The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-04
U. 5. MAIL
 CARRIER
 ON SKIS
Harbor Is Frozen for Stretch of 90 Miles Towing Company Boats Out of COmmis- sion-S Shipping Com pletely Tied-Up.

With Bridgeport harbor so completely frozen that mail is being delivered by sleigh to the Lighthouse, and the weather bureau forecasting continued cold tonight and little hope of any great rise in temperature in the near future, the outlook is not promising for activities along the water front to resume their normal state.
 All of the tugs of the Bridgeport Towing Co. were out of commission today as result of trying to break the ice for the past forty-eight hours and hurry call was sent out for steel shoes to fasten on the bows of the boats to prevent them being smashed any further.
 It was reported by the captain of the s. s. Seaboard of the Bridgeport and New York line that the Sound was frozen from Whitestone to the Connecticut shore a distance of close to ninety miles and that the big boats which ply regularly on the Sound are locked tight at their docks at Fort Schuyler. It took the Sea beard twelve hours to reach her dock upon arrival here.
 Harbor Master Lamond received word that two big Standard Oi! Co. tugs are on their way here with a large consignment of oil which will relieve the threatened famine in lubri- cants. The heavy steel boats will ar rive here this afternoon and advAnt- age will be taken at the time of their arrival to widen the channel which they will break through the ice and keep it open so that coal barges can be brought in.
 Harbor Master Lamond will try to use the Standard Oil boats to relieve the ice bound situation in Bridge port harbor and has every confi- | dence that by tomorrow morning the harbor traffic will be in a fair way to be resumed.
 After fighting every inch of the way up the ice choked Sound the steam | Naugatuck came into Bridgeport har- bor at 10:45 o'clock last night, hours late. In some places the ice was over eight inches thick and it was almost impossible to drive the bow of the i boat through it. Captain Hancort who was in command has been mak- l ing trips up and down the Sound for many years and, in his opinion, il was the hardest trip he ever made The Naugatuck left for New York 1 this morning as usual.
 | The temDerature at seven o'clock this morning registered three degrees below zero which makes the sixth time that the mercury has gone be- low zero in a. week and the weather bureau in Washington gives but slight hope for any relief. The forecast, however. saws that there is a. rise of temperature in the northwest and that the heat wave is coming east, but when it is due in this section is not stated.
 Conditions along the water front are but very little worse than they are in the city proper. Lawyers and oth- CTS who were obliged to be in the county court house suffered from the cold in a most acute manner. Courts were held with every one wearing their overcoats and business was prac- tically suspended.
 Edward Chadwick. the building su- perintendent. exhausted his efforts tc obtain coal and finally decided to use what little he had on hand to keer the pipes in the building from freez- ing, and gave up the attempts to heat the offices.
 There was not a single boiler of the
 set in the building which showed any
 pressure today All the lavator1es
 were shut off and pipes enptaed o'
 water and no attempt VIII be made tc utilize the majority or rooms in the
 building again until sanfcient sup ply of fuel Is on haneN