Evening star., 1948-01-25
5,425 Cars Stalled
In District; $500 Men
PIow, Sund Streets

WA %ASoS ~SSN@ ~~@~JI "@>~fE~AAS Nf~ ~
swirling snowstorm of near-bliz-
zard proportions, stalling 5,425
automobiles and causing police
to announce a state of traffic
emergency"
The snow ended at least tenn
porarily at 9:15 last night and
Weather Bureau officials, reporting
the storm apparently over, meas
ured a total of sol inches since
500 am. yesterday.
BY far the worst blast of the
season, the storm sent tempera-
lures tumbling to a low of 10
degrees with an added sting from
a Is to 80 mile per hour wind. The
Weather Bureau said skies would
begin clearing this afternoon. A
high in the mid 20s was expected
today. Tomorrow is expected to yield
increasing cloudiness and slightly
higher temperatures in the after
noon.
District and transit company Of
ficials reported fair success in keep
ing traffic moving by mastering
nearly 1900 men for plowing, sand
ing and sweeping operations.
William A. Xanten, District SAM
tation superintendent, said that at
no time was traffic paralyzed, but
snarls developed on unplowed side
streets.
Falls and minor accidents sent a
number of persons to hospitals, but
motorists for the most part needed
advice to proceed cautiously over
hazardous streets and accidents
were surprisingly few.
Minimum of Traffic Urged.
Police Supt. Robert J. Barrett
urged minimum of downtown tra1-
fic until streets are cleared. Wnere
travel was not necessary, he sug-
eested that citizens could cooperate
by remaining at home. ;,
In the Police Department, all
drivers were urged to exercise
caution and reduce speeds even on
emergency calls.
The traffic hazard was somewhat
reduced because Government WORK
ers had Saturday off as usual ana
children, out of school, could trollc
in the powdery white blanket.
National Airport was snoWoouno
as far as commercial flights were
concerned, although eight trucks
were used to clear runways. In
case of necessity, a plane could lano
there, but no flights were to De
scheduled until the snow ended ana
visibility improved, officials said.
Rail Traffic Holding Up.
Some trains from the West were
running behind schedule yesterday
morning, but railway traffic Tor the
most part was holding up weu ana
only a bit behind time, officials at
Union Station said.
Most of the main highways IN
Virginia and Maryland remained
open, but buses operated from 30
to 10 minutes late, Greyhound Of
ficials said. An additional snow OF
6 to 8 inches would be necessary TO
disrupt service seriously, they said.
The thousands of motorists whose
cars either were stuck in the snow
or would not start because of bat
terry trouble constituted the days
most perpleXing problem.
American Automobile Association
officials reported that from early
morning until late last night a staff
of 20 persons was kept busy on the
telephones answering distress calls.
Garages Filled to Capacity.
Every District garage was filled
to capacity and an official Of the
keystone Automobile Club said that
by mid-afternoon they were run
ming from 2 to 3la hours behind IN
accommodating customers.
"Up to 1890 pm. we tried TO
service all calls" the AAA SAID.
AFTER that we saw 1t would pc
impossible to keep up with all OF
them, and began to confine i'm
mediate service to people such as
doctors, nurses, the sick or old and
those trying to reach police stations
or similar emergency points. AT
tbs pm. we again began serving
all callers"
Estimating that 5,425 cars were
stalled, the AAA SAID tIlat up W
pm. it had received a record OF
1,o85 calls and served 785 customers.
The others were told to call later
when the priority cases were cleared.
Only So Stalled in Snow.
Studying 100 calls, AAA learned
that "a per cent of the stranded
drivers needed help because Of en-
eine failure due to the cold, and
that only 6 per cent actually were
stalled in snow. About rs per cent
had battery trouble, 8 per cent fuel
system failure and l per cent 1gnl-
tion trouble.
Twelve of the 300 AAA trucks AID
ing others ran into trouble OF thelr
1See WEATHER, Page A-5.)
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