Evening star., 1954-01-11
Rain or S|eet
Due 10 Follow
Districts Snow
City Workers to Get
Out Early; Icy Roods.
Streets Slow Troffic
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Streets Slow Truffic
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their captains. Most were re-
lieved by 8 am. The s am. shift
was ordered to report an hour
early.
The storm developed in the
Mississippi Valley and moved
east across the country to the
cape area. Heavy snowfalls were
reported between here and Bos-
ton.
Observers at the National Air
port said q ground -hugging cold
air mass moved In from the
northeast and was met by higher
warm air and q low pressure
area moving in from the south
and west, causing the snow.
Schools Closed.
The previous prediction of be-
tween 8 and IL inches of snow
led to decision to close all pub
lie schools in the District and
surrounding counties. The
weather picture changed later.
In addition to public schools,
about 10000 pupils in parochial
schools in the Archdiocese Of
Washington were excused. Head
master Robert s. Lyle said Sid
well Friends School would have
no classes today. Glasses were
conducted at st. Adams School
for Boys for these pupils who
could travel safely.
Night classes in the University
of Virginia extension schools in
Arlington. Alexandria. Falls
Church and Fairfax County also
were Cancelled.
Capital Transit Co. said its
buses and. streetcars all were
running, but were behind sched-
ule. The company had % sand
ing crews and 26 track sweepers
operating during the night. One
tieup was reported. That
came at Fourteenth and r streets
NV. because Of failure Of an
automatic switch. and lasted for
20 minutes.
The AAA said it had about
1000 calls between midnight and
8 am. About half asked for
weather information and reports
on road conditions and the other
half called for service
The AAA had IS service cars
on the streets, but were telling
motorists that there would be a
delay Of an hour or more on each
call.
, Maryland State police at Wa
terloo said Baltimore boulevard
was open, but that Il was rot as
heavily Travelled as usual. North
bound trailer trucks caused tenn
porary tieups on the boulevard
throughout the night. they said.
Fairfax County police said
some secondary roads were
blocked IN that area. Virginia
State Police reported some trafic
tieups on Route / between Alex
andria and Triangle. Va.
Montgomery County police said
Viers Mill road-a winding, mar
row. heavily Travelled route-was
treacherous in spots, between
Wheaton and Rockville, Md.
Prince Georges County police
said Edmondson road was virtu-
ally blocked between Calvert and
Greenbelt roads. Some cars were
stuck there all night. They said
Cattail Hill on Route / near COL
lege Park was impossible without
chains.
Police and the AAA were ad-
vlSlng against all motor travel.
except where was necessary.
Removal Is Slow.
Mr.. Xanten said inexperienced
crews created a big problem dur
ing The city's first use of con.
tract help in snow removal. He
said such storms are too infre-
quent to provide experience in
its removal.
The National Airport reported
air traffic slowed up a little"
because of difficulty in other
areas. The airport was not
closed. but operations at Newark
and in the New York area were
shut down because runways were
not clear. This affected sched-
ules here.
Bus schedules were of. Grey
hound reported some of its
coaches are running a little late,
with local service mot too bad"
railways estimated its long-dis-
tance trips are running up to
four hours late. with local trips
about an hour behind. Other
vehicles stalled along roads were
responsible for the delays, they
said.
The w. v. & M. and the A. B.
& w. bus lines reported all buses
running, but off schedule.
The emergency snow ban went
into effect in the District at
GAS pm. yesterday. and there
was no immediate indication of
when it would be lifted.
Some traffic tickets were is
sued for violations of the snow
ban. but an exact count of the
number was not Immediately
available.