Arizona republican., 1919-02-14
WORST STORM 0F
 WINTER TIES UP ROADS AND WIRES
One Wire Keeps This Sec tion In Touch With World Trains Stalled In Snow Banks Mile Blizzard Grips Kansas - Chicago Gets Touch.

DENVER. Colo, Feb. 13.-WIth two Union Pacific trains .snowb bound near Salina, Kan. Rock Island, Burlington and Santa Fe trains reported at least twelve hours late, the central west today and tonight experienced the worst blizzard of the winter. Tele- phone and telegraph wires are down everywhere east of Lexington, Neb. and latest reports from the storm area said terrific gale was driving the heavy snow to such an extent that there was no prospect of improvement of the situation until the storm moder- ates.
 Information regarding the train ser vice is meager because of crippled wire condition, and the only trains definitely heard from were the two Union Pacific trains which were reported unofficially as stuck in snowbanks near Salina.
 Railroad officials would not confirm these, beyond saying they were snow bound somewhere" Conditions on thu other roads were believed to be as bad though there was no information avail able as to their exact status. Thes' trains were given an arbitrary ''tWelv, hours late" notation on the board Il the absence of reliable information. Single Wire Thread
 | Late tonight the Associated Press il ! Denver got in communication witt Kansas City, this being the first con nection with the east since early thi morning. A mere thread of a singl wire by way of Canada and San Fran cisco today gave to people of Denve and the mountain states their only in | formation of world happenings.
 Only by relaying messages throug Canada to the Pacific coast, thence [ San Francisco, and then to Denver were the Rocky Mountain states abl to keep in touch with the eastern hal of the United States and the outsid ! world today. Storms extending fror | Oklahoma to Canada paralyzed wir communication, both by telephone an telegraph. and trains from the eas
 were several hours late.
 The storm broke late last night, an it was not until the middle of the fore noon today that communication Va established by way of San Francisc and Canada. Conditions grew wors
 during the afternoon and Lexington
 Neb.. became the eastern terminus fC
 direct communication. The Lexine
 ton-Columbus wires broke about
 o'clock this afternoon. Brokerage o-
 fices were seriously handicapped. pr
 vate messages were impossible and u
 Associated Press and other news SCI
 vices were compelled to rely on inter , mittent communication for vital di. patches from the peace conference ar the east.
 40-Mle Wind Blowing
 Throughout Kansas and Nebra5
 blizzards were reported with a wir
 sometimes reaching a velocity of
 miles an hour. rendering condition which prevented linemen from repair ing the service. Further east, the sno turned to sleet and rain and wires y-el
 reported down in all directions to u
 east.
 Conditions are worse tonight tna
 they were this morning, Charles , , Jett, traffic chief of the Postal Tel , graph company said. We had COT | nections as far east as Columbus, Mel up to D. m, but at that time ever. [ thing went dow nat Lexington, | miles west of Columbus. Late repor from Cosaid, Neb., said 8 heavy W [ snow was falling and it was impossib r to get linemen out to repair the vii Wire conditions are so poor thrOugi out the storm country that the Post f has been compelled 10 send meSSa z l for delivery east by mail to kans City over the Union Pacific, who f lines are still open"
 ] Wire Chief Renner of the MoUnta
 States Telephone and Telegraph con
 pany said: Conditions are unchang
 from this morning. The storm is
 bad we are unable to get linemen O
 to repair the lines, according to roua e about reports from the storm center l J. H. Colby, division traffic supe = visor for the Western Union Telegral = company, said: Conditions are wor t than We at first thought. No wire SC . vice is available direct to the stor t center. We have a wire to kans = City by Dallas and one to Chicago . way of North and South Dakota al S upto St. Paul, but it working bad :. Later reports from the storm ceat . show that the storm is growing wor, o It seems to he. confined to q str fifty miles wide from Oklahoma to {
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