Evening star., 1945-12-25
Glazed Streets
.CurtaiI Buses;
FewCabs0ut
Sanding Crews Pu
On Job; Drivers
Are Warned

Are Warned
A driving sleet and rainstorn
today turned Washington's white
Christmas into an icy day, halt.
ing all bus service for two hour.
and making driving precarious
Capital Transit Co. official.
called the city's icy streets "one O.
the worst situations we have evel
faced" Police warned motorist.
who planned to use their cars thi.
afternoon and tonight to take extra
precautions against accidents.
Partial bus service was resumed
on all lines at 1880 am, but tran.
sit officials warned that bus opera
tions for the rest of the day will be
extremely slow" and that disrup.
tions of service in some areas was
to be expected. Streetcar operation.
were proceeding nearly according
to schedule, according to transit Of
ficials.
Suburban Transit Hit.
The glazed condition of the streets
also disrupted transportation ir
suburban areas. Virginia buses
moved at snail's pace. All drivers
were ordered to guard against acci.
dents.
The Weather Bureau held ou
some hope that conditions Wo,llc
be eased later in the day. BY moor
the temperature had climbed to 81
degrees and alleviated the situation
somewhat so that partial bus service
could be resumed. A high of 81
degrees was predicted for later thi.
afternoon.
Higher temperatures would result
in a warm rain" which woulc
turn the snow into slush, the
Weather Bureau said.
Few Accidents Reported.
There were few accidents reported
since few cars were on the street,
this morning. Some drivers turned
homeward after their cars skiddec
past stops and through red lights
There were some minor accidents
with only one serious accident re.
ported during the morning. A taxi
cab hit streetcar at Massachusetts
avenue and G street NV, and three
passengers on the car were reported
injured.
After bus service was halted al
$50 am, when drivers refused tc
continue trips because of the con.
dition of the streets, the transit firm
rushed sand crews into action or
the streets.
Crews Handicapped.
However, the crews were handi.
capped by weather conditions. Al
fast as tie streets were -sanded, new
.sleet and snow formed sheets of .ics
on top of the sanded areas. Only
when the temperature climbed a few
degrees were crews able to get ths
streets In proper condition.
Another obstacle was the difficulty
that sand trucks had on the CLASSY
pavements. In many instances. the
sand crews were behind schedule ir
sanding thoroughfares.
Company officials also reported
that owing to the holidays it woulc
take some time to sand all route.
completely. They have 10 sane
trucks Of their own, and have con.
tracts with private firms for such
emergencies, but today they wert
finding trouble getting the men out
Cabs Refuse to Risk Danger.
Few cab drivers were willing t;
risk hard-to-replace cars on tn,
streets. The Diamond Cab garag,
reported less than Is per cent O
the company's $500 cabs had ven
tured out, and some of these driver
had returned with their cabs al
most Immediately, reporting tn,
streets "just like glass"
The switchboard operator at Com
bined Cab Service, Inc, which han
dies calls for Arrow, Bell, Checker
Premier, Yellow and Washington
Cab Association, among others, re-
ported that not a single cab hae
called in.
II don't know if any cabs ar,
running, judging from my board.
doubt if more than few are OF
the street." the operator said.
Weather conditions recalled tn
ice glazed streets here two year
ago on Christmas when hundred
of accidents occurred.
AAA Asked for Information.
The American Automobile Asso
citation reported before noon that
had received scores of telephon
calls requesting information abou
conditions in the city, nearby an,
in out-of-town areas. The associa
ton also said "some" calls had beel
received seeking service, but that
was only responding, in this respect
to calls from doctors and others will
emergency status.
Apparently people are too scare,
| to take their cars out in thi
weather" an AAA official said, ii
explaining the dearth of calls TO
service. This is terrible condition
today. Motorists should leave thei
cars at home. for they cannot expec
any service. This is one day we Cal
(see WEATHER, Page A-5.)
IkI ell. Al