Evening star., 1933-12-26

shoveling snow out of crossings on the
heavily travelled streets. Should enough
more snow fall there are plans to en-
ploy olit-of-work men to help These
must be paid out of District funds. as
there Is specific ruling that snow
Shoveling Is not job which can be
paid for with c. W. A. money.
Planes Grounded.
All planes in Washington were
grounded this morning on reports from
the airport section of the Weather Bu-
reau that flying conditions were bad
and rapidly getting worse throughout
the East. There was no travel by air
either into the city or out of 1t, al
though airport officials believed that
some flying might be possible later this
afternoon.
Forty snow sweepers were put on the
tracks of the Capital Transit Co. at 8
o'clock this morning and quickly cleared
them Of snow. Six trucks were also
employed to push the snow back to
the sidewalk. The company reported
both street cars and busses operating
close to schedule, with no major break
downs anywhere.
Bus service to Virginia points was
running from two to Is minutes behind,
because Of cautious driving up and
down the steep hills. The Washington
Rapid Transit Co. reported that several
heavy grades were sanded to allow the
busses better traction. but no snow
plows had been called out. Their
busses were said to be on schedule.
Snow descended upon nearby Mary
land and Virginia this morning, caus-
ing numerous accidents and minor de-
lays in the flow of traffic. 1t reached
near-blizZard proportions in the Cum
ber1and Valley at noon today.
A large fleet of plows was pressed
into service in the Hagerstown area in
an endeavor 10 clear the main arteries
in the valley. Many county and private
roads in the rural areas were virtually
impossible, due to the depth Of the
drifts.
44-Degree Drop Recorded.
J. A. Miller, Government weather OBJ
server at Keedysville, declared that the
snow came somewhat as surprise after
a record breaking Christmas day. when
the mercury at his station reached SO
and then dropped sharply to 25 during
the night.
Miller declared that never in his 80
years experience as an observer has the
temperature reached higher than SO
during December.
Sections of Maryland and Virginia
located nearer the District felt less
effect from the snowfall than the Cum
berland Valley, because of the rain
which preceded its descent, weather
officials in the Capital said.
The snow was wet down and packed
bv the damp ground and the actual
{. -pth of the fall was less than one-half
inch. Under normal dry conditions
the depth Of the fall would have
reached 23 inches, they said.
Roads Become Slippery.
While the depth Of the snow near
the Capital was slight, the slippery
conditions Of the roads caused many
accidents of a minor nature and mo-
torists driving to their places of en-
ployment in Washington from their
homes in the two neighboring States
were delayed.
Work on a number Of Civil Works
Administration and Public Works Ad-
ministration projects also was held up
In Montgomery, Prince Georges, Ar
lington and Fairfax Counties and Alex
andria City because Of the adverse
weather conditions.
Many plows belonging to the Vir-
ginia Highway Commission and the
Maryland State Roads Commission
were put to work clearing the princi-
pal highways to make them safe for
travel.