Milford chronicle., 1953-11-13
The Big Blizzard
Caught The State
Highway Unprepared
CONTINUED from first pagel

to be in readiness should the storm
continue"
"Of course we do have mechanical
failures and they did occur at
times, but saw the crews bring
in equipment which had broken
down, repair it quickly, and send
it back on the highways. We had a
| 50-mile-an-hOur wind almost all
day last Friday and when you have
a wind like that with such a snow
| there will be drifts.
Asked if the snow plow blades
which in most cases are mounted
on the front of trucks used for road
maintenance the year around
had been mounted in preparation
for storm, Mo Denston said there
was no reason why the blades
should have been mounted
There was no indication we were
going to get such a storm and to
mount the plOws in advance would
take the trucks out of use for regu-
lar operation on road work. We do
not mount the plows on the trucks
unless we know a storm is close.
We were caught in the middle of the
night by bad storm condition with
everything bedded down.
Nov. 10 Is Snow Fence Date
Highway Department officials said
1T is a general agreement with farm
ers that snow fences will not be
erected before Nov. 10, so as not to
interfere with use of the land for
farm purposes.
46 Cars Left i'm 10 Miles
At Dover one department official
said 46 cars and 19 trucks were
stuck and abandoned in one 10-mile
stretch of highway. SnowplOws
trying to go around them, became
stuck and bulldOzers pulled them
out. Private contractors were called
upon to provide equipment, to help
keep the plOws moving.
At least 1900 tons of sand, cal
cium chloride, and rock salt went
into the snow-fighting job. James
/ E. Sullivan, yard superintendent for
the Warner Company, said his COM
pany dOled out much of the ma
! terial. About 500 tons went to the
Delaware Coach Company which is
responsible for clearing along bus
routes. Other customers included
the State Highway Department, the
New Castle County Airport, the
I Street and Sewer Department, and
the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
3 Die Of Heart Attacks
Three persons died of heart at
tacks during the storm. including
Lawson Jenkins, about, 20, Negro
who was found lying face down in
a snOwbank about 25 yards west of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
tracks near the end of Baynard
Boulevard extension at Carrcroft.
Residents Of the area said the
man lived in a shack in the woods
nearby, and kept several dogs, three
of which were guarding the body
when it was found
George Nelson Tickle, So, of 611
Van Buren, Street, Wilmington died
last Saturday morning after report
edly suffering shOrtness of breatl
while shOveling snow.
Samuel L. Fulton, 64, of 1905
Brecks Lane, Wilmington died at the
wheel of his car while he was driv
ing the vehicle into the rear yarC
Sunday evening. Coroner G. Everett
Kelley said the victim died of a
heart attack but added that the
difficult driving conditions caused by
the snow evidently contributed tC
the attack.
Shore Has NOrtheaster
A 12-hOur nOrtheaster that lashed
the towns of RehOboth Beach and
Lewes saved that area from the
deluge of snow that pelted the rest
of the state and peninsula.
The temperatures at RehObOtt
Beach barely dropped below 40 de.
grees all day Friday. However, after
midnight the thermometer dropped
to the upper 2Os and the heavy rair
turned into sleet. Saturday morn
ing the thin film of ice on thu
ground melted rapidly under {
bright sun.
The nOrtheaster brought winds VI
to As miles an hour, and excessively
1 high tides. Huge waves at RehObOtl
Beach pummelled the coast, cas-
ing mounds of sand on and beneatl
the boardwalk. City Manager Law
renee 1. Turner of RehObOth re
ported the boardwalk was broker
in several places while other spot
were buckled by the mass of sand
The town crew was kept busy mos
of the weekend clearing debris ant
repairing the boardwalk The storm
was not particularly severe in tn
Milford area, and several lOca
merchants reported that busines
last Saturday was excellent an
broke all records for this time of tn
year.
LCWes Beach Hard Hit
Lewes Beach got an even wOrs
beating. Occupants evacuated on
or two cottages on the bayshOr
, front as water broke through tn
sand barriers. The tides brOk
through the beach bulkhead at tn
end of Savannah Road and the wa
ter made a river down the stree
? past the Ocean House Hotel.
=. The State Highway Department
rushed two bulldOzeTs to Lewe
. Beach and worked all weekend re
pairing the breaks in the san
dunes and throwing up new bar
d riers in front of the line of cot
tages. Newspapers from Outsid
7 were delayed for hours in arrivin
Friday night and Saturday, as wei
as delivery trucks of food prOduc
when the upstate snow storm TEN
nOrarilY marOnned the cnasta