Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-01-28
REAL BLIZZARD
PAYS us VISIT,
TRAFFIC BLOCKED
Railroads Badly Crippled and Troll
ley Service Out Of City Likely to
be Tied Up Because Of Storm.
SNOW A-PLENTY THIS TIME

Last week we Thought we had a snow
storm To-day we have n real one.
WiGh all the attributes of q real blizzard
il blew into town In the small hours o! the
morning and settled down to give Whining
ton taste of real, old-fashioned winter
rs a result TRANSFORMATION services Of all
.,aris are tied up-mora or less trolley
lines crippled, railroads behind in sched-
llcs and motors and trucks almost unable
10 operste By night, unless conditions
greatly improve, II is by no means un-
likely that the trolley service throughout
the CITY may have 10 be abandoned. al
thought the officials arc doing their utmost
Ia keep the lines open, hy doubling UP
the cars and running them In pairs.
Folks who went To bed early last
night had little thought that when they
awoke this morning they would find the
ground covered by blanket Of white.
Even at midnight il had not begun 10
snow. But along about | 30 "a. m. when the
heavens began to send down their tieccy
contents those whose business kept them
abroad knew that the city was TN Tor a
storm of serious character.
And when early riscrs crawlcd trom hcd
and saw what had happened during the
night It was with MANY mISglvingS and
gr,Imblings that they sailed forth INTO the
streets Last week snow was hsrf enough
to get about IN. but this mornings tall
was very much worse. The traction COM
pany got on the Job with its sweepers
irnulediateiv the storm began. but keep
ing the tracks clear was almost an Impos-
sibilitv and pedestrians found that walk
ING in them was almost rs great difficulty
as walking on the sidewalks
III i y,
as the morning wore on. Iatencss was 3
rule at factories, business houses, stores
and banks, hut employees were in NO way
70 blame The cars were doing the best
thst could be done while walking was well
nigh impossible.
All OF the railroads reported trouble
Trains on the Maryland and Delaware
divisions OF the Penns> lvania were very
late. through trains being from two 70
three hours behind schedule. The same
state OF affairs prevailed on the Baltimore
and Ohio and the Reading, while little
hope was held out that the situation would
be bettered by niehtfall
The weather men do not appear 10 he
very optimistic regarding the conditions
for the next "A hours, promising moro
SNOW for tonight and strong winds to-
morrow.
While the SHOWS Of this winter have
been heavy they are by no means rec
ord breakers.
On Christmas Day. 1909. there Was
a very heavy fall of snow and street cars
had 10 be deserted. several Of them being
eft on the tracks for two or three days
The banks OF snow along Market street
were four or FIVE feet high. The West
Chester Local News OF Saturday recalled
The winter OF 1909-I0 and reprinted th'
following from its issue OF February II
1910:
Another snow. Few people welcomed
1t this time. but it came and Ii earnes
beginning yesterday afternoon about
o'clock and continuing through the even
lng. In some places ltfound bare ground
IN Others few feet of snow which has
been lying in the roads and fields sInc'
Christmas, Just seven weeks ago.
.Early yesterday morning a few slelghi
were running IN town, though most o
the strcets were unfavorablc for this sor
Of travel. and in the afternoon there we;
iust enough 70 patch Up the bare spot
and SET the sleighs going again Bell
4 hich ID some winters are scarcely heard
have become familiar, more SO than II
other wears.
Just about o clock, when two inches
of snow had fallen, there was cessation
which allowed the shovel brigade 10 turr
out. IT was noticed that the men wbC
always keep their sidewalks clear wer'
he trst in line, while those who nevel
do anv shovehng remained out OF sigh
during the evening The workers pro
nounced this snow the dryest and easIes
10 handle OF all that had fallen during
he winter.
Between 10 and II O'Clock last even
lng the storm was raging. with high wlnC
from the northeast, sweeping some pave
ments care and heaplng snow on others
but toward morning the snow turned K
mist and thus morning there was mucl
4usb beneath the snow. People hoping
Tor spring took fresh heart, and SHOW
eled OF the sAush E-Ith wlll.
Ine Wllmlngbon-New Castle-Delaware
City CARS made an heroic effort TO gel
running this morning but soon found that
the snow was too much for them, finally
returning 10 the New Castle barn. Late
this afternoon an effort will be made to
get q car and sweeper through TO the
Bethlehem Steel plant and clear the road
IS Tar 81 that point Getting through
20 Delaware City l. probiematical
The pillow and car later will be backed
through TO Wilmington
All the roads in and out OF New Castle
are deep with snow and the whole nearby
countr side reports conditions of a most
extraordinary nature, At state Road il
is said the drifts are five feet deep while q
similar state Of affairs Is said 10 prevail
at Red Lion.