Evening star., 1951-12-15
Weather Forecast
OF IS Threatens
New Traffic Tieups
Continued From First Page.)

NS0&4VA41aCA 3AOA11 Il IL 6t Z dkCsy
moving at so miles an hour, and
it hit several hours early.
Transit Snarl Called Worst Ever.
E. Cleveland Giddings, vice pres
ident of the Capital Transit Co.,
called the city-wide traffic snarl
''the worst this city has had inl
the history Of Capital Transit.
We were positively frozen in," he
declared.
The company was notified byl
the Budget Bureau, which had
its warning from Traffic Director
George E. Keneipp. that Govern
ment employees were to be released
early. Mr.. Keneipp made this
recommendation early in the
afternoon.
But the company was practically
helpless to advance it's schedules,
because it was too late to notify
drivers not yet on duty. And
when the men could be reached,
many found they could not get to
work. MIR. Giddings explained.
The Maryland and Virginia
commuter bus lines from 3 pm.
on almost ceased service from
downtown Washington. Block
long queues of dripping citizens
stood waiting for as long as two
hours for buses stranded else
where in lines of traffic.
Keneipp Says He's Seen Worse.
Mr.. Keneipp denied that the
tieup was the city's worst.
1--WE seen it before just as bad
"a year or two ago we had one
even worse" the traffic director
insisted.
He contended the mess would
have been even worse If many
Government employees hadn't been
let out early. at his suggestion, so
the many who drive cars could
get them out of the way and home
before the main rush.
Mr.. Keneipp said the city will
continue having such jams when
ever it has a snoWStorm unless
more motorists buy chains. A lot
of them just refuse to take the |,
storm problem seriously, he as
serted.
Abandoned in Parkway.
Many storm stranded motorists
still were picking up the pieces
today. Scores of cars were aban-
doned along such thoroughfares
as Rock Greek Parkway when
they got stuck or ran out of gas.
The District Sanitation Depart
ment swung into action quickly.
William A. Xanten, its director,
had in operation a total of about
20 snow removal units, mostly
sanders and sweepers. About As
were supplied by his department
and the remainder by Capital
Transit.
They started work about noon
when it appeared the snowfall
was no mere furry. The men were
mobilized rapidly and assigned to
the most troublesome areas. How
ever, in spite of their efforts, they
were hampered by stalled cars
and police reported that traffic
did not "level off" until late last
night.
The city's dial telephone sys-
tenn was heavily affected, pratic-
ularly between 3 and S o'clock.
Through overlooking. So many
people were calling home to say
they'd be delayed, or seeking rides
from friends, that the system was {
over taxed.
Delay Averages a Minute. {
A spokesman for the Chesapeake
& Potomac Telephone Co. said the S
storm itself was not responsible s
for the trouble. The city's news i
papers and the transit company S
received several hundred calls I
alone. Much of the difficulty con- {
cerned getting dial tones for out /
side. calls. and the average delay
was about a minute.
TaXis were almost impossible to 3
get. Dispatchers. called on the {
telephone. said delays would be OF :
considerable time. /,
More than 225 service trucks !,
were placed in use by the Ameri- !
can Automobile Association to aid ,
stricken motorists, that organiza-
tion reported.
Pedestrians Injured.
The snow and ice caused nu- S
lmerous accidents to pedestrians, {
police reported. Il
Vera A. Neverson, 81, colored, Il
Iof 8l4 Fifth street NE, was taken i
to Casualty Hospital and treated &
for conclusion and cuts about the
scalp, after she slipped on the &
ice at Twenty-second street and |
Rhode Island avenue NE. yester- {
day about an hour after it started I
to snow. She was found uncon-
scious in the intersection.
Virginia Walker, 81, colored, of