Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-23
SLIPPERY STREETS
MAKE EN- STAY HOME
Ice Coated Sidewalks and Thor
oughfareS Gave City an Almost
Deserted Look This Morning.

Friday. Jan % The streets shected
with ice. and cold rain, almost sieet,
falling.
This was a pretty strong combination
10 90 up against and evidently only
those who were compelled to t. out
hravcd i to venture forth
Very rarely. If ever, did week day sec
as small a crowd On the streets Of the
city as were out this morning The snow
and sloet of Yesterday and the freeze
az last night made the streets and side
walks solid sheets of ice, dangerous for
human lpIngs. horses, or automobiles 70
attempt Ia negotiate II was . bad day
10 bc out, therefore 4 good day to stay
AT home Most people stayed IL
As a first aid 20 struggling humanity,
many of the business houses scattered
ashes. cIndcrs or sawdust on tho side
walks. 10 make the going safer, and this
helped some. wherever IT. was done. While
ii was a technical violation us the city
ordinance against the throwing of such
refuse on thcNstrects the police depart
mcnt regards II rs an emergency calling
for the exercise Of lCnicnCN, and no oh
lection was made The city ordinances
provides that property owners must clear
the sidewalks of snow or ice within ten
-
perIod. but as rain and slect were still fall
ing this morning. thcrc WAS no oppor-
ttlnity t0 comply with this ordinance
Teamstcrs found ii almost impossible
and exceedingly dangerous 70 attempt
to drive horses over the streets, and they
were not in evidence this morning In
oricr ID get over the streets they would
require special shoes for the Ice, and few
az Them were thus eQlnpTpet
IL was equally bad for automobiles. and
MI r. equipped with Ton-skld chains,
thts found the going dangerous. On steep
grades or IN making turns n street
corners. there WAS great danger Of skid
ding. and holding that discretion Is the
better part If v4ior very few cars were on
the streets except those compelled e hc
there on business 80 far as heard. no
serious accidents have resulted
Ill pedestrians who had TlbhcTS were
wearing them This morning and thcS.orcs
sold many pairs 10 such people as were
brave enough To venture forth and did not
already have them. These helped some,
hut were not lnfaihhle against the icc.
and there were many falls followed by
cvclamatlons sometimes of character
calculated to shock the refined car.
one man with a hac q potatoes, for
which nc probably palG at the rate az
81 50 a bushel began slipping on hing
street and in making wild grab st
another pedestrian in order 70 regain his
equilibrium dropped his potatoes, finally
fell himself and pulled the other man to
the sidewalk The bag burst and the
potatoes scattered IN every direction.
Both men INDUCED IN some very strong
language loud as well IS deep, while
spectators who had not yet slipped had q
few moments of tina, Kind Of enjoyment
people get in seeing a Charlie Chaplin
picture.
A young woman with three or four small
bundles slipped and fell on the same
street. or course the bundles fell also.
One Of them was a paper bag Of sugar.
This was the one that broke, and IS cents
worth of that valuable commodity went
10 help sawdu~t and cinders make the
sidewalk safer to navigate
It was . irving time for those who felt
compelled "a ret our and do some shop
ping. bat some folks has II 70 do and
Others showed thcir contempt for Jupiter
PIuyius and hiS varying and severe
moods by going out anyway. But they
were not many Home was good place
TO BE-