Daily Kennebec journal., 1924-04-03

red after continued springlike wea-
tner mad convinced the majority of
people that spring had come to stay.
In fact the local street department
had already cleaned u. Water street,
Winthrop hill and Cony Hill. Grove
and State streets, as is done each
spring, but much earlier than usual
For the past ten days 1t had been
necessary to sprinkle the business
streets to lay the dust and 1t seemed
that this must be done for the re-
mainder Of the season.
On Tuesday evening a light snow
began to fall about 845. but it was
quite damp and melted as soon as it
reached the earth. On Water street
It continued to melt so that at mid
night there was little if any snow WIS.,
ible upon the surface, of the street.
Upon the streets of the residential dis
trict the ground was mantled with
snow to the depth of two inches in
many places and the snow was steadily
falling. There was but a light wind
at that time.
In the earlier hours Of the morning
the wind increased and the snow fell
moro thickly until at 9 o'clock Wednes-
day morning there was about eight
inches OF snow. The wind by this time
had increased until it was blowing a
gale and the snow was drifting badly.
In the outlying districts traffic was
blocked and the r. +. D. carriers were
forced to abandon their attempt to
cover their accustomed routes after
having gone four or five miles from the
city.
The snow storm continued the greater
part OF the day until about 3 o'clock,
although 1t decreased in force after
| noon. About 4 O'Clock the sky began
to clear up and shortly after o'clock
the skies were as beautiful as can be
seen in the summer. The total snow
fall was from 10 to IL inches.
The Maine Central Railroad was not
bothered much by the snow and wind,
although they found 1t necessary to
send out plows the greater part Of the
time. The only train that was appre-
ciably late was No. II. due to leave this
city at 2.52 in the afternoon. which
did not leave until 3.19. No. 102, the
afternoon express due to leave this
city for Portland at 4.05, ran in two
sections. and the first section was
right on time.
Through combination OF circum-
stances, each small in itself. the
schedules of the Androscoggin &, Ken
nebec Railroad were interfered with
to some extent. The snow and the
high wind caused the cuts along the
lines to fill so that the snowplows
were busy every minute. The snaw
was very heavy and damp and caused
some trouble because the front on the
rails froze 1t into ice which further
bothered the cars. Then, too. because
Of it's weight and dampness, the snow
packed good and on those stretches of
"low rail" between this city and Gar
diner cars were derailed by this pack
ed snow.
The cars were kept going between
this city and Lewiston, although they
were somewhat off time, and were also
kept going slightly behind schedule on
the Togus road in the forenoon. al
though in the afternoon the schedule
was better maintained.
The Winthrop line was the most seri-
ously handicapped by the storm. One
Of the Winthrop cars in the morning
followed a plow to winthrop and on the
way back preceded the plow to this
city. When near the Lenfest farm in
Manchester the car was derailed by
the packed snow and It was necessary
to send the wrecking crew to the scene
Of the accident to replace 1t. This de-
layed the schedule on that line for
three hours.
The Augusta-water cars were
delayed slightly at different times but
this was not of a serious nature and
in the afternoon they were right on
time.
One Of the causes Of delay vas the
presence of stalled automobiles upon
the track Several drivers of automo-
biles and trucks finding passage almost
impossible in the outlying districts,
assayed to continue their trip upon the
tracks Of the company. but with poor
results. Several cars were delayed for
some time while such obstructions
were removed.