Smyrna times., 1953-11-12
SURPRISE SNOW
HALTS TRAFFIC
Many Persons Are MarOOned,
School Children Stranded
In Storm
FIREMEN TO RESCUE

Many persons were marooned in
their cars, tourists were unable to
continue their trips, and rescues
were made of school children who
were stranded on rural roads dur
ing the unexpected snowstorm
which hit the state of Delaware,
and the Eastern seaboard last Fri
day. Drivers of school buses had
dramatic tales to tell of their cf-
forts to get their charges home
through the snow and high wind
which drifted in the country roads
and made them impossible. The
town of Clayton had the exper-
fence of having to bed down about
35 or 40 children who were unable
to start their trips home when two
buses were unable to reach the
school. According to William Tor
bert, Jr., principal, the teachers
prepared supper for about so chill
dren in the school cafeteria, and
homes were found for the youngs-
ters for overnight. Their plight
was less hazardous than that of
the children and drivers who start
ed their trips and could not reach
their destination.
Firemen Rescue Children
The Clayton firemen came to the
rescue and freed some children,
and others were rescued when
three tractors were used to pull
a bus loaded with children to the
farm home of John Diemicke, AL
ley Road, west of Clayton. Mrs.
Diemicke fed % persons that
night, including bus drivers and
children. Malcolm farrell and An
ton Choma used a jeep to trans
port part of the children from the
Diemicke home to their homes, but
at ten o'clock were forced to aban-
don the attempt. Six young boys
and girls remained overnight and
during the day on Friday. Mr..
Torbert paid tribute to the people
of Cayton for their response to the
need. Using list of the children's
names every effort was made to
contact their parents telling of
their safety, using telephones and
the radio Catherine Warner, driv-
er of one of the buses in the Green
spring area told of the difficult
trip, driving three miles in low
gear to deposit the last child in
her home, and of being towed to
Blackbird to the highway.
Many Tourists Delayed
Reports came in on Saturday
that rs tourists were put up for
the night at the home of Mrs.
Margaret O'Neill, and in the town
of Smyrna many travellers were
forced to stay all night in garages
and eating places, after the hotels
were filed. George w. Wright re-
ported Friday night that all the
buses from the Smyrna School
were safe. Mrs. Ethel Leager Mel
vim reported on Saturday night
that she had just reached home on
tractor after thirty hours, hav-
ing stayed with four pupils of the
% who were aboard her bus in a
home in the Bay View area during
the storm. There are countless
untold tales of those stranded on
all roads, and many heroic at
tempts made by those who came
to their aid. Willard Rutter and
his wife, Sally, were stranded af-
ter taking one of the employees of
the State Welfare Home to her
home at Smyrna Landing late Fri
day afternoon. Mrs. Rutter is
employed as a physical therapist
at the Welfare Home, and Mr..
Rutter went there to take her
home. They decided also to take
Mrs. Beverly Gaulke to Smyrna
Landing and got stuck in the
snow. They were forced to stay
overnight at the home of Lloyd
Jones and on Saturday, while re-
turning on tractor to Smyrna
Mrs. Rutter was injured when the
tractor struck a bump in the road
and she was thrown against the
steering wheel. She suffered in
juries to her mouth and teeth, and
also back injuries.
Need Community Service Project
One of the needs was shown dur
ing the height of the storm Friday
night when tourists asked at the
garages on DUPONT Parkway
where they could find overnight
lodging. A great public service
would be the compiling of a list of
available rooms in private homes