
night. Is stalled near Mineral, east of
here Drifts higher than the engine
blocked the train. Dan COughlin, di-
vision superintendent of the lines in
mis- city, is on the train. He assisted
members of the crew in shoveling
snow in an endeavor to open a way
for the train No. 10, due at S:25, is
stalled near Sheffield. When these two
trains will move depends entirely on
the weather. Every effort will be made
10 get them in motion as soon as pos
able. No other trains left Chicago
last night. The trains which were
annulled because Of the weather are
those which get in here at 1925 p. M,
s:3s a. m. and $50 a. IN.
From the west, there Is better pros
pects of train movement. No. s. due
at 1917 yesterday afternoon, arrived
sometime during the night When it
arrived here, it was detained, and
may be sent out sometime this even
ing. Other trains from the west are
enroute to this city.
Service on the Peoria division of the
Rock Island lines is also crippled. 1t
Is reported that train has been
stalled for hours at Galva The Rock
Island lines are in an unusual condi-
thn In view of the fact that the coal
supply of the road is limited at this
point and as freight service has been
practically eliminated. movement of
passenger trains is badly affected. The
situation is the most critical the Rock
Island lines has had to face in point
Of operation in years.
Burlington Delayed.
The Burlington roads service was
in q bad state as well. Trains from
the north and south were annulled
for a time A train was made up at
1890 this morning to take care of
northbound traffic, which ordinarily Is
handled by the 6 so in the morning.
This train had not arrived during the
day. The 1920 morning train from
st. Louis did not leave Galesburg for
this city until this afternoon.
The Milwaukee's last train out of
the city left at $40 yesterday after
noon. 1t was northbound. The South
west limited and other passengers on
the road were annulled.
The situation in Rock Island Is no
worse than other cities In the middle
west No trains left Chicago during
the night. AS result OF this there
was little mail handled in the city to-
day.
The Tri-City Railway company was
hard hit although in spite OF the ad-
verse conditions It maintained fairly
rapid schedule. Arsenal service was
late. Snow driven into the tracks by
the wind necessitates slow movement
Of the cars. The snow sweepers give
little help in the event Of blizzard
such as that of the last "a hours. The
snow blows back onto the tracks i'm
nediately after the sweeper passes
Another trouble the company had was
with cold cars. 1t was practically i'm
possible to keep the cars comfortable
Local merchants found trading slow
today. Few persons were away from
their firesides unless they had immed-
late business to transact. Deliveries
were slow because of the cold weather
Amusement housese were affected
None OF the theatres were compelled
TIC hang the IS. r. o." sign out last
evening.
Streets Blocked.
Some streets were blocked through
snow drifts. Traffic was forced to
move slowly and taxicab lines were
appealed to continually through the
day to take care of people who had tc
make business calls.
Telephone and telegraph companies
we're affected some by the blizzard, al
though they were not as hard hit as
were the railroad companies. Inter
urban lines operated on a crippled
schedule.
1t was the first time in years thai
Rock Island was isolated from the
outside world.