Evening star., 1927-11-18
UTILITIES SURVEY
LOSSES BY STORM
Traction Companies Suffer
Little, but Telephone Serv-
ice Is Heavily Damaged.

Utilities companies today We're rap
idly recovering from the storm ina
taxed the facilities of some Of then
to the utmost. a check of the damaS
done by yesterdays tornado shoWe'
that the damage was uneNenlN dls
trihuted. The telephone company SUI
fered heavy losses. while the ti"ct"i
companies escaped with practcaiiy ~
interruption of service.
More than 500 telephones were pn
out Of commission by the tornado, th'
CheSaneake & Potomac Co. Reported
TODAY. OF these 324 were in Wash
tugton. GO in Clarendon. 500 in Alex
endria and 1l5 in HyattsVlne.
or the asa rhones out of service II
The eitv 90 we're in the Lincoln eN
change which covers the Northeas'
end Southeast sections where me
Storm ceutered. EightN-tWo were Scat
tered among the other eXcha nses
Nroet of the trouble calae from fallinc
trees and wrecked houses nredhI,l- ME
lines and in some cases cable was
DANA ged.
Damage in Alexandria.
In Alexandria 80 poles were blown
Hovn mile Of cable DESTROYED end
sno Dhones put out Of commiSSI ION,
Comma la lively. .AIcX9ndril suffered
much worse than Washington. IN
Clarendon so wires in cable We're
nut ont Of service. They were flNed
last night. Four poles were blown
down in ITyattsville and cable de-
stroyed when a tree fell on 1t.
All damage which has nos already
been repaired Will be adjusted today,
the company said. There VIII PROB
ably he some 200 phones still out or
has
houses which were so badly damaged
that occupancy will be impossible.
Greater damage would have re-
suited. the company said. had IL not
heen for the fact that about 81 per
cent of the telephone wire here is in
cables. AS it was the damage was
the greatest in history. the only pre-
vious great disruption of service he
Ing in 1909. when Taft was inaugu-
rated. At that time most of the wire
was above ground and The storm put
many phones out of commission and
cut off Washington from the rest of
the country.
There was no suspension of long
distance service yesterday.
Phone Operators Kept Busy.
Operators were buster than ever be
fore. The average number OF daily
calls is $40, 900 and there We're 625 900
yesterday, more than when Lindhergh
came here. which occasion set the
previous record.
The company reported one example
Of faith service amounting to hero
ism. Miss Sarah Lostin of 1911 King
street, Alexa ndria, after her home had
been destroyed by the storm, walked
to the company's office and reported
for extra work. Il thought YOU needed
ne" she said
Car barns Of the Washington Rail
way & Electric Co. in the northeast
and southeast We're damaged hut not
enough to interfere with service The
skyljght was blown off the Capital
Traction Co.'S barn at the Navy Yard
The Washington Railway 4 Electric
Co.'S suburban lines running through
the eastern sections suffered only
slight interruptions. The Capital
Traction Co. reported a ; or 6 minute
suspension Of power during the peak
of the storm.
Gas in only about 10 or Is houses
is eff today. the Washington Gas
Light Co. reported. This does not
include houses where the damage was
80 great that they cannot he occupied.
As soon as news of the storm reached
the gas company men We're sent into
the Southeast and Northeast to cut
off the gas so that there would be no
danger of an explosion. Most of the
lines were turned on again today.
Little interruption of power service
was experienced by the Potomac Elec
trio Power Co. There were brief
periods when power was off in Ana
costa. Benning and at Sixteenth
street and Columbia road here. These
were due to short circuits caused by
trees or roofs falling across the lines
or water in the cables.
The company declared it was fortu
nate in having So little trouble al
Renning, where it's power plant i:
located. Except for a suspension of q
few minutes. there was no interrup
tion of the main current.