New-York tribune., 1920-02-23
City Conquers
Snow With Aid
OF Huge Tank
Big Machine That Swallows
Whole Drifts i'm Broad
way Chief Weapon in Re-
doubled Attack on Debris
Is, 741 Men Open Streets
Officials Believe Traffic
Conditions Will Be Practi-
cally Normal Tomorrow

inoval bureau, backed by numerou.
mechanical appliances, swept away
yesterday most of the evidence Of ths
all-night snow and made decided prog
ress against the ice and debris of the
Blizzard that began on February 4.
Representatives of the department
announced in the evening that every
main artery Of traffic had been opened
and practically every street on the
schedule Of the workers had been i'm.
proved. Unless another storm arrives
it Is promised that the thoroughfares
will be ready for normal traffic at the
opening of business tomorrow morn
ing.
Most important Of the new appli-
ances that were used during the day
was a mammoth mechanical contri-
vance with an Unsuitable appetite for
snow and ice. Countless tons were
drawn into it's mysterious insides and
blown out from the top into waiting
trucks.
New Machine Attracts Crowds
For several hours it offered enter
tainment to hundreds of men and
women who followed the apparatus up
Broadway from Sixty-second Street
and saw it remove great piles Of
snow and ice as it went. Acting Mayor
La Guardia and Street Cleaning Com
missioner MacStay were among the
most enthusiastic of the witnesses.
"It's the snow remover Of the day."
said the Acting Mayor. 81 never have
seen anything like it,
The Street Commissioner was equally
certain that the machine would prove
r most effective weapon against bliz-
yards.
The snow destroyer, which looks
like a combination of harvester. army
tank and tractor, is twenty-six feet
long, twelve feet in height and ten feet
wide Its weapon of offense is a car
rier such as is used on sand conveyors.
The scoops, revolving on endless
chains, are fitted with heavy blades that
cut into snow and ice and lift the ma
terial into the moving cups, which
carry it to a space at the top of the
machine.
When the storage space is filled the
cargo may be emptied by a swinging
device into waiting trucks. This oc-
CURED hundreds of times yesterday as
the loads were picked up and hauled
away.
Mountains of hardened snow, much
of which had been standing in the
street for two weeks, were whitfield
away as the ponderous vehicle passed.
1t will be used to-day in the upper
sections of the city, ard soon will be
reinforced by another one now being
constructed. The machine is the inven-
ton Of Dr.. Samuel Friedman. 67 East
Nlnety-third Street, who has been
working on it for sixteen years.
Street Cleaning Keeps 1874 Busy
The army of snow fighters was in
creased to 1874 men during the day.
which is near the record of numerical
strength since the present campaign to
clear the streets began. The men were
distributed i'll this way:
regular sWeepcrs ............ $500
emergency employees ......... 1884
Contractors men ............. 1000
On trucks .................. 900
lotal ................. 1874
The men paid by the city concen-
trated their efforts on streets between
Canal and Thirty fourth Street, west
OF Fifth Avenue. In addition, city fire
men, using high pressure streams,
swept everything before them in prac-
tlcally every part Of the city. The
men worked in the neighborhood of
tire houses for a radius of 1000 feet
away from their stations.
Eleven high hpressure hose wagons OF
the FIRE Department were sent out by
special signal at 815 p. m. to wash off
wagons went to Broadway and were to
sweep it clean from Leonard Street to
Thlrty-fourth Street. The other wagon
crew was instructed TO wash down
Fifth Avenue from Fourteenth Street
10 Eighteenth Street All the wagons
were attached to double companies. so
that no section OF the city was left
uncovered.
Mild Weather Also Helps City
The rspring-like weather greatly
aided the efforts Of the snow removal
committee. Saturdays storm covered
tne streets with between five and six
inches of snow.
Chlet kenlon last night requested
Nlcnoias l.. Stokes, borough chief of
'he FIRE Department Auxiliary Corps,
was formed during the war. to issue
request to the members to fall in
and give their assistance to the CITY in
removing snow.
All members who feel disposed to aid
tnc firemcn in flushing the snow from
the streets will be paid at the prevail
ing rate: They have been asked to re-
port to Engine Company 33, in Great
Jones street, at o'clock this morning.
Borough Chief Stokes last night tried
20 scrape up the fragments of the two
inousand members Of his organization
N y, order to have large response TO
t1se Chief Kenlon's request.
NO recommendations have been mada
concerning increased nav fn. 'ao ~ g
regular sweepers, but it is expected
that compromise agreement viii he
t;a t;esched which will pay them for over
emergency. P''scn'
Shooting Creates p,x: