The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-12
 Street Car Service Seriously Impaired by Snow and
 Ice on Grades DRIVING WIND PLAYS HAVOC WITH ELECTRIC SIGNS AND AWNINGS Pedestrians Had Difficulty in Travelling Downtown Sections--NO Serious
 Damage Reported

A snowstorm, starting about o'clock yesterday afternoon and con tinuing until shortly after g o'clock last night. placed Birminghams traf- fic almost at a standstin. The stiff windstorm which followed caused the streets of the city to be deserted and last night there was little travel on the snow covered pavements and side- walks.
 The city, however withstood the young blizzard exceptionally well. The shortage of coal caused suffering in some quarters. Majority of the resi- dents were satisfied to remain with in the confines of their homes and theatres had but little patronage.
 CAR SERVICE IMPAIRED
 Street car service was seriously im- paired Service or some of the lines was completely discontinued, but on the majority cars operated, but not on the usual schedules. The cars were forced to run very slow and on lines where there are steep grades 1t was practically impossible for the heavy cars, especially when they were load ed, to Ego over the top.' On the Twen- tieth street hill the majority of the cars found 1t impossible to climb the grade and another route was used. The eams practice prevailed in all parts of the city.
 On the East Lake line the trolley wire was blown down from Forty second street and First avenue, north, to Avondale, and service was discon- tinued for several hours.
 All motor bus lines discontinued service early in the night. The big Norwood busses experienced great diff ficulty in preventing slipping from one side of the street to the other and at one time in the night five of them were marooned on the hill near Magnolia Point
 SIGNS BLOWN DOWN The brisk wind whipped around the corners in the downtown district and pedestrians found walking very un- pleasant. The sidewalks. after the snowfall ceased, were covered with slight layer of ice and numerous falls were noted
 Although no great damage was re- ported, electric signs, awnings, street signs and other exposed objects proved
  A number of electric signs hanging over the sidewalks were blown down. but in no case were there any injuries reported The wind attained an i'm creased velocity as Athe night passed and near midnight walking against it provad almost an impossibility. Despite the fact that the heavy fall of snow earlier in the night was practically blinding, not a single ac- cident was recorded. A number of au- l tomobiles were on the streets and downtown garages found it impossible l to accommodate the demand of own CTS for storage
 ZERO WEATHER INDICATED | The thermometer was on gradual l decline during the night Yesterday at | 6 o'clock, when the snowstorm was in 1 It's zenith, the thermometer on a downtown street registered 21 de- | grees. At il o'clock last night the same thermometer had dropped to Il degrees. Indications point to the ther- mometer falling near zero before morning.
 The weather is expected to set a new record for Birmingham since February, 1899. when the coldest weather in the city's history was re- l corded. Eight inches of snow fell and the thermometer dropped to several degrees below zero. The COlQeSL WeaIn- I CT recorded since then was in Febru- ary, 1905, when the thermometer l dropped to degrees above zero.
 The fire department did not receive a single alarm during the storm or had not prior to the time The Age- Herald went to press. The sudden change in the weather placed the po- lice department on an idle bases. not
 a single call being received by them
 BATTLES WITH SNOW
 Youngsters were quick to take ad- vantage of the rare opportunity for battles with the snow last night Groups of boys in all sections of the city were frolicking and planned for a great time today.
 The blizzard, despite the havoc worked on numerous residents be- cause of the coal shortage, delighted the young fosls The sign of snow brought joy to the hearts of many
 kiddies. Few sleds were to be seen ir
 action last night.
 weather Forecaster Horton predict. ed yesterday the thermometer woult drop to 6 degrees. Last night. although no official information could be se.
 cured from the weather bureau. indi.
 cations were the thermometer woult
 stand its lowest in years in the Magic City when the city's inhabitanti awoke this morning.
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