The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-16
COAT OF ICE
PROTECTION
IN BLIZZARD


Rising temperature tomorrow
aftesnoon ID the only relief held out
~ the weather bureau from the
,bpeing blizzard which last night
and today covered the tri-cities
With snow and sleet Clear and
lcold weathsr tonight 10 forecast.
a heavy wind that attained 40
miles per hour at / o'clock last
night and continued undated dur
Ing the morning caused heavy dam |
age. particularly to telephone lines
and 70 trees. In opinion Of agricul- |
tural experts. crops escaped Sc
riouB damage by the natural pro-
lection afforded by the snow
blanket.
I Crisis for fruits and crops will
como tonight II weather forecasts
OF below freezing come true.
Fears Tonight.
9 ". c. Wilson, Moline horticul-
tural expert, viewed last nights
storm without great worry. To-
night, he said, would be the period
OF greatest danger to fruits and
crops. Heavy frost now will cause
great loss, although the coat OF ice
and sleet which came with the
spring blizzard, may be natural
protection TO the young buds.
Peaches and plums are blooming
already" Mr.. Wilson said. land the
apples are about to come out. The
recent low temperatures did not
have the widespread killing effect
that many expected and unless
there is heavy frost tonight l do
not believe that this storm will Sc
riOusly retard the crops
Extent Of the damage OF this
storm, Mr.. Wilson said. cannot be
estimated until closer examination
OF orchards is made. He believed
that the sleet which accompanied
the storm sheltered the bursting
buds and went far toward saving
the trees from damage
County Agent p. r. Edgerton was
inclined not to comment on the
probable damage to fruits and
crops. His attitude indicated he
does not share the feeling of dis
aster that the layman expressed
this morning when viewing the dis
NAL outlook.
1.-The next "a hours will tell"
said Mr.. Edgerton. Critical in
spection of buds will be necessary
before it can be determined wheth-
or there was any damage or not
In my opinion, preceding frosts
were more damaging than this one
and fruits survived"
Flowers Escape.
Florists report comparatively
slight damage to flowers, particu-
larly carnations, which were trans
planted during the week. They say
carnations are hardy and only
damage to them Is broken stems
caused by the high wind and heavy
sleet coating. Plants which may
have been transplanted by purchas-
ers during the week could not have
survived. they say.
The high wind imposed an extra
burden on the city's street cleaning
department. A special crew was
put to work clearing trees from
streets all over the city. The fall.
ing trees and heavy sleet were re.
sponsible also for considerable
damage to telephone wires.
Ninth street and Thjrty-fourtf
avenue was blocked by a huge tres
that reached from curb to curb
Two trees were reported down OF
Fifth-and-a-half avenue between
Twenty-fifth and Twenty sixth
! streets. Another was blown dow1
at Tenth street and Eighth avenue
and at Twelfth street and Eight
avenue a large tree crashed to tn,
sidewalk.
Starting shortly before o'clocl
last night, rain fell in heavy vol
ume steadily for several hours
Streets were flooded at many points
Allotted by the wind, the rain gust.
made the going extremely unpleas
ant for motorists.
Temperature which began it!
drop from Sc degrees early yester
day afternoon continued to declin
ct q moderate rate during tn,
night, the lowest recorded being 2
degrees. The falling mercury pro
duced the change from rain T.
sleet. and from spring lovelines
to winter dreariness.
Sleet accompanied by a stron
wind IL uncommon, says the wealth
or bureau. Snow alone would no
have been unusual. In fact. man,
OF the largest snowfalls for thi
section have been recorded in April
In the middle Of April. 1912. i
inches Of snow fell. The precipi
tation for the last "a hours wa
Isl inches.
Snow covering the ground toda,
Is the second heavy fall sine
Christmas week. The ground ha
been unusually clear from Jan. ]
Spasmodic flurries failed to Civ,
shovels and snow plows goo,
workout.
The origin Of Damascus is olde
a