New-York tribune., 1920-02-12
City, in Week,
Fails to Break
Snow Fetters
SIS. 100000 and All of I'm
employed Needed to Get
Streets Clear and Car Lines
in Shape to Run Again
Baby Tank Routs Ice
Demand for Higher Pay May
Cut Shoveling Force; Anx-
iety Over Food and Fuel

lctv over TOOO anu Tucl
One week of drastic measures to
clear away the snow and ice of the
fSmost costly blizzard ever experienced
in New York has resulted in so little
progress that city officials last night
were unable to guess when traffic might
again be normal.
j The expenditure of S5,000,0 900 and at
least two weeks more work on the part
sof every unemployed man in the city
use of every available appliance for
SNOW and ice removal, and continued
iidleness of many vehicles, were the
chief requisites of open streets, as set
forth by Commissioner of Street
Cleaning Arnold B. MacStay.
"And that" added the Commissioner
s'depends entirely on having good
weather. If we should have another
storm l hesitate to say what would hap
pen here"
The situation, as summed up after
Sthe first week of active snow fighting,
is as follows:
Manhattan's surface cars are al
/ most completely at standstill. The
Broadway and Seventh Avenue line
may be operating from, Houston to
, Fifty-ninth Street to-day.
: Main arteries of travel from north
to south will be closed from day
: to day during the coming week in
order to make emergency cleaning
possible, just as Lafayette Street
s and Astor Place were closed yester-
day.
Snow Fighters Shift Often
Shortage of labor and continued
agitation for 81 an hour results in
( change of the personnel of the
snow fighters almost daily.
Continued embargo on fuel coming
into the city caused renewed com
plants from dealers. who declared
that public utilities here were the
only consumers actua ~ obtaining
the fuel consigned to them. Office
buildings are the hardest hit by the
shortage while apartment houses
have sufficient of the variety Of fuel
necessary for their furnaces.
The city yesterday had total of
10000 men and 1909 vehicles at work
removing snow from the streets. This
rs the largest force that has been en-.
pioyed at any one time, with a single
exception, since the storm. 1t is prob
able that the number of men will be
smaller to-day, however, since the re.
opening Of industries that were forced
TO close because of the blizzard will
snow fighters.
Among the mechanical appliances
that bucked the masses of snow and
ice in the streets during the day was
baby tank, which had done service
IN France. The oneman contrivance
was attached to the rear of big
ploy and to the surprise even Of the
man concealed in its vitals it ate
through piles of snow and ice as no
other contrivance has done.
An implement that breathes fire from
two metal nostrils also was found to
be a successful agency for consuming
snow fields. The new melter, similar
to one used on the Northwestern Rail
at Avenue G and Seventeeth Street yes
terday. with the result that the snow
lis no more. Sometime to-day it will be
seen in operation on Fifth Avenue be-
low Eigh teenth Street, where piles of
snow still serve as an obstacle to traf-
fc.
Rail Clash Becomes Acute
Tic difference between the city ad-
ministration and the New York Rail
ways became more acute during the
cused officials of the Job Hedges sys-
tenn of passing the buck" to him and
failing to do their part in the cleaning
Under an agreement entered into be-
tween the Railways line and the city
last summer, the street car lines were
to clean certain proportion Of theil
streets from curb to curb, in consid
Grafton of the fact that the. city clear
: the car lines in other streets. The
theory of this agreement is that if the
roads simply clear their tracks they
throw the snow to either side of theil
right of way, thus making the streets
impossible to vehicular traffic.
"The New York Railways has no
done it's part either during this storm
or before" said represent tive o.
had a letter from Mr.. Hedges after the
first storms of the winter in which h
said that they were short of none.
and couldn't do all that they expected
but would do the best they could. Tn,
result was that none of the streets OF
which New York Railways cars arr
operated were cleared. The other sur
face lines did their part and there il
no complaint against them at ALL"
Meanwhile, several forces of me,
were being used by the streetcar com
Hedges's office it was said that thi
work could be speeded up if the po
lice would shut off traffic during tn,
periods that the men were at work. N,
evidence was found that the police ha,
been asked to close the streets, how
ever.
Among the surface lines that are, o
will be in operation this morning are
Third and Amsterdam avenues, from