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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1912)
TIIE BTJTAY OREGON1AN, rORTLAXP. JANUARY 7, 1912 ff SILVER THAW BEINGS UNUSUAL S IGHTS AND SCENES TO PORTLAND. TRACTIOM COMPANY FIGHTS ICE VAINLY i lanosi 11 ICiilWi Extraordinary Bona Fide Reductions in the Great Bush & Lane ANNUAL CLEARANCE SALE y:fac Trolley Wires Snap Over A!l City and Workmen Can't Cope With Storm. s'TV.i4.';--vf,iv'l $375 1 sSX ENTIRE SERVICE CRIPPLED $185 ;i:j.iir; ' I if VI. 1 5 mm mi ESP Power Strands Brak and Electricity Supply I Cut Off Steam Ptanu Cod With Llul Effect. Falling Tree Also Hamper. Every tmerincr wlreman. hundreds Of extra laborer, all the automobile truck and all the repair rngs of the Portland Hallway. IJirnt A Power Com. pany trucsd all cay yesterday and last night in an effort to keep tha car trarka clear and the Vara In operation. Many times In the day tha norm ot the upper hand and cut off all the ervlre. necessitating switching around of hluh tension supply line, the re routing of cara and the building of new temporary track before service could be resumed. When It became apparent about noon that It would be difficult to maintain any service whatever, every emergency man waa ceiled out and a:t the shop force wa put to work removing the trolley wheels from the trolley poles. The sleet In falling on the overhesd wires formed a cake of Ire which kept the trolley wheel from touching the wire and broke the electric current. The wheels were removed and the trol ley pole was allowed to scrape alone the wire. It was necessary to have one conductor Li attend to the trolley and at-Jther to handle the patsrr.Kers. Trailer tVIrn Taakle. The system was all right In brenklng the crust of Ice. but disastrous to the wire. As a result trolley wires began to fall all over the city. Between 1 and 4 o'clock 11 wires were reported down and It looked for awhile as If the service would have to be abandoned. On top of this trouble the high-tension wires leading from the power atatlon at Caxadero broke In five places along the route and the largest part of the city's electric supply waa cut off. This was at 1 o'clock and the cars stood powerlesa over all the city for more than an hour. Ureaks were found In the high-tension wires at Lents Junction. Whitman Station. Watson. Itlvernilll. East Thirty-third snd Broad way and at I'nlon avenue and Knott street. Apparently the breaks all oc curred within an hour. Ksarraearr Plaata l eed. As faat as linemen got one place re paired there would be another break. Finally the steam emergency plants on East Water street and llswthorne ave nue and In North Portland were put Into commission and limited service was resumed on a:i lines. The power waa furnished from the plants at Ore gon City, the steam rlants and from a new storage battery In the Electric building, which kept the cars running Intermittently. Much trouble was ex perienced on the uregon City high-tension system, due to breaka In the wires. Each break caused a delay In the operation of many cars while re pairs were being made. So effort was made to maintain schedule on any line, efforts being con fined to running the cars as often as possible: In parts of the city but two cara reached the ends of the lines dur ing the afternoon. Falling treea In the early part of the evening added to the trouble. On the tntcrurban llnea the cars were re quired to move slowly, and every few minutes the power waa cut off and delays occasioned. The tracks were strewn with branches of trees all after noon and In the evening the trouble Increased until the Interurban service la J to be practically discontinued, nettle a ('lias. Superintendent Franklin, of the Port land Hallway. Light A Power Company, said everything possible would be done to keep up the service today by using tne emergency power planta and em ploying as many workmen as could be obtained. Workmen of every shift were Impressed during the afternoon. "We hoped f'r a change In the weather." said JJr. Franklin, "but It failed Ij come. V battled against every sort of trouble, transferred our power around In every concelveable manner and hae done everything we can to keep the cars running. It has been a losing fight so far. Wa will keep at It with all our force. It being our Intention not to abandon any service until It Is prostrated." Electric light service was demoral ised rapid' r In the residence districts In the af'-rr.on and evening. Fall ing trees .urine the late afternoon cut off practically all the residence and street lights outside the fire limits where the wires are above ground. In the business district there waa no trouble with lights, the power being furnished by the steam plants by means of under ground wires. Very few homes In the city had light at any time last night, alany parts of the city favored early In th evening were cut off later as the trees and poles toppled and snapped the wires. Between 4 and 4 o'clock 49 electric wires were reported down and before t o'clock the number bad Increased to more than 100. Every tree or large branch which fell seemed to have taken with It a collection of light and tele phone wires. Cars Ram All MibL Arrangements were made late last right to keep cars In operstlon on ail lines throughout the night, to keep the lines clear for service today. The In tention was to keep the Ice from get ting too thick on the trolley wires and to clear the lines of fallen trees and poles. Workmen and linemen accom panied each car and attended to the clearing work wherever required. Serious accidents were averted nar rowly at Second and Alder sreet at about I o'clock, when a Woodlawn car's trolley left the wire and got tangled In the network of supporting wires, part of the network was torn down and wires spitting fire danced about the street for some time before they could be tied. A break In the trolley wire on Eaat Fiftieth street, two blocks off Haw thorne avenue, about 12. 10 o'clock yes terday afternoon demoralised the car service over the Mount Scott line for the greater part of the afternoon. Tripper No. 1 struck the break about 1:14 o'clock and managed to Jockey by on the down grade and pick up the trolley at Hawthorne, after three quarters of an hour of maneuvering. While the car waa stalled at the likfi- r vm PM-. B-U- m? i M 4 75V2 coAyag- orrnt? wr: CJ7 ve. break, the telephone and electric wires on East Fiftieth street for nearly 10 blocks rave way under their accumu lated burden of sleet and fell In a tangled mass to the ground. The break In the trolley was due to an accumu lation' of crusted sleet on the cross wires between two poles. After making the main track on Hawthorns arenua ths car was delayed for nearly an hour In working Its way up the Incllrie to East Twenty-fifth street. Other cars, whiskered with Icicles, were bunched on the Una, mov ing by fits and starts, rarely making mora than half a block before they were obliged to stop on account of trolley trouble, as the lines sagged down almost to the car roofs and the trolleys repeatedly flew off the wire. Another break occurred about the same time In the trolley wire near Grand avenue, but the emergency wagon was hurried out and after IS minutes' work the procession of delayed cars was able to make Its way Into the West 61de without further Interference. The trouble with the trolley wires put the heating apparatus In the cars out of commission and the passen gers, who were apparently Inclined to take a humorous view of their plight, stamped their feet to keep warm until every car sounded as though a snare druiu solo were going on Inside. Psssrasrri Da "Clog." One of the passengers on tripper No. 8, struck by a bright Idea, began to "pat a Juba" In real negro fashion, and the passengers, with a chorus of laugh ter, caught the time and merrily shuffled ragtime with their feet to keep the cold away, while the con ductors and motormen outside wrestled with tha trolley and worked the car by fits and starts past Its many ob stacles. Phone lines Into the Mount Scott dls. trlct were In bad shape, but such resi dents as could be reached by phone last night reported no Indication of any abatement In the weather there. The wind was still blowing sleet from the north at 4 o'clock and trees, crusted with great masses of Ice. were break ing continually and still further spreading confusion among the phone wires they encountered. Electric lights from Creston onwsrd were cut off by the breaking of the 1 .kAnt A nVlnMr In the after noon, and residents were forced to re sort to coal oil lamps and candles, or. if these were not obtained, to pass the evening In darkness. tVerksjra Caat Reach Homes. Many workmen whose homes are far out on the Mount Scott line walked to Hawthorne avenue in the afternoon to set beyond the break In the trolley and caught their cars Into the West Side, and made no effort to return to their homes last night, fearing that the cars might leave them stalled far out and force them to a long walk In the sleet and snow In the darkness. Travel on the Oregon Electrlo be tween Portland and tjalem and For est Grove "blew up" early In the day and all trains. Including the Capital City Flyer, were canceled. Trains which had left the southern terminal before the storm developed limped into the city hours late and against great obstacles. Train No. 14 from Forest Grove, due here at 10 A- M.. was de layed by a broken wire at Multnomah and again at Fulton Park, and pas sengers had a thrilling: experience when the train squeesed past a broken strand of trolley wire. The wtre grounded against the side of tha car and a tongue of flame leaped Into the car a distance of several feet. Vivid displays of green light followed the trolley wheel constantly. The train arrived more than two hours late. 6AFE WALKING IS HARD FEAT Danger Confronts All at Every Step on Street. AH Portland splashed yesterday, mo mentarily cringing in expectation of a slip that might precipitate it into the soupy slush that lay underfoot In Av ery street, while the Btreet-cleanlng Department was notably not In evi dence, and a few merchants appeared content to sea tha sidewalks in front of their establishments transformed Into sludgy skating rinks. Kvery step of the pedestrians wss fraught with that indefinable cringing thrill in the spine that always accom panies treading on untrustworthy s-ound. The slush lay thick at the 1 crossings, whipped to tha consistency A' . of stale Ice cream by the pounding of the sleet and rain. It glutted the catch basins at every corner, so that small lakes accumulated along the curblngs, over which the pedestrians, men, wom en or children, were obliged to leap, with long odds in favor of their heels scooting out In front of them and sous ing them flat on their backs In the puddles of slush. Splashing and leaping and slithering awkwardly along the streets, women were frequently compelled to fly in the face of conventionality to protect their skirts from tha pervading wetness. Frequently even these precautions were of no avail, as an auto veered around a corner with a "sploosh" and deluged thera with a shower of moist snow. Men plodded In water-soaked shoes and derelict wanderers stood for lornly under awnings fussy with Icicles and bewailed their chtllblalns. Falling in the street became so com mon that even the wildest tumble could scarcely provoke a laugh. Thus through tha long- ay Portland splashed, while tha street railways, the electric companies and "trouble shoot ers" for the telephones wrestled with the silver thaw, and the white-winged knights of tha street-sweeper and shovel rested under tha oloak of In visibility. BAY CITY STRIDES AHEAD vr Hotels to Rlae as Result of Har bor Improvements. - BAT CITY, Or., Jan. . (Special.) Renewed Impetui waa given the ho tel Industry today by the receipt from Washington of the Information that the Secretary of War had transmitted to Congress the report of the Array En gineers for the Improvement of Tilla mook Bay and Its approval by the Chief Engineer Corps of the United States Army. A. .Miller, of Tha Dalles, has a force of men clearing a site for a modern hotel. It Is understood that the agent of an Eastern capitalist who waa here recently Investigating tha advisability of establishing a hotel has been In fluenced by this action of the Gov ernment engineers to report favorably upon the erection of an 480.000 hotel here. H. Moon, of Portland, opened the Bay City Hotel the first of the month and has been unable to accom modate all those who have applied to him for accommodations. The same Is true of the Bay View Hotel. The large Influx of transients Is due not alone to more traveling men entering the Tilla mook field, but to the Influx of many Oregon and Eastern people who are at tracted here by tha opportunities for Investment. i S - . f 1907 STORM RECALLED DAMAGE DONE FIVE TEARS AGO PLACED AT $150,000. Streets Tangled With IVires and Poles and Ice on Trees Present Familiar Scenes. The "silver thaw" of yesterday was the worst sinoe the destructive storm and thaw of January 28, 1907, when traffic and business was at a standstill for nearly 24 hours and the equipment of the public utility companies suf fered 4150,000 damage. At that time the sleet began falling early In the morning and before night the streets were strewn with a tangled mass of wires and trees, car service was abandoned, there were no lights, thousands of shade trees were de stroyed and orchards were badly dam aged. That storm was similar in many par ticulars to the thaw of yesterday. Two horses were killed then on the Steel bridge In nearly the same place as the two yesterday, 10,000 telephones went out of service and shade trees were badly damaged In the parks and streets. The wires, trees and poles then, as now, covered practically every street In the cit5-"s residence district. Many accidents were reported In the 1907 storm owing to the falling of trees and wires during the day, when there were many people on the streets. No one, however, was killed. CRIME THRIVES JN FRANCE Public Office Robberies Practice of Young Thief. PARI3 Jan. 4. (Special.) Apparent ly the way is made very easy for thieves In French public offices and other buildings under the charge of the French government. There waa the case of the Louvre, where a suc cession of thefts culminated in that of the "Mona Lisa." And on Saturday last a young man named Maurice Migeon. 18 years old. was charged with, and confessed to. a series of thefts from all the ministries In Paris. His seclalty was typewriters. He had a shopful of aecond-hand machines, which he could afford to sell very cheaply because of the simplicity and ease with which he got them. He made a point of going out and stealing one typewriter every day. He got them from the ministries and tha pub- $6.00 fgmm $1.00 x .. $275 ImMf m $1.50 wmM Werner, burl walnut, excellent condition, regular $325, now only ' Ipl7 Knight Brinkerhoff, superb mahogany, can't be told from new, was $350, now only St'"d Victor Piar.o, fine mottled walnut, cost new $3.j, now only Jpl75 Another Victor, only used three months, just like new, was $375, now only : . -f.5 Robinson, good practice piano for beginners, originally $350, now only I'AA Vose, only used short time, just like new, cost $400, now only Iju27i A Superb Bush & Lane, in Art Style case, traded in for nlaver mano. cost $500, now only .l?s5S4 Victor, largest size, beautiful walnut case, was $375, a rare value at . plo7 Hallet & Davis,' largest size, fanciest mahogany case, just like new, cost $375, now. ;IfV Thielin, finest mahogany case, a splendid value at $350, now only $J!b Another Thielin, elegant condition, the $350 style, for only : ...$1- Bush & Lane Baby Grand, in finest mohagony, piano used by prominent music teacher now in Europe, cost $800, now only ; ' V Bush & Lane Player Piano, genuine oak case, used for demonstrating purposes and as good as new, the regular $850 style, now only $bJ7 TERMS LIKE RENT Pay cash or $4, $5 and $6 monthly as you choose. "Money Back" if not exactly as represented. Don't wait. Don t delay Every day witnesses big inroads being made into the stock. Be on hand the first thing tomorrow morning. ''tffiumfie? lie offices. His method was ridiculous ly simple. He dressed himself like a shop messenger, went to the concierge of the ministry and said, "I've come for the typewriter which needs repair. In a ministry or big public office there Is always at least one typewriter which needs something done to It. The concierge told him where to go, and he went up and took the machine away. Xehalem Canneries Are Busy. NEHALEM, Or, Jan. 6. (Special.) Both the canneries on the river here are busy packing steelhead salmon, the catches of the Nehalem fishermen being good for this season of the year. The faot that fishermen ara catching many ailversido salmon is causing no little comment, from the fact that the catches of this variety are most un seasonaL The steelheads and silver sides are bringing S and 4 cents a pound at the canneries, a fair price for this season of -the yearly catch. MANY LADIES ARE FINANCIERS for the family. There are many woman who would like to buy a good home, pay half down and the balance as fast as possible. Others would like to invest the fam ily savings in a good, safe mortgage. Frequently ladies come to ns for advice on such matters, and we always are pleased to give such in quiries our careful atten tion. ' Our loan department is for this very purpose, and ladies will find our bank of fers unusual facilities for all financial transactions. Hartman &Thompson BANKERS Chamber of Commerce Building. 4VA m lists $1.00 -iT arks!! sVt&.iMa1si.-s-sr7 eMaiesticTheatre IMPORTANT THAT PUBLIC SHOULD ABOUT GREAT KIDNEY REMEDY. The testimonial I am to give you comes unsolicited. I have been suffer ing from lumbago for ten years and at times was unable to stand erect, A Mr. Dean, of this city, saw me in my con dition (bent over) and inquired ths cause. I told him that I had the lum-bas-o. He replied, "If you g-et what 1 tell you. you need not have It." I said I would take anything for ease. He said, Tou g-et two bottles of Dr. Kil mer's Swamp-Root and take It. and if It does not fix you O. K. I will pay for the medicine myself." I did so and am a well man. For five months 1 have been as well as could be. Before I took your Swamp-Root was In con stant pain day and nisht This may look like advertising-, but It seems to me most important that the public should be made familiar with this treatment as It Is the only one I know which Is an absolute cure. I owe a great deal to Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root, and am anxious that others situated as I was should know and take advantage of It. Hoping that this testimonial may be of benefit to some one, I am, J. A. HOWLAND, 17S4 Humboldt St., Denver, CoL State of Colorado J 89. City and County of Denver J Personally appeared before me, a Notary Public in and for the city and county of the State of Colorado, J. A. Howland. known to me as the person whose name is subscribed to the above statement and upon his nth declares that it is a true and correct statement. DANIEL H. DRAPER, Notary Public. Letter to Dr. Kilmer A Co Binchamton, X. Y. Prove What Swamp - Root WiD Do For Yob Send to Dr. Kilmer & Co., Bingham ton, N. Y., for a sample bottle. It will convince anyone. Tou will also receive a booklet of valuable information, tell ing all about the kidneys and bladder. When writing, be sure and mention The Portland Sunday Oregonlan. Regu lar fifty-cent and one-dollar else bot tles for sale at aU drug- stores. L$5-00 Jmnp0S 0
