Evening star., 1948-02-12
Icy Streets Close
County Schools,
Disrupt Traffic
Some Relief Predicted;
Many Late for Work
As Buses Are Delayed

CONFERENCE to ease D. G. fuel
oil shortage slated in New York.
Page B-l
Washington area traffic was
disrupted again today when
freezing rains sheathed high
ways and streets with a coating
of ice, interrupting bus sched-
ules and closing schools in near
by Fairfax and Prince Georges
Counties.
Rising temperatures, which
reached 80 at 7.30 o'clock and prom
ised to touch 40 during the day, in.
dicated better conditions for eve
ming traffic, but the Weather Bureau
warned that icy conditions may de-
velop again tonight.
Skidding and slipping on glazed
roads, vehicles found many hills i'm
possible to climb this morning.
Many buses were forced to the curbs
while passengers waited inpatient
ly for chance to reach work. Cap
ital Transit reported schedules from
80 minutes to an hour late on all
routes.
Nearly 100 Persons Hospitalized.
The going was even more danger
Gus for pedestrians than for mo-
torists, police reporting that nearly
100 persons in the Metropolitan
Area required hospital treatment for
falls on slippery pavements.
The Commissioners took notice
of the large number of accidents
and falls by appealing to Washing
ton residents to keep their side
walks clear of ice and snow. They
urged sprinkling of sand "or other
nonskid substance-except salt
whenever and wherever required"
Driving carefully to avoid a repe-
tition of the four hours between 8
pm. and midnight yesterday, when
go accidents were reported by po-
lice, downtown-bound. motorists
took twice as long to traverse their
home e-to-work routes this morning.
hcchock HAS ah'
Greenbelt, Md, was rtually iso-
lated in the early nj ming hours
when buses and aut mobiles were
unable to climb an icy hill on
Branchville road, and almost all OF
the inhabitants remained at home.
Greenbelt police reported no buses
reached the community between
Sis and 9:30 am. and that about
20 automobiles were stalled on the
hill.
Bus riders struggling toward work
were among the hardest hit this
morning. An example was Chevy
Chase Circle. where passengers ar
irving on Maryland buses added to
a jam of several hundred persons.
Bus Queues Merge.
! One observer said line awaiting
limited buses entirely surrounded
the station and intermingled with
another line waiting for local buses,
adding to the confusion. The jam
continued to grow between $3.50 and
9 am, when eight Maryland buses
arrived and only two left for down.
town.
National Airport reported only
two flights throughout the night as
icing conditions prevented CONNER
cial operations. The freezing rain
ended at 1856 am, and normal OPP
erations were expected to resume
soon.
Sanitation Supt. William A. Kan
ten ordered rs sanding trucks to
cover the worst spots starting at 2
am, but this morning he admitted
the streets were pretty bad" Three
hundred street workers were de-
tailed to improve drainage.
Capital Transit put out 20 sanders
along its bus routes and said they
would continue to operate through
the day. The company has spent
more than $4,000 in snow and ice
removal this winter, perhaps rec
ord expense, an official said.
Streetcars moved almost on
schedule except for a 15-minute
tieup at Third and H streets NE,
the transit company said.
American Automobile Association
service operators were kept busy
during the morning with calls from
motorists unable to start on the
slick streets.
As bad as conditions were in the
District, they were worse on the OUT
lying highways. At $50 am. Grey
hound buslines temporarily Cancelled
all runs to New York and Annapolis
(See WEATHER, Page A-4D