Milford chronicle., 1922-02-03
STATE COVERED BY
WORSE SNOW SINCE '99
SNOW, ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY GALE,
BLOCKED RAILROADS AND STOPPED
TRAFFIC BY ROADS.
ABOUT TWELVE INCHES HERE
REPORTS FROM ALL SECTIONS ARE TO
EFFECT THAT SNOW WAS WORSE !.
= NISEVERAL YEARS.

NSnow. which started last Friday
night and continued until early Sat
urday evening, blanketed the entire
Del-Mar-Via peninsula with a cover
ing of white, and disrupted business
worse than has been done by any
snow in recent years. The snow was
accompanied by a northeast gale,
which carried the fakes with driving
force and made travel almost impOs-
sible. The wind swirled the snow
about and in sheltered places soon
had made huge drifts; causing a
stoppage of the main arteries of traV-
, el.
The storm struck Delaware the day
following the severe SHOWS which
had visited the southern states, es-
pecially Virginia, and the City of
Washington, at which places reports
of three feet of snowfall were report
ed. The storm broke in earnest, and
continued so for hours without letup.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
put extra men to work keeping swift
ches open, while snow plOws were
hurriedly gotten out and given the
task of keeping the tracks open.
All trains ran from one to four
hours late on the Delaware Division,
and the branch lines adjacent there
to. The Norfolk Express, which is
scheduled to leave Harrington at
about 4:19, did not arrive there until
about Z o'clock, with every indication
that still greater time would be lost
as it travelled on upstate. Trains from
the Oxford, Maryland branch, which
run on to the Delaware Division at
Clayton were hours behind schedule.
On this branch the trains had to be
dug out of the snow drifts on Satur-
day afternoon.
Trains running from SeafOrd over
to Cambridge experienced the same
difficulty. The w. M. & V. Branch,
which runs through Milford and on
down to Rehoboth and Franklin City,
Virginia, was kept open by the use of
double engines and snow plows on
Saturday. The early morning snow
plows on Sunday, however, ran into
trouble. Between Milford and HOus- |
ton, they were blocked by the heavy
snow drifts in the cuts and were
stalled. Gangs of men were put to
work digging them out. Sunday af-
ternoon all tracks on the peninsula !
were opened up, and travel rapidly be-
came normal.
The highways were blocked in all !
sections by the heavy drifts, which in |
places were twelve and fifteen feet |
high. An attempt was made on Sat
urday to keep the du POnt Boulevard /
south of Milford open by means of I
large trucks equipped with snow /
plows. This was unsuccessful, for |
the trucks soon became stuck in the !
large drifts.
On Sunday the trucks were put to !
work north of Milford, and the con-
crete roadway was opened for travel |
between Milford. and Dover. On Mon |
day the roads leading south from Mil |
ford were opened up for some travel. |
The storm, with all its intensity, |
brought business in all sections to an
absolute standstill. From Wilmington
to the smallest village and crossroads
practically no business was done.
Walnut street, in Milford, which on
Saturday night is usually packed so
that it is almost impossible to get
through the crowd, was practically
deserted. Many of the stores were
closed, and those that remained open
were not visited by customers to any
large extent.
The snowfall in Milford and the i'm
mediate vicinity was about twelve
inches on the level. Reports from
other sections of the State where Of
fetal measurements are made show
snowfalls of about the same depth.
While some of the towns in lower Del
aware report that church services
were not held because of the blocked
condition of the streets, Milford
churches held services all day as usu-.
al; and report extraordinarily large
in the evening, consider
ing the weather. The fact that they
were able to visit the churches, is due
to the fact that the people of the town
dug out" early Sunday morning.
Very few instances of persons not
having cleared their pavements
quickly have been reported. Milford
may be proud of the manner in which
the pavements were opened for the
use of the citizens; and, this without ]
any extra warnings on the part of the
police. The few who did not clean !
their paVements should be prosecuted. 1