By K. F. O.
January 30, 1914 was not an ordinary day for part of the Midwest. A blizzard impacted Northern Illinois, Ohio and Indiana in the early morning. Out of this region, Indianapolis was largely affected by this natural disaster. Indianapolis received upwards of twelve inches of snow that day and into the night. This is quite a lot of snow, but it is no different from the snow we have been getting in Indianapolis recently. Snowstorms have always affected Indianapolis and have produced the same amount of snow throughout history, whether it be one inch or twelve inches. A community cannot change the inches they receive, but they can change how they handle the inches they receive. Twelve inches may same like an abnormal amount these days, but the city of Indianapolis still manages to be able to keep the city running.
One hundred years ago they did not have resources to conquer twelve inches of snow without shutting down the entire city. It took the city a few days to get back up onto their feet. Because of this storm there were many human causalities due to exposure to the cold, no electricity and fierce winds. The snow caused railroads to stop operating and trains were hours behind of schedule. The equivalent to the closing of the railroads would be the closing of roads in present day. Although the storm that happened in 1914 may not have directly changed the way Indianapolis dealt with this sort of disaster, the way they conquered it helped shape the way snowstorms were handled throughout history since then. Although the community of Indianapolis could not deal with the effects of the storm in a timely fashion, it did take note of what they had learned. Another storm would hit Indianapolis a few weeks later, but we would come to find out that it would be worse than this one. Indianapolis as a whole could not deal with two natural disasters such as this in a short period of time. As much as the residents and workers of Indianapolis wanted to learn from this situation, they did not have enough time to be able to come up with resources to help counteract any future storms.
One hundred years ago they did not have resources to conquer twelve inches of snow without shutting down the entire city. It took the city a few days to get back up onto their feet. Because of this storm there were many human causalities due to exposure to the cold, no electricity and fierce winds. The snow caused railroads to stop operating and trains were hours behind of schedule. The equivalent to the closing of the railroads would be the closing of roads in present day. Although the storm that happened in 1914 may not have directly changed the way Indianapolis dealt with this sort of disaster, the way they conquered it helped shape the way snowstorms were handled throughout history since then. Although the community of Indianapolis could not deal with the effects of the storm in a timely fashion, it did take note of what they had learned. Another storm would hit Indianapolis a few weeks later, but we would come to find out that it would be worse than this one. Indianapolis as a whole could not deal with two natural disasters such as this in a short period of time. As much as the residents and workers of Indianapolis wanted to learn from this situation, they did not have enough time to be able to come up with resources to help counteract any future storms.
The storm that occurred on the night of the 30th was the first official storm that Indianapolis had received in 1914, but it would not be the last. On that night, according to the Indianapolis Star Volume 11, Number 240, “the damage that [was] done to telegraph and telephone wires [was] apt to be enormous unless a quick thaw [came].”[1] This January 31st news story in the Indianapolis star was the first reporting of the storm. Before the snow and sleet hit the area, it was just a normal night out the town for many residents of the city. Many were downtown attending shows at the theatre and having a great night. This is what the majority of the residents of Indianapolis liked to do on their free nights. Women would dress up in their fanciest dresses and men in their nicest suits and go out and enjoy themselves. Because of the sudden storm that many of them did not expect, many of the theatre-goers were forced to wait for ways to get home for more than three hours after their shows had ended. When they failed to find ways of transportation to go back home, many had to walk home through the sleet and slide their way home on the slippery sidewalks. Because of this, many had slipped and caused several injuries that night. While residents were walking home, the people who were lucky enough to find a mode of transportation home more times than not got in accidents with each other. At one incident, Paul Marks, a short time resident of Indianapolis, was cut by flying glass.1
Not only were people falling because of the storm, wires were also falling from the sky; electric live wires. “Wires fell in several parts of the city, the heavy traction wires suffering most because of their weight and the strain against them caused by passing trolley cars. The slippery tracks were responsible for one collision, in which one person was hurt slightly, a dozen shaken severely and two cars badly smashed.”1 Because of this and the sleet on the trolley wires, thousands of residents in Indianapolis had to be treated to electrical pyrotechnics. Wires weren’t the only issue that resulted from that storm. The telegraph service for Indianapolis received a greater hit due to the passing storm. “The effect on the telegraph wires was almost instantaneous after the first sleet arrived, and at midnight the Western Union Telegraph Company only had one local wire working between Indianapolis and Chicago.”1 This posed a great problem because Indianapolis did not have a connection with points south and west of Terre Haute and had no idea how the storm had affected these areas. Indianapolis was isolated and it would not have means of communication for several days.
February 1st, 1914 was the second day that we learned even more pertinent information regarding the effects of the blizzard in Indianapolis that happened on the 30th. Headlines in the Indianapolis Star shouted “City Facing Big Task as Result of Storm Havoc” and “Two Dead, Several Injured and Much Suffering, With Enormous Damage to Overhead Wiring System, in Path of Worst Blizzard of Winter.”[2] In Indianapolis alone, the storm caused two deaths and several injuries as of February 1st of that year. The two known men that were killed went by the names of Hammit Thaxton and Joseph M. Walsh. Thaxton was 21 years old that was originally from Virginia. He had been staying in New Ross, Indiana. Thaxton had been working a pole that was by the Big Four railroad when suddenly the pole fell and he fell with it. He was killed on impact and broke his neck. Due to this pole falling, the telegraph service was badly impaired. Walsh was electrocuted by placing a call over a private line. “A ‘live’ wire, which had given way to the weight of the sleet, fell across the private line and electrified the telephone.”2 When he had picked up the receiver, that was the moment he was instantly electrocuted. The residents of Indianapolis who ended up dead were usually the workers who were employed by the city. Although the people who received injuries were not harmed to badly, one was in severe condition. William Robernett was found frozen to a telephone pole and had to be taken to the City Hospital immediately. Many of the injuries were by normal residents who were trying to get around the city but failed miserably. This storm affected everyone in the city. Not just one group of people.
Not only were people dead and some injured, but there was hardly any news coverage of the poor who were suffering tremendously. There were hundreds of them exposed to the severe cold due to having inadequate shelter and resources. Thankfully, there was relief for the poor by charitable organizations throughout the city. The Indianapolis Star reported that “calls came from all parts of the city for coal, food and clothing, and extra supplies were sent out by each of the organizations.”2 Unemployed men were hired by the Salvation Army, Volunteers of America and the Pentecost Band shelter house to work cleaning the sidewalks in exchange for lodging and food. These three charitable organization came together to help the poor be able to survive the remaining effects of the storm and would soon be put to more work in the upcoming blizzard that would hit Indianapolis once again.
Most of the streets throughout Indianapolis were covered with fallen limbs that were spewed every which way. Even though this occurred, many sought consolation by the transformation of the city into a “veritable fairyland of snow-capped houses, beautiful trees, whose frosted branches glittered, and icicles, gleaming everywhere."2 It was in fact a winter wonderland and the city of Indianapolis was not used to seeing this. It was said that Indianapolis was one of the few cities that suffered the most who were in the storm’s path. Snow in some places reached 12 inches, but the average amount of snow fall was 8.2 inches.2
Because of all the snow, Indianapolis had to find a way to get rid of it. “The Indianapolis Humane Society found plenty of work to do…many complaints were made that teams were being compelled to draw loads that were much too heavy because of the snow on the ground.”2 Special officers of the Human Society made sure that horses were not being overworked and that they were properly shielded by the cold with blankets. Along with the horses carrying loads of snow, “Fifty men and fifteen teams were used by the street cleaning department in cleaning snow from downtown thoroughfares.”2 Every man in both the street cleaning department and the street commissioner’s department were used to scrape the snow piles and haul it away as fast as they could.
The second day after the storm was quite a busy one. Not only were men cleaning the streets, repairmen were trying to restore telephone, telegraph and electric light services to normal. Indianapolis was in the dark for quite a while after the storm initially hit. Residences throughout the city were only using oil lamps and candles to light their homes.
By the end of the second day after the storm initially hit, the steam and electric railway traffic were practically up and running. Most were behind schedule, but this was only due to the storm that affected cities to the east of Indianapolis. Officials of the city said that “the storm was the worst in years from the standpoint of the electric roads.”2
By the third day, the city was recovering from the storm slowly. According to the February 2nd issue of the Indianapolis Star, the lighting in all parts of Indianapolis were restored, but the telephone lines were still down.[3] As for the snow, mild temperatures started to roll in and melted some of it. It was expected to continue with the mild weather. Nothing much was done that day except for repairmen trying to get the telephone and telegraph lines up and running. The worst effects of the storm was over.
In the end, the city got back up on its feet, but by the time it was fully functioning again, the city would soon take another hit by another blizzard on February 22, 1914. The city was unable to respond to this storm in the timely fashion that they wanted. Charitable organizations played a big part in assisting more residents due to them not being back on their feet since the previous storm. The storm that had happened in the latter part of February was more severe than the storm that Indianapolis had seen in the beginning of February. They had seen more inches and higher wind chills. While the storm previous to this one experienced highs in the 20s and 30s, this storm had highs close to zero degrees. Organizations such as the Salvation Army had to allocate their resources to people that needed them the most. This led to many families freezing and going without food and resources.[4]
Getting the city back on its feet was a long drawn out process in 1914. The city was hit with multiple snow storms in a short period of time. The city of Indianapolis now can relate to what they were receiving back in 1914. This is interesting because within exactly 100 years, we are seeing the same pattern of weather; excessive snow within short periods of time between them and very low wind chill factors. We are still having trouble getting the city a hundred years later to cooperate instantaneously, but it is mostly due to the salt not cooperating with extreme cold. The city knows how to deal with a storm of this capacity in no more than two or three days maximum when the roads are the main problem. Occasionally we will have the unexpected wire fall, but it is usually taken care of right away. Residents are not without electricity and still are able to use the phone lines. The technology back in 1914 could not withstand this type of storm, especially multiple storms in a short period of time. Only with improvements in technology in the upcoming years could a city like Indianapolis be able to deal with a storm and storms of this size in a timely fashion without leaving residents in the dark and cold without means of communication.
