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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1919)
TlTE MORXIXG OREGOXTAN, FRIDAY, DECE3IRER 12, 1919. I -w COLO SIP BRBKS ! DECEMBER RECORD, HOW PORTLAND IS RIDDING HERSELF OF THE SNOW BLANKET THAT CAME WITH THE BLIZZARD MAIN STREETS CLEARED CREWS EMPLOYED BY CITY TO CART AWAY SXOW. Ex-Servlce Men Also Employed. Two Caterplllers and Grading Machines Facilitate Work. Mercury Descends to 12.4j Degrees Above Zero. 8" Men Suite 4 i MILK DELIVERIES RESUME! Waterfront Warned Against Flood' Conditions; Schools to Stay j Closed rntll Monday, j Continupd From First Page.) and with street-car service resumed, milk and bread and fuel deliveries again launched, though not at full tide, the average citizen hastened downtown to talk It all over as a prelude to starting a routine day. MI lie Dellverlra Rranmrd. At midnight last nle-ht street car service, through the unremit ting efforts of the company, was practically 90 per cent of nor mal, with, all save a few stub lines In operation, and with most of the main lines open and oper ating to their terminals. Unless the storm should start again officials of ! the company were confident that full service will be restored to all city ! lines today. ! Milk deliveries were resumed yes- j terday by the distributing concerns, j with service to all suburban stores, : but with no attempt made to dis- ', tribute to private patrons along routes. Dealers said that while the supply from the country has been curtailed, with but a limited number of the dairymen making deliveries to the depots, thero is little danger of a milk famine, as the supply on hand is sufficient for today unless weather conditions again interfere. Horse-Drawn Vehicles Installed. Early yesterday the Oregon Dairy men's league, which supplies many restaurants, hotels and stores, re lieved the paralysis of delivery in the country by installing horse-drawn ve hicles on its rural routes, and thus Insuring delivery at the stations for shipment to Portland. The league offices announced a two-thirds supply on hand, with an assurance that its territory will be fully served through the medium of stores. Fuel dealers were making no de liveries yesterday, save in exceptional cases where they had information that actual suffering was in prospect unless coal or wood reached the home. These deliveries were made with light ears or wagons. Dealei s say that they hope to resume at least partial de livery today, when the entrances to the yards win be cleared and when street traffic will have packed the drifts in the residential districts enough to permit the operation of fuel trucks. Plow Clear Street Cnr Tracks, Both milk and bread delivery cars were among the first to plunge Into the drifts and set out to the relief of the residential sections. But even these would have been prevented from travel had it not been for the path ways that the street car company had cut along its ltnes. with brooms and plows, to restore its own service. At midnight the operating depart ment of the Portland Railway, Light & Power company reported car serv ice to be at least 90 per cent of nor mal, with the following lines in com plete or partial operation: Alberta, to Kast Thirtieth and Al berta; Broadway, to Twenty-fourth street and Fremont; Brooklyn, all open; Beaumont, all open; Bridge transfer, Burnside to Lincoln; Council Crest, to Patton road; Depot and Mor rison open; Fulton, to Nebraska; Hawthorne, to East Fifty-fourth street: Mount Scott, all open to the end of the line at Lents Junction; Kenton, all open; Mount Tabor, to East Fiftieth street; Montavilla. to Kast Eightieth street: Richmond, to Twenty-sixth and Clinton: Rose City, to East Seventy-second street; Sell wood, all open; St. Johns, all open; North and South, all open; Sunnyslde, open on west side to Eleventh and Hall streets, on east side all open; Williams avenue, all open; Vancouver all open; Woodlawn. all open; Wood stock, to East Forty-second and Hol gate. Service on the interurban lines of the Portland Railway. Light & Power T,'JL: company win nav returned practical ly to normal by noon today, according to the expectations of officials in charge last night. This morning regu lar service will be installed on the Troutdale, Oregon City, and Estacada lines, cars running on the usual sched ules. The Bull Run line is not yet "open, but will he cleared by noon to-day. it la expected. The Oregon City "cars will run only as far as Twelfth street. Oregon City. Milwaukle and ' .'Greshara cars will be run according to regular scneauies. All day the streetcar company and the municipal streetrleaning bureau v. attacked the packed snowfall and the drifts. In the downtown district Alex '.Donaldson, in charge of the street- cleaning bureau, had 30 trucks In Ccnstant operation clearing the .streets. The trucks were captained .by Porter Yett. and the shovel bri gade of 100 men. working in two shifts of eight hours each, was large ly recruited from the ranks of ex i i service men registered at Liberty tem-- - pie. Snow Dnmpri Into River. For 16 hours, without a break, the street-cleaning department's trucks, each bearing four and one-half cubic yards of snow, averaging 2500 pounds to the load, dumped one load a min ute into the river at the Aider and .-iV? -Washington-street docks. The down town streets will be swept clear of all snowfall, but In the residential districts Superintendent Donaldson ij-wlll press plows into service, clearing - away a thoroughfare on each side of the car tracks, wide enough for -;. vehicular traffic ' nad charge of the trucks during the heavy storms of 1915 and 1916," t said Porter Yett, "and I want to say a word ror tne ex-servtce men who are on the Job with me this time They are handling twice as much ' snow per man as ever we did before. I.ta- and are the best workers that ever i hove into a drift. They go at It like they were taking a trench good boys and good workmen, every last one V j-of them. Nearly every one of th force of 100 is an ex-service man, Srr their ages ranging from 17 to 30 years." Boys Graup Opportunity. S-er. jroCf that former soldiers, out of .employment when the billiard blew ' in, eagerly grasped the opportunity " 'to work is 'found in the records of the Portland chapter of the American " Red Cross. Despite the bitter weather and the fact that the Red Cross stands ready to. aid the families of former service men, there were no iy 4U 4r more calls for aid during the storm than usual. "Kverv one of the boys, it seems." said a Ited Cross official, "jumped at the cnance to get to work, even in that bitter storm." Resumption of service on the stree car l.nes was unavoidably hampered and delayed, in many instances, by the vehicular traffic which used the cleared tracks. Lumbering motor trucks and autos. turnlngr into the drifts to gain the open lanes of the trackage, speedily filled the lines uo again and caused minor blockades, necessitating another visit of the snow-plow and th rotary bjoora. Carline Company Kelled On. "Is Kastm--reland line open yet?' came a telephone query to the street car company s traffic department. "Ve hope to have it open In the morninK. was the reply. ' Shucks, that s too bad," answered the distant voice, ' e wanted to send our oil trucks out there." Similar telephone inquiries, pa- COMPARISON' OK SNOWFALL A j I TKIII'EKATI BKS O N HKCORII 1 K K M It K R 1A S FOR 1'URTLAXU. From the records of the United States weather bureau. Portland branch, the following data are obtained: December 9 and 10, 1919 Combined snowfall, 17.6 inches: minimum temperature, 12.4 de grees above, on morning of De cember il. December 16, 17 and 18, 1S84 Combined snowfall, 20.3 inches; minimum temperature. 12 de grees above. December 21, 22 and 23. 1892 Combined snowfall, 27.5 Inches; minimum temperature, 20 de grees above, December 24. 1884 Minimum temperature, 12 degrees above. December 23, llsis Minimum temperature. 3 degrees above. tiently answered in the belief that streetcar patrons were asking about service, brought frenzy to the traffic officials of the company. One. in quiry was as to the condition of the Rose City Park car line. "We have it open to East Seventy second street," was the answer. "Good," replied the information seeker, "I can drive my car out home." Schools Closed Until Monday. Portland schools will nq,t reopen until Monday. The severity of the storm closed them effectually, and the depths of the resultant drifts, with the consequent dangers from ex posure, led school officials to declare a continuance of the enforced holiday until the streets are cleared. But the children are far too busy at their dwn affairs, for that matter, to return at onc& to books and desks. On every street yesterday red-cheeked boys and girls wers enjoying the un accustomed sport of coasting and sledding, and snowballing and plain and fancy tumbling in the huge drifts. Relative to the fuel situation Mayor Baker yesterday called the leading fuel dealers and requested that they ' equip wagons with runners, so t hat delivery of wood and coal might be carried on in the event that the storm should turn again or that the streets are not cleared within a day or so. Mayor Baker based his plea on in stances of hardship, for lack of fuel deliveries, that have come to his at tention. Flood Stage Held Likely. That a Chinook wind or a sudden change of warm weather will almost certainly bring about a flood stage of the Willamette and Columbia rivers is the opinion of many clcse ob servers. They declare that the rapid melting of the immense volume of snow will gorge the streams to re pletion and will endanger water front property. Advice is given that float ing property and materials along the water front be securely lashed, to pre pare for an sudden rise in the river. At many points the Willamette river bore a thin sheet of ice from bank to bank yesterday morning, while navigators reported the ice to be run ning heavily in the Columbia. If the ice in the main channel becomes any thicker, say the river captains, navi gation by small steamers will not longer be safe. Kail Service Nearly Normal. One of the encouraging features of the aftermath is that yesterday's sun melted the snow sufficiently to insure a frozen top, with the bulk of the snow packed solidly. Under these con ditions even a violent wind cannot bring about drifting and there, is lit tle danger that the snow now en the ground will again interfere with traf fic. Railroad service was almost normal last night, though schedules were still shattered to some extent. Trains were in regular operation on all main lines and on most of the branch lines. Outbound trains were leaving the de pots practcially on time, but Inbound trains continued to be late from one to several hours. During the storm Lipman, Wolfe & Co., through its welfare department. turned over two floors of the big de- nail-' ... is w ? - r 4f ' fens -w,., V "2L 1 Hit X ,"' ffe - rtf i J l ' ' I S ' 5 K s-i i' 1 -I i,-.-- if : - .wr':"'.''- Ipper Trucks of the street-cleaning bureau, laden vrlth snow or awaiting a 'cargo nt Sixth and Morrison atrertn. Lower Where the now went one of the truck dumping its load at a river dock. partment store for the housing of its employes, so that no inconvenience or hardship was caused to the store force by the blizzard. City la joyous. The psychological effect of the storm to be bromidic was a genuine city-wide spirit of jollity. Strangers laughed with one another as they plodded through the drifts, and be lated, stalled street cars were filled with folk who chatted away as though they had been neighbors all their lives. , The downtown streets were replete with incidents and minor perils i from an icy crossing to the shovelful of snow that came swishing down from the top of an office building. Many a pedestrian, slipping cautious ly along the walk, was showered with frozen clods of snow by some ener getic worker ten stories above the street. The blizzard broke records for many years, and has but few equals in the official annals of the weather bureau for Portland, so far as any December is concerned. Two days' fall of snow was 17.5 Inches, with a temperature yesterday morning of 12.4 degrees above. On the 16th, 17th and 18th of De cember, 1884. the storm had a close parallel, when 20.3 inches felL On the first day of that storm the mer cury dropped to 12 degrees above. A heavier snowfall for two days was recorded from December 21 to 23, 1892, when 27 Vs inches was re corded. On December 16 and 24. 1884. the latter day being unaccompanied by storm, the mercury fell to 12 degrees above. On December 23. 1879. the registra tion was but 3 degrees above, consti tuting the coldest day for that month ever recorded in Portland. ALBANY HAS THAW-FREEZES Traffic Conditions Improved and . Trains Are Running. ALBANY. Or., Dec. 11. (Special.) Traffic conditions in Albany were greatly improved today because of well-beaten tracks through the deep snow. Train service on the 'branch lines out of Albany was resumed to day except on the Albany-Detroit line. It is planned to send an engine and freight cars over that line in the morning to try to break a way for a passenger traiu tomorrow after noon. Under the effect of sunshine the snow thawed a little in this section its - oiSdl 'As ihr 4) 7, ?t r 4 muftriii of the state this afternoons but It is freezing again tonight- A minimum temperature of 11 degrees above was reached here last night, the lowest mark of the year. The public schools here resumed work today but the attendance was not up to normal. GRANTS PASS SNOW MELTING Power Lines Down Scliool Closed Business at Standstill. GRANTS PASS. Or.. Dec. 11. (Spe cial.) Six inches of snow covered the Grants Pass section this morning, but it was soft snow and began melting early and continued to melt through out the day. The California-Oregon Power com pany's electric ltnes from Prospect went down during the night, and all business depending on electricity was at a standstill. The high school was dismissed this morning. For the first time in Its history the JTourier failed ' to 'publish. The box factory closed down, and all industries are affected Wires in both directions were down until aft ernoon, when communication with the north was established. for I A Oro& YAMHILL, II NT Snow fairly flew yesterday from the shovels of several hundred work men employed by the city Into the many trucks, dump earts and other vehicles used to haul the snow to the river. In addition to the work of the men, the city operated two large tractors, of the latest type, to which j were attached large grading ma-1 chines, and two small caterpillars which also dragged grading ma chines, piling the snow high on the sides of the street. Alex Donaldson, superintendent of the street cleaning bureau, was In charge of the forces which worked yesterday and last night. Porter Yett was In charge of the trucks utilized In clearing the streets. Through the work performer", yes terday by the city's forces, the down town streets were virtually cleared of snow, and the main arteries leading to the various suburbs were also cleared sufficiently to allow automo biles and street cars free passage. The city used ex-service men in ad dition to the regular street cleaning forces. More than 100 men were em ployed at Liberty temple, and worked in two eight-hour shifts. Criticism directed against the city administration for the apparent fail ure to cope with the storm soon enough was answered yesterday by Mayor Baker, who said that the fall on Tuesday, according to the weather bureau reports, was a little more than three Inches, not sufficient to hamper travel of either automobiles or street CKNTRAI.IA FEELS tO BELOW Trains Are Running, But Logging Is at Standstill. CENTRALIA. Wash.. Dec. 11. (Special.) All low temperature records in Centralia wece broken at 8 o'clock this morning when the themometer registered ten degrees below zero, according to I. S. Turner, local weather observer. Train service was considerably Im proved today, trains arriving within an hour of schedule. All main line freight trains of the Northern Pa cific and O.-W. R. & N. were annulled yesterday. Operations in logging camps and mills In this city and vicinity are at a standstill. The city was without power today as a result of the Coal Creek power plant of the North Coast Power com pany suspending operations. A short age of coal was the cause. All local schools, with the excep tion of the Oakview school, closed this morning. Storm Of Long Duration. PRINEVHX.E, Or, Dec. 11. (Spe cial.) Cold weather, with the ther mometer standing 8 degrees below Monday morning, has gradually mod erated and given away to one f the heaviest Bnow storms ever known in this section. Snow fell all day Tues day and by evening a depth of eight inches covered the ground In this city. Indications are favorable for a storm of long duration, which is pleasing to farmers. Four Feet of Snow at Madras. MADRAS, Or.. Dec. 11. (Special.) The Madras country will probably be off the map for some days to come owing to an unprecedented fall of snow, which began Monday evening and has fallen constantly to the pres ent time. The depth now measures four feet and is still coming. As there is no wind it is a level plain, and farmers see visions of abundant crops for the coming year. All the schools are closed. The temperature is moderate. Harney Enjoys Snow. BURNS, Or.. Dec. 11. (Special.) Zero weather was experienced here for the first time this winter when the thermometer went to 6 below. Harney county has had one of the most delightful snowfalls in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and while the ground is covered with snow several inches deep, the sun ' for more snow, which will Insure good crops. Two Below at Cliehalls. CHEHALIS. Wash., Dec 11. (Spe cial.) The recard cold weather for years was reported at Chehalls this morning, two degrees below zero be ing recorded in the city. The night was clear and no snow fell. Today the sun Is shining brightly and a south wind is a hopeful sign that possibly a rain may come within the next 24 hours. Some of the pioneers say the present .old spell Is the most severe since 1874. Mosler In Grasp of Winter. MOSIER. Or., Dec. 11. (Special.) A spell of real winter has the Mosier country In its grasp this week. Snow fell incessantly, with the thermom eter ranging between 10 and 18 de- EE SHE FEELS SHE IS SAFE When Buying A Charter Oak. Why? Because she knows what she is bay ing. Her mother and her mother's mother used the CHARTER OAK. Where substitution "doesn't go" there is no necessity or room for argument with anyooe who comes into a store and makes the Statement that a Charter Oak Stove or Range is wanted. It is, in such a case, only a question of size, style and price. Something claimed to be "just as good cannot be sold to a person who has once used a Charter Oak. Far Coal, Wood or Gas Or CoabiasHoa of AO 300 Dealers in Untod States 135 Dealers in St. Loois Sell Tbem, If yoor dealer tries to talk 70a into baying another kind, writ to as. CHARTER OAK STOVE & RANGE CO., St Couii, Mo. Wm Altm Makm Wmm-Air Fmrmmcmm HEXTER & CO., Portland, Sales Agent EEL 1000 Boys' Soils Made in Our Own Tailoring Shops i I) Yoar Christmas Shopping Early at Store -DtMp-layina; Thla Siffn. grees above zero. This condition still prevailed at 2 P. M. Wednesday, with snow falling steadily and a depth of from 28 inches to over three feat, according to locality. The mail from Ortley could not get through because of deep snow and drifts. As far as can be learned there Is no suffering from lack of fuel. Efforts are being made to open the main roads. The storm is not accompanied by wind. Snow Is piled high on every house. Pendleton Store Robbed. PENDLETON, Or.. Dec. 11. (Spe cial.) Clothing valued at about $500 was taken from Alexander's de partment store here last night by a robber, who dropped in through the skylight. Nothing was left to ; Indicate the identity of the thief. Xew Mill Under Way. MARSHFIELD. Or.. Dec. 11. (Spe cial.) A new sawmill Is being con structed at Lakeside by residents of that district who intend having It In operation in January. The owners ji m nporRaredJl Are on at the Brownsville Woolen Mills No Clothing Famine Here Making our own clothing out of pure wool, it is superior in quality, tailoring design and workmanship to clothing made anywhere in the United States. Sold Mill-to-Man, direct from manufac turer, the consumer saves money on each suit. Bright, snappy styles for young men, plain or conservative styles for mature men. Try your made-in-Oregon Pure Wool Suit today. Men's Suits- $30, $35, $40, $45, $50 Boys' Suits $15, $16, $16.50, $17.50, $18.50, $20 rownsvine Woolen Mill Store Mill-to-Man Clothiers Third and Morrison Streets are Charles and John Ifhom and Paul Rickey, who expect te find a ready market for their output. The mill will be of only 10.000 feet capacity at first, but later may be enlarged. The Industry will be wjthln a short dis tance of the Southern Pacific yards and thus convenient for loading and shipping. Willamette Has Easy Contest. WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY, Sa lem, Dec. 11. (Special.) For the benefit of students who do not care to enter the tryouts for debate and ora tory, a local essay contest has been rthanlCoffee fandSAJEK -you won't believe it without trial IF "cereal beverage" makes you think: "Humph! Wishy-washy, beany imi tation coffee 1" you're going to have the surprise of your life when you make a cup of Drinket right at the table. YouTl have a wonderful drink a rich, full-rounded, full-bodied cup of deliciousness. YouH add a new favorite to your menu and be all the better for it. Try it. Let your children have it. Your own judgment is the most convincing argument. Buy KeUoggs Drinket of your grocer. This signature is your guarantee. KelloKss Drinket is produced in the same modern kitchens where Kellogg' Toasted Corn Flakes. Kellogg' a Kmnf bles and Keiiogg's Crumbled Bran are made. Sale! 1 1 arranged by Forensic Manager Mc- CJrew. The subject for the essays has not been given out, but S10 and $5 prizes will be awarded to winners of first and second places in the compe tition. ATorm-uH'srvtRAd READY TO SERVE DUKC KHSB9 COM fUUtt OX VF IMPITOVESTHECOMPlJiXiOM llfcaSSr SOLD EVERYWHERE (