The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-11-24
LIVES PER|LED
AS BLIZZARD
RACES EAST
Air Mail Pilot Is Victim in
Storm; Sixteen Saved
on SnoWbound Train.
HEAT RECORDS CRACKED
Mercury Hits 70 in New
York; Mark of 69.4 Is
Reached in Chicago.
BIZ United Press

By United Press
CHICAGO, Nov. pa winter
blizzard swept eastward today into
regions enjoying late fall heat
wave, leaving a trail of marooned
travellers and causing the death of
an air mail pilot.
Most travellers, including those
snowbound in a railroad train high
in drift-f1lled pass of the Rockies,
had been brought to safety today.
Norman Potter, SO, was found in
his shattered air mail plane four
teen miles southwest of Salt Lake
City airport today.
Potter crashed Monday almost
within sight of the airport. He was
en- route from Oakland, Cal.
At 800 a. m. he radioed his last
report. It was sent from a point
just northeast of GrantSville, Utah.
Eight miles north of GrantSville.
Heavy snow. All o. K.," he said.
Cold Is Bitter
The three-day blizzard abated in
the Rocky mountain region today,
but bitter cold continued.
The storm brought sudden tenn
perature drops in the midwest,
where balmy spring-like weather
had prevailed. Cities which Mon
day reported sub-tropical heat rec
ordS for the month faced near zero
weather.
Stories of close escapes from death
in the fury of the blizzard filtered
in slowly as crippled communication
lines were repaired.
The most dramatic rescue was
that of eleven passengers and five
members of a train crew from a
Denver & Rio Grande Western
passenger train, stalled in huge
drifts in Cumbres pass, 10000 above
sea level, near the New Mexico
border.
Autos Are Stalled
Since Sunday night, the sixteen
persons had been marooned. Fuel
and food supplies were running low
when the giant rotary snow plows
forced path through the snow
choked pass.
Scores of automobiles and buses
were stalled during the blizzard.
Roofs of small buildings in many
cities collapsed under the weight
of the heavy fall of wet snow. Snow
was piled to depth of several feet.
Mountain passes generally open
until mid.winter were closed.
Two bus passengers and the driver
staggered into the ranch of Earl
Wilson, badly FROST bitten after the
bus stalled near Salida, Colo. This
district bore the brunt of the storm.
Prospectors Take Cover
Prospectors who have roamed the
western mining regions in large
numbers this fall were driven into
cities. Streams they had PANIED
for gold we're frozen solid and there
was danger they might be trapped
for the winter in inaccessible loca-
OAOAAoJ Will AA4CdSC1 4OOQ SuppllCS.
Meanwhile, heat records were be-
ing broken in the east. At Chicago,
the mercury reached 69.4 degrees,
setting new record for the date.
Similar high readings were set
in the east, where New York City
recorded 70 degrees, and other read
ings in the 70's were common.
Coast in Cold Grip
Weather observers said tempera-
lures were abnormally high in the
region roughly east of line drawn
south from ST. Paul and abnormally
low west of that line.
On the Pacific coast a cold wave
was reported. Fruit growers burned
smudge pots to protect their crops
and girl collapsed in Los Angeles
due to the cold.
Arizona points reported a record
cold wave that sent temperatures
below the freezing point.