Evening star., 1954-10-28
IFS On .llI Wind
Lewis w. Rathgeber.


Hurricane Hazel's mighty sweep has
subsided. the people Of Washington can
be soberly thankful that all wires in
the downtown area are underground
instead of overhead, and thus they
have been spared much inconvenience
they could have experienced. For this
we owe thanks to people like the late
Crosby s. Noyes and his son, Theodore
w. Noyes, editors of The Star from 1867
to 1946. The city could possibly have
been paralyzed and cut off from the
outside world for some time, as in the
damaging hurricane of September 20
and 80, 1896. which hit Washington
with violence second only to Hazel.
The big blow of 90 was sufficient to
bring down the steeple of the New
York Avenue Presbyterian Church, to
mention but one Of the more spectac-
ular results. To quote from the front
page Of The Star of September 80, 1896
(the day after the terrifying night
before: ITO add to the horror
the wires Of the electric lighting service
broke and the center of the city was
Instantly made as dark as Egypt. The
clouds hung low and the night was
intensely dark. The electric lamps had
been able at their best only to feebly
illuminate the pitchy blackneSs, and
when they were shut of the streets
were given over utterly to the bowling
demon that tore through the city,
tearing off boards, roofs, chimneys,
branches. Lighting wires were not
alone in this respect for the entire
police system was wrecked and the
fire alarm service was rendered use
less. ~. Telephone and telegraph wires,
too, were brought down and the city
was entirely cut off from the outer
world.
Much of the credit for the inspiration
of placing downtown wires UNDER
ground, it seems, goes to The Star,
which was in the forefront of the battle
to secure this important undertaking.
After the hurricane of '96, Star edi-
torials pointed out that the complete
paralysis and cutting off of the city
from the outside world after this storm
proved more than any other event that
all wires in the downtown area should
be placed underground, as The Star
contended time and time again. H
AS associate editor and later as editor
of The Star, Theodore w. Noyes CAM
paigned persistently for underground
trolley and underground wires down.
town, and wrote articles from Europe
describing what leading European cities
were doing in that regard.
AS our older inhabitants know, this
undertaking was accomplished after
long and difficult fight, and nowadays
this thing of underground wires down.
town is taken for granted by us of the
younger set.
Crosby Noyes also provided much of
the inspiration that brought about the
development of the efficient harbor pa
troll service we now have and which pa
troled our waterfront so admirably dur
ing Hazel'S furious fling that damage to
boats was negligible and there was no
loss of life. In the storm of 90, boat
named The Leary broke its moorings
here, damaging and sinking number
of other boats. The antiquated harbor
boat, Blackburn, was unable to cap
ture the runaway. Mr.. Noyes in an edi-
tOrial pointed out that this incident
had shown the inadequacy of the
Blackburn to cope with such situa-
tions, and that it had demonstrated
again the Districts need for modern
harbor patrol boat properly equipped
to give adequate service in times Of
emergency on the waterfront.
Thus our experience with Hazel has
proved Mr.. Noyes' wisdom and fore
sight.
AS longtime reader of The Star.
and native Washingtonian, it gives
me pleasure to present this information
to the people Of Washington.
Walter w. Hyson.