Worst storm in half century buries province beneath snow and holds up transportation

From head of lakes to valley of Ottawa blizzard rages, and piles up drifts on railways, in city streets, and on country roads, paralyzing traffic by rail or auto

Railway men battle in vain to keep trains in operation

Northern counties completely isolated for twenty-four hours—Farmers with sleighs rescue passengers from trains stuck in snow—Drifts reach roofs of radial cars

King Winter dealt Ontario a staggering blow yesterday. A blinding 50-mile-an-hour blizzard swept the Province from east to west, buried city and country under an 11-inch blanket of snow, piled up drifts of eight and ten feet, demoralized traffic on steam railways, obliterated highways, isolated scores of towns and village, cut off whole counties from communication with the outside world, and caused the envious oldtimer to boast of the good old days. It was the worst storm in half a century, according to many veterans.

At a late hour last night the western and central portions of the Province had more or less recovered from the effects of the blow, but the storm was then reported to be raging furiously at Smith's Falls and sweeping on toward Québec and the Maritime Provinces. Grey and Bruce Counties were without train transportation all day yesterday, while other north-central districts were without passenger service until well on in the afternoon. Freight traffic on practically all branch lines was at a standstill all day.

Toronto street cars crippled.

North Bay and Parry Sound escaped the worst of the blow. Farther north the snowfall was light, but Toronto and other Lower Lake cities were directly the path of the storm's fury. Here the Street Railway Commission, after battling desperately with the elements during the early hours of yesterday morning, was able to carry only a small percentage of the usual traffic during the morning rush-hour. Service on all the main travelled routes was re-established by noon, but some of the suburban lines will not be in operation until this morning.

Movement of automobiles was possible only on the railway right of way, and the snow-plugged suburban streets were dotted with abandoned cars, hopelessly stalled in the huge drifts.

Eleven inches of snow falls.

Not since January 1911, has the snowfall over a 24-hour period been as heavy. Yesterday's gale left an 11-inch snow covering in its wake, but that record, according to the Meteorological Bureau, was equalled 13 years ago. The record established on March 28, 1876, when the fall measured 16.2 inches, still stands and the older generation can recall that this was almost equalled no longer ago than December 5, 1898, when the tally showed 16 inches.

No single twenty-four-hour period has ever before beheld a more complete disorganization of railway service throughout the Province. Not within the memory of the oldest employee have officials and men been called upon to perform such strenuous duties in a continuous battle with raging elements. Fine, hard snow, driven before a sweeping gale—blinding the vision beyond a few yard, packing with ice-like fineness into switch-points, and heaping in huge, train-high, solid drifts across the right of way—brought with it all the attendant terrors of a winter's ferocity.

Railwaymen grapple great task.

But through it all, day and night, the railwaymen fought on. Time and time again the telephones in despatchers' offices buzzed out urgent messages—message that told of panting steel monsters held impotent in the grip of the clinging snow, of train crews and passengers alike busy with shovels, clearing a way which was swept full immediately by the shrieking wind, or rescue trains stalled on their mission of aid, and of general conditions unparalleled in the railway records.

East and west of Toronto, despite an almost impassable right of way, service of a sort was maintained. But on the Northern divisions, the victory fell to the Storm King. Two whole counties—Grey and Bruce, served by the Midland Division of the Canadian National Railways and Bruce Division of the Canadian Pacific—have been without train service for the past 24 hours. Not one train from the North has arrived in Toronto, while on both railways all outbound service over the Northern divisions has been cancelled until reports are received in-

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