Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-03-21
POWER
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Continued From First Page
part Of Prince Georges County
and virtually all of st. Marys,
Charles and Calvert Counties,
said service had been restored
to al but about 800 Of its 10000
customers who were without
electricity yesterday. The CO.
operative gets its power from
the Potomac Electric Power Co.
and distributes it in Southern
Maryland.
Among the institutions where
power was restored was the old
building at Suburban Hospital
in Bethesda. The building
houses the nursery and ma
ternity wards. Power was re-
stored about 5 pm. yesterday.
City dwellers for the most
part suffered less under the
power failures than those living
beyond the suburbs. Thousands
in Washington yesterday were
advised by heating companies
how to keep gas fired furnaces
going despite inoperative cleo.
trio thermostats.
Country Homes Hard Hit
Beyond the suburbs, thou
sands Of homes with electric
pumps are without water. heat
and light.
In Loudoun County, Va, some
dairy farmers attached tractors
or gasoline engines to their
compressors for milking. Many
others returned to the old-fash-
toned method - milking by
hand. The Loudoun County
Hospital in Leesburg hooked up
an auxiliary unit for heat and
light yesterday and restaurant
operator Reed johnson made
soup and coffee for 81 patients.
Police in suburban and out
lying areas still are receiving
thousands of calls and COM
plants about power failures.
There were no reports of ex-
IRENE hardship, however.
The Montgomery County Of
nee, building and courthouse at
Rockville and the Prince
Georges County courthouse at
Marlboro. closed yesterday be-
cause of power failure. are open
today.
Lineman Burned
Only one new injury was re-
ported from contact with
downed power lines. A PEPCO
lineman, Raymond j. Dantu-
ono, %, Of 1905 Easecrest road.
Silver Spring. suffered severe
burns late yesterday while re-
pairing a line on Baltimore
boulevard, near MuirkirkI
Branch, in Prince Georges
County. He was admitted to
Leland Memorial Hospital.
PEPCO modified some 200
members of its office force to
act as guards on downed wires.
Utility officials reported more
than 1900 lines down in the
Washington area yesterday but
this has been sharply reduced.
The snowstorm, coming on
the very eve Of spring, may
have brought the most wide
spread power failure ever ex-
perienced on the East Coast. A
million persons were believed to
be without electricity yesterday.
The power blackout extended
from New England down
through Virginia and into
much Of Maryland.
The outlook for restoration
Of telephone service here today
appeared to be good.
500 Phones still Out
Oficials Of the Chesapeake &
Potomac Telephone Co. said
only 500 Of the $500 phones out
Of service in downtown Wash
ington yesterday we're still out
today. About 10 per cent Of the
phones out Of service are in the
suburbs.
The company said 1t hopes TO
restore service to nearly all sub
scrihers by evening.
Among the areas hard hit by
disrupted telephone service
were the Poolesville section Of
Montgomery County and Gull
pepper. Va. Service between
Washington and Culpeper was
completely out.
Meanwhile, lines to District
Police Headquarters, National
$4,000 and the District Build