Evening star., 1918-02-05
EAST GENERALLY IN
GRIP Of BIG FREEZE
New York Coal Receipts Low.
Intense Cold Throughout
Pennsylvania.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. February Zero
weather. which added to the discom-
forts of the third of the heatless Mon
and acceniuated the seriousness of the
city coal shortage.
Conditions generally over tie east
have changed the fuel situation here.
points and bringing the. city face to
face, coal authorities said, with "a
stringency more serious than any pre-
vious one this winter unless milder
temperatures materialize Immediately.
New York harbor closely resembled a
frozen Norwegian fjoru or the port of
Archangel. Russia. The Hudson river
was frozen solid down to Harlem, and
glacierlike ice foes. which had broken
off and fioated downstream, were
wind, blowing from the New Jersey
eide. and jammed against Manhattan,
| Governors Island and the Brooklyn
water front, creating a situation which
veteran mariners said had not been
witnessed here in many years
Traffic at standstiu.
Traffic through the inner harbor was al
most at a standstiH and many vessels
were virtually frozen in. The thermom-
eter at . am. registered degrees below
zero. and shipping men said that unless
slow
! ly through the ice foes the harbor would
soon be frozen solidly across Fifty
bargeS and tugs, together with steamships
and other craft, were caught in the jam
and against wind. tide and ice they were
able to move only the distance of two
blocks within one hour At some spots
the ice was twelve inches thick, and at
others it protruded SO that it resernhIed
small icebergs.
Several steamships loaded with sugar
are caught in the Hudson river ice Off
ionkcrs. n. y, the sugar being intend
steamship. built as an ice breaker, ar
rived here today from a Canadian port
and probably will be put to work re-
leasing the sugar vessels.
New England Suffers.
BOSTON February "a cold wave
that sent the temperatures way below
zero swept over New England last
night and held >on today. with little
prospect of an early break. From a
reading of zero at midnight. the mer-
curry in Boston dropped to 10 below
from many points indicated that in
tense sufferings had been caused, due
largely to lack of fuel.
Coal Movement Retarded.
PHILADELPHIA, February 5.-An
unexpected drop in temperature to the
lowest of the winter in some sections
has again retarded the production and
movement of coal in the anthracite
field. Pottsville, in the heart of the
region, reported 16 below zero; AL
lentown. IL below; Williamsport. 10
below, and Harrisburg, below. Other
localities reported an extreme of 20
below in the mountain districts.
/ Early reports from the anthracite
field were to the effect that the ex-
treme cold weather had almost COM
pletely paralyzed the railroads and
mines.
PITTSBURGH. February 5.-Ten de-
grees below zero was registered by the
weather bureau here today. and this
held between 7 and o'clock this morn
ing. Few street cars are able to run,
while local train service is most un-
reliable, and trains are run without re-
gard to schedule and as often as pos
sible to accommodate the crowds that
abandon trolley service.
Ohio Weather Coolest.
COLUMBUS. Ohio. February 5.-with
but little coal at it's command, Ohio
today was suffering the coldest wealth
er of the winter. The thermometer
ranged from to Of ehe state
Declaring the coal situation Is as bad
as ever, Gov. Cox planned to leave for
Washington tonight to plead for relief
measures from government officials.
CLEVELAND. Ohio, February s.
Cleveland was in the grip of the cold
est Weather of the winter this morning.
At o'clock the kiosk in the public
square registered 13 degrees below ze-
ro. the record for the year.
TOLEDO, Ohio, February 5.-The
minimum temperature here last night
was 10 degrees below zero. the coolest
of the Ainter. with one exception.
Many families, unable to obtain coal,
are closing their homes and going to
live with neighbors. The natural gas
supply was SO low today that the gas
could not be lighted in many homes.
Cincinnati Four Degrees Below.
CINCINNATI. Ohio. February s.
Chances of the ice gorge below this
city breaking up. in the. very ne4r
future dwindled to almost nothing last
1Continued on SECOND Page,)