Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1899 — THE BLIZZARD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE BLIZZARD

Washington, says a correspondent, has had very few real winter snows, and the people were almost stupefied by the recent blizzard which struck the capital and left the streets piled high with drifts and nearly three'feet of snow on the level. Some of the Western Congressmen made light of the Washington blizzard, and used it us a text for repeating experiences in Dakota blizzards. But as a rule Western men who were out in the storm admit that it wns a genuine blizzard, and abont ns severe as they ever encountered anywhere. They find no fault with Washingtonians for complaining, for it was risking life to go out in the storm and face the wind while floundering through the snowdrifts. There were many narrow escapes and some most perilous experiences. Xo criticise could apply to the people of the capital city for suspending bus'ness for one day, as they did. The schools were closed, business houses were not opened, and departments of the Government were so short-handed that little was done. Congress was the ouly branch of the Government at work, and the Senate had a larger percentage of its members present than had the House. The grave and dignified Senators went to the eapitol from force of habit, and they worked all afternoon and were sent home iu carriages by the sergeant-at-a rnm. It was with sqme difficulty that Col. Bright, the sergeant-at-arras, secured enough carriages, as livery men were not anxious for business engagements, and the ordinary hackmen were few and far between. Nobody wanted to face the storm, and hackmen were as indifferent to the power of money as were others. They would not bo hired to go out in the storm. Col. Bright could get no one to supply the carriages for the Senators for a time, but he called up the funeral director, who does the business for the Government, and said he must have carriages. The man who furnishes the carriages for state funerals could not risk losing his business, and he sent enough carriages to carry the Senators to their homes. There were some incidents to show that young men in clerical positions were more careful and cautious than were their eiders. Senator Cockrell of Missouri, one of the oldest men in the Senate, tramped two miles to the capitoi early in the day because he had some important work with his secretary, a young man of 25. When he reached his committee room he found a telephone message from his clerk announcing that the weather was too bad for him to venture out. The Missouri Senator expressed himself vigorously about the want of energy in the newer generation and wrote his letters himself. That clerk is wondering when he will be dismissed.

The Washington blizzard was ouly for one day, hut the snowdrifts remained, and for several days, and Washington enterprise, even aided by the national Government, was not aide to remove them or open the streets to traffic again. The street railroads were tied up, with one exception. The new system proved a failure in a suowstorm. The fine snow sifted through the slot and destroyed the current, leaving the cars without motive power. It ended the illustration that the underground electric was the only system for street railroads, even in cities where they have only occasional snowstorms. The most discouraging feature of Washington was the complacency with which the people accepted the stoppage of all business. They had hern buried under a snowstorm by the powers of nature, and they waited for the same power to uncover the city. They simply waited for two days for the sun and the warm rain to unlock the city from its snow blockade. Coal wns the great luxury of the capital after the storm. The coal merchants were indifferent. They had coal in the railroad yards, but snow would hare to be shoveled away to get at it. They preferred to peddle out what they had by the bushel at exorbitant prices rather than open up the streets and yards and get eon! to their customers. In many instances gentlemen carried home a few bushels of coal in their private carriages, because they could not get the coal men to deliver the fuel. Other prominent residents had to close their houses and take refuge in the hotels, because they could not get coal to heat their houses.