New-York tribune., 1920-02-08
City Transit
Lines Saved
By Fuel Aid
Suns Warm Rays and
Volunteer Help Keep
Millions i'm Treasury as
the Snow Vanishes
Three Deaths Are
Traced to Storm
Return to Normal Condi-
tions by Tomorrow Is
Aim of Workers To-day

Aim of Workers To-day
Bright sunshine, fresh supplies of
fuel and something approaching mar
tial law served yesterday to break the
grip of the storm on the city and re-
move the immediate danger of a shut
down Of transportation, light and
power facilities.
If industry's Sunday y\leisure is used
| to the extent city officials expect to
use it to-day, business tomorrow will
assume a nearly normal aspect. Sur
face carlines, especially in Manhattan,
probably will not resume regular
schedules much before Wednesday
| however, as the ice in car slots last
ali the available instruments.
Of the three agencies that operated
to aid the fight to open streets and
free the city from its three-day i'm
prlsonment the sun played the most
| important and most beneficial part. 1t
kept 100000 in municipal Golfers by
rem moving snow that an army of shovel
ers could scarcely have dented.
Coal, rushed to tidewater in long
trains made up solely for the relief
of New York's public utilities, was
with the result that no transportation
system is in danger of being crippled
by lack Of fuel. With the additional
aid being given by the railroad ad-
ministration, it is believed that the
danger of general fuel famine has
been averted.
Semblance of Martial Law
The self-imposed restrictions that
gave the impre ssion OF a good-natured
system of martial law to visitors had
to do with the arbitrary closing and
opening of streets, shutting off Of
pleasure vehicles from all thorough
fares and the summoning of the cty's
idle to service in an army of shovelers.
Three deaths were reported as trace
able to the storm, and eight per-
sons were injured because Of blockade
conditions.
Some hint of the magnitude of the
storm may be obtained from the an
nouncement of the Street Cleaning De-
partment that Fifth Avenue, the city's
show street, will be closed to all kinds
of traffic at 10 o'clock this morning and
remain closed until hundreds of
shovelers and trucks can remove its
blanket of snow and ice. The street
i
and police will prevent travel on it
south to Washington Square while the
cleaning process is being carried on.
West and South streets submitted
to almost as arbitrary a police order
yesterday in order to aid in the dig
ging out task. Street Cleaning Com
missioner MacStay told Police Commits
sioner Enright that he felt sure those
snow clogged streets could be made
available to business If his men were
given time to work without interrupt
tion.
"That's easy enough" said the Police
Commissioner.
Hope to Clear Streets Tomorrow
Whereupon he sent fifty policemen to
each street, stationed them at inter
thoroughfares. The result was that
they were practically free from snow
| by night Where snow remains the
streets will be closed again tomorrow
| and shovelers will complete their task.
Volunteers, both on foot and in auto
trucks, reached the Street Cleaning
Department from every quarter dur
| Ing the morning, with the result that
| the regularly employed shovelers we're
given such material aid that many
closed streets were open to traffic be-
| fore noon.
| Sun Saves City Millions
At the office of the Street Cleaning
Department, in the Municipal Build
ing, 1t was announced that 1855 con-
| tractors trucks were In operation In
the streets and that 1926 men were at
work-virtually all Of them working
overtime. At least 400 volunteer
trucks were in use in addition to these
and more than 1000 men. were work
ing, either as free volunteers or
through the willingness of their en-
meet the emergency.
Statistics obtained in the Street
Cleaning Department showed that the
foot of snow that had fallen when the
shovelers took up their tasks on Friday
had dumped exactly 48,429,333 cubic
yards of snow and ice on the streets. If
removed at the average rate Of slightly
more than so cents square yard, the
cost Of the storm would have been
slightly more than $25,00o,000 for this
item alone. Volunteer workers, the
sunshine and normal, shrinkage ex,
pected Of such avalanches OF snow will
bring the cost Of the storm down to
som ething less than $1,500,000, it was
estimated last night.
Mayor Criticizes Hedges
Mayor Hylan wrote several letters
in which he attempted to fix the re-
sponsibility for the crippling of the
city's transportation facilities. In one,
sent to Corporation Counsel William
P. Burr, he held Receiver Hodges Of the
New York Railways Company per-
sonally responsible for the failure Of
that company to move its cars. The
Mayor suggested that Judge Mayer of
the Federal Court, who appointed the
receiver, might force action Of some
kind by him.
The Mayor in his letter to Mr.. Burr
! Said:
| every few. if any. Of the cars on the
! Continued on page thres
I.