Norwich bulletin., 1922-03-14
A MARCH sNow-BLow.
The Malls Delayed and Telegraph and Telephone Wires Broken Down-Bus- fness at q S4andstiII-Damaxo nore

The Malls Delayed and Telegraph and
 Telephone Wires Broken DOwn-Bus-
 mess at 8 Standstiu-Damage Done.
 Mondays storm was first cousin to western blizzard. It was the worst storm Norwich has seen for years. It began Sunday evening with a light fall of snow. Monday morning the flakes were large and heavy and fell steadily for several hours About noon a rain storm set in, the wind increasing in fury. The rain changed to snow again between and o'clock in the after noon and the gale continued with un- abated fury during the night.
 No mails were received from any place west of Hartford during the day. and telegraph wires were reported down out of town in all directions.
 The Western Union telegraph office in this city had communication only with New London, all dispatches received be- ing hung upon the hook until order can be restored along the lines. A lineman who went to Taftville to straighten up the wires found seven wires crossed be- tween that village and this city.
 The telephone central exchange office had no connection with out of town stations and the in-town system was to- tally wrecked. only six wires being in operation at o'clock p. m. out of 100
 lines. The linemen were out all day winding the loose wires around trees. lamp posts and telegraph poles, to re- main until the wind went down and the wires could be re-stretched. The dam
 age to the telephone system in this
 place is so great that a, full week will
 be required to repair 1t.
 The fire alarm telegraph system fared
 rVNT-- sr-s G1,1
 bell in the be1fry of the Second Con-
 gregational church during the day reg ] istered the broken circuits as they oc-
 cured. Chief Engineer Carrier was
 about town promptly repairing all | breaks and with the assistance of Supt Phillips and his iinemen, succeeded in getting them in good order so that the time blow was struck at 8.30 o'clock The snow freighted and the wind fouled the wires of the Norwich Elec- tric Light company. but Supt Phillips and his men had their lines all in good
 running order before dark and their plant was in good running order last night.
 The street railway car drivers show | ed pluck and persistence in facing the storm and the street cars were not stalled until between and o'clock ir | the evening A car with three pairs of | horses on 1t left Fran6li- square foI Bean Hill at 5.15 o'clock but had to be | abandoned near Park church. A cal 1 with two pair of horses left the square
 for Greeneville at 2 o'clock, but after reaching North Main street was forced ] to return
 A driver of one of the wagons of l Adams Express company had to aban- 1 don his wagon in Preston and drive tc l the city for another horse.
 Between and o'clock ?. m. the | snow on Lee & Osgood's building sl!d | off, carrying away the cornlce and a
 layer of bricks. Two boys who were passing on the walk had a. narrow es-
 cape from being injured.
 The snow and sleet made the police | boxes worthless last night and thu | drawn copper wire telephone lines O | the police visual signal system broke beneath the weight of ice and snow. l The street gas lights were also biowr
 out and the darkness enveloped most of the streets of the city
 ] On the New London Northern rail
 road the blockade was also complete ! the trains being stalled at different points along the line.
 The wires were all down and no news
 dispatches were received during the
 night.
 i The trains were nearly on time unti 1 midday; but the rapidly falling snow 1 of the afternoon stalled the trains on al | the railroads There was no telegraph 1 communication. and where the trains ] were no one knew. The 5.15 ?. m. traiT
 on the Norwich and Worcester railroad north went as far as Greeneville and 1 then was called in. No trains on th' 1 Norwich & Worcester road after noor l nd at heard from. The snow blow will bt
 sent north in advance of train No. 1 this morning. to clear the track.
 The storm increased in fury ever7 hour, and those citizens who at o'clock ] D. m. thought they remembered some
 thing like it about ten years ago, be i fore 8 o'clock were willing to affirm that ] they had not seen anything like 1t fol 1 25 years. At g o'clock the drifts grow Ing deeper every minute the man wht
 sat In snowdrlft wildly gazing at hi own feet emerging from the snow jus in front of him and pityfng that othel declaring. "I hev never seen anythinl Hike this in my born daysr' while tn
 sober and p1ucky sons of tofl were quit
 sure that the storm for fury had no
 been euualled in haR a century.
 Men whose business held them in tn center of the city until evening mad
 no attempt to reach home. The street
 were closed to public conveyance and was as much as a mans lfe was wort . to attempt to reach home on foot. It was a wild night. The snow lay |
 drifts from one tt three meet in deptt with layer of slush beneath it. Tn
 winds blew at the rate of eighty mile an hour and the air was so full Of sno7 1 that the electric arc light had dwari { ed and unnatural appearance. Deat seemed to 1>e in the air and phantoms i $ the streets. The policemen looked lik snow men who had been brought frol 7 some back yard and set up to orname1