In Indiana near
the year of 1929, state and federal government intervention in economic matters
was increasing. Increased government involvement was partly due the fear of
Americas about the Great Depression. The state imposed laws and regulations on
banking practices and businesses. Laws were designed to protect “mom and pop”
businesses and consumers. These laws resulted in keeping banking small and local
in Indiana. Legislation also increases surrounding labor issue in Indiana.
During this time unions began forming strongly for skilled workers. Strikes
were prevalent during this time fed by fear of the Great Depression and recognition
of poor labor conditions. However, unskilled workers remained largely
unorganized and therefore did not reap union benefits[1].
Automobile
manufacturing was the most prevalent form of labor in Indiana during this time.
Sales of consumer durables (including automobiles) increased dramatically
during this time period – there was one automobile for every know persons in
Indiana by 1930. Due to this increase, the State Highway Commission was created
and put in charge of created state roads. To cover the cost of highway
constructions, the State Highway Commission gathered highway user fees and
taxes were added to gas for the explicit purpose of road construction. The
agricultural economy was stronger than ever at the beginning of the 20th
century. Machines began to take over farming operations at the beginning of the
30s. Twenty percent of farmers owned tractors in 1930 and machines were now
being used to milk the cows, feed the pigs, and gather the eggs and corn. These
advances decreased the amount of hands needed on the farm and less farm labor
work was available to Indiana residents[2].
On
December 9th, 1929 rain and sleet began to fall throughout Indiana.
Rain and sleet continued to flood rivers and streams causing flooded roads
until December 18, 1929. On December 19th, 1929 sheets of ice
already covered roadways and made travel dangerous, temperatures dropped and
snow began to fall over the state, creating blizzard-like conditions with winds
up to 35mph. Roads, railways and homes were covered in ice and snow. No safe
travel options were available[3].
J. H.
Armington, a meteorologist of United States Weather Bureau in Indianapolis
predicted that snow would continue through December 19, 1929 and cease on December
20. The blizzard was concentrated in the northern and western parts of Indiana.
In some places in Indiana, the snow was as deep as six inches. Snow drifted to
create depths measured by feet blocking the roads in many parts of Indiana. The
storm was not limited to the state of Indiana. The storm was present from the
Dakotas to the Gulf of Mexico and from Ohio to Texas. The storm manifested in
Texas and Alabama as freezing temperatures rather than snowfall[4].
New York blizzard in 1888 was seen as a time of
great technological advancement. The East Coast blizzard of 1888 severely
impacted New York City: the above-ground railways were blocked and broken down;
telegraph, telephone, and fire alarm connections were not functional due to
fallen poles. Technology was viewed with high regard, but the blizzard was a
reminder that technology was a means for survival but no match for the power of
nature. The police station was routinely in charge of housing the homeless and
housed more city-dwellers during the blizzard as it was not safe to walk
outside. Boys and men were paid far more than a day’s wage for work
shoveling snow and rescuing passengers from the El train. The Mayor was largely
absent from blizzard media and recovery involvement. The Mayor’s only public
involvement was a statement released after the blizzard was over encouraging
property owners to clear the gutters in front of their homes and businesses.
The street-cleaning commissioner used the state’s budget for
snow removal and traveled the city to encourage his “Army” of snow removers.
After the blizzard, New York called for technological solutions to prevent such
harsh effects of blizzard weather: underground transportation, underground
telephone, telegraph, electrical and fire alarm wiring, and better weather
forecasting[5].
From
December 9 to December 18, 1929 rain and sleet feel in Indianapolis. These
conditions cause creeks and streams to flood roads[6]. Highways
and roads were covered in water and then ice on December 18 when temperatures
dropped dramatically. From Tuesday night to early Wednesday morning, December
18, 1929 in Indianapolis, Indiana rain and sleet fell in Indianapolis, Indiana
which created even worse roadway conditions[7]. Rain also
continued into Thursday causing more flooding in Indianapolis and some southern
areas[8].
In
Indianapolis, Indiana service men of the Hoosier Motor Club and Lieutenant
Frank Owen, head of police accident and prevention bureau spread salt on the
streets to prevent automobiles from skidding and sliding. The roads were covered
in a sheet of ice beneath the snow, making for dangerous road conditions.
Indianapolis experienced a few minor accidents and some injuries due to
automobile slidings. The group planned to scatter ashes on the outer parts of
the city in order to prevent skidding on less central roadways. Due to harsh
road conditions, many buses arrived late to school; all Marion county school
houses remained open during the blizzard. Snow drifts continued through the day
and buses had to plow through the snow drifts which worsened the tardiness of
school goers. Frank Owen and officials called on motorists to notify the
Hoosier Motor Club of dangerous areas so that they could receive special
attention[9].
Claude
Shepherd of 2020 North Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis, Indiana was in an
accident due to the hazardous weather conditions. Shepherd was working as a
milk wagon driver on Thursday evening when his wagon collided with a Meridian
Heights street car. The collision occurred at the crossroads of Pennsylvania
and 36th streets. Shepherd was taken to the City Hospital for minor
injuries: cuts and bruises. The horse and wagon did not make it through the
accident unscathed. Daniel Compton was driving the street car that was part of
the collision that was investigated by two policemen. No arrests were made[10].
School bus driver Henry Stout picked
up students attending school in Bedford Thursday morning December 19, 1929.
Road conditions were icy as Stout drove the bus up a steep road. The bus could
not make it up the hill. The bus overturned with students inside. Bessie
Mosier, age 15 and Judith Ray, age 12 sustained slight injuries[11]. Judith Ray of Marshall, Indiana had 5 siblings and she was the
second to the youngest. Judith’s siblings were: Pauline (age 20 at this time), Esther (19), Joe
(17), Frank (14) and George (10). Judith was the daughter of Odus and Lillian
Ray[12]. Bessie Mosier was the daughter of William and Annabell Mosier and
the second to the youngest of their four children who were: Walter (age 27 at
this time), Lena (19), and Henry (12)[13].
As many as 70 students were kept overnight on
18 December 1929 in a North Clinton Community School near Elkhart, Indiana due
to unsafe walking and driving conditions. Many of the school buses began
driving students on the route home. However, the buses could not make it on the
unsafe roads and in the blizzard weather. The buses had to stop and the
students found refuge in the closest farmhouses they could find. Hearing that
the buses were unable to return the students home, the principal of the school,
Paul Wagner, kept the remainder of the students in their schoolrooms. The
school was able to provide the students with dinner and a small breakfast.
Students passed the time in the evening with games, but had to rest on desks
and tables. On the morning of 19 December, parents came to retrieve their
children from the school on bobsleds[14].
In
Rochester, Indiana five school buses were caught in the snow. Locals of
Rochester were inclined to open their homes to care for those stranded in the
snow. Pupils remained in the country schoolhouses overnight to avoid the bad
weather. Local farmers who lived near the schoolhouse traveled to the students
and educators to provide food during the bad weather (dig out)[15].
On 20
December 1929, The Indianapolis News reported that Senator Tom Connally
of Texas, visiting Indiana, found himself caught in the blizzard. The Texas
Senator was caught on the road and retreated to a farmhouse on the Lincoln
highway. From the farmhouse, he called Indiana Governor Harry G. Leslie. The
secretary L. O. Chasey was informed by the Texas Senator that at least 25 other
motorists were also snow-bound and that the farmhouse food supply became
recently non-existent. The farmhouse also only had three beds to accommodate
the 25 people. The Senator complained that everyone was mad with hunger.
Secretary L. O. Chasey assured the Senator that he would inform the highway
department of the Senator road-clearing needs so that he could return to his
travels, his food, and his sleep. Eventually Senator Connally became so hungry
that he and other men from the farmhouse began trekking on foot to Wheeler,
Indiana[16].
Also on 20 December 1929, The New York Times reported that 30 persons
including Senator Connally were stranded at the farm home of William Kent near
Valparaiso, Indiana. In the afternoon, Senator Connally had called the office
of Governor Leslie of Indiana to ask for food. After being in the farmhouse for
24 hours and waiting all day for the requested sustenance, in the evening
Senator Connally emerged from cramped and hungry conditions to search for food
in Wheeler, Indiana. All the vehicles of the persons who found refuge in the
Kent home were stuck in the snow, so Senator Connally traveled on foot. Highway
workers were presently working on releasing the party from the farmhouse
through 8 foot snowdrifts[17].
Then
shockingly on December 23, 1929, The Vidette-Messenger of Valparaiso, Indiana
reported that the telephone call made from the Senator Tom Connally of Texas to
the office of Indiana Governor Leslie was an imposter. According to wire
reports, Senator Tom Connally is at home in Dallas, Texas and has been nowhere
near Indiana[18].
On
Saturday December 21, 1929 The Indianapolis News reported that The State
Highway Commission was able to clear State Road 30 west of Valparaiso, Indiana.
The vehicles of several hundred persons were stuck on State Road 30 in snow
drifts. William Kent’s farm home gathered more than 40 persons by the end of
Friday night. The remained or those marooned by the snow drifts were in nearby
farm homes. Food was in dearth, so the clearly of the road was imminent at this
time[19].
By the evening of December 19, 1929 The Indianapolis
News reported four deaths due to the blizzard-created conditions. Mrs.
Sarah Elizabeth Harrold, age 22 of Cincinnati, Ohio was killed in Connersville,
Indiana. Mrs. Harrold’s stepmother Mrs. B. F. Kiskaden was driving the
automobile with two passengers: Mrs. Rilla Farrell (mother of Mrs. Harrold),
and Mrs. Harrold. The vehicles involved in the accident were skidding on the
icy pavements. Mrs. Farrell and Mrs. Kiskaden suffered from nervous shock
following the accident. The driver of the vehicle that Mrs. Kiskaden was
attempting to avoid was Ira Gabbard. Gabbard swerved his vehicle, hit a
telephone pole, received severe leg bruising from the accident, and was able to
aid in relieving the women from their vehicle. Mrs. Harrold was projected
through the rear window of her vehicle and sustained a fractured skull. Mrs.
Sarah Elizabeth Harrold left behind both her parents, one daughter, two
sisters, and two half siblings[20].
Also deceased due to the blizzard were Charles Guston, Oliver Snavley, and J.C.
Snyder.
By the time the Mid-west blizzard of 1929,
weather forecasting and reporting habits changed dramatically. The Indianapolis
news reported extensively on weather conditions before and after the blizzard.
The newspaper had weather forecasts on every front page and storm updates
throughout the paper[21]. Meteorologist and the United States Weather Bureau in
Indianapolis were informative sources of weather updates through the newspaper.
The Indianapolis news reported weather updates on the front page of every
newspaper. The paper covered the conditions of specific roadways in specific
Indiana counties and cities extensively. Residents of Indiana had easy access
to updates on the blizzard – a change requested by survivors of the 1888 New
York blizzard and manifested in Indiana in 1929! Technology, as New Yorkers
imagined it, was used as a means for survival in the 1929 blizzard in Indiana,
but was still not as powerful as nature.
[1]
Madison, James H. The Indiana Way: A State History. 1st Midland Book ed.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
[2] Madison,
James H. The Indiana Way: A State History. 1st Midland Book ed.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
[3] “Hold Up Men Are Busy Despite Bad Weather,” The Indianapolis News, December 18, 1929; “Indiana Begins
to “Dig Out” of Snow,” The Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929.
[4] “Indiana Begins to “Dig Out” of Snow,” The
Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929.
[5] ACKERMANN,
MARSHA. 1993. "Buried Alive! New York City in the Blizzard of 1888."
New York History no. 3: 253. JSTOR Arts & Sciences XI, EBSCOhost (accessed
March 2, 2014).
[6] “Hold Up Men Are Busy Despite Bad Weather,” The Indianapolis News, December 18, 1929; “Indiana Begins
to “Dig Out” of Snow,” The Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929.
[7] “Hold Up Men Are Busy Despite Bad Weather,” The Indianapolis News, December 18, 1929.
[8] “Indiana Begins to “Dig Out” of Snow,” The
Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929.
[9] “Indiana Begins to “Dig Out” of Snow: Salt and Sand Strewn,” The
Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929.
[10] “Indiana Begins to “Dig Out” of Snow: Deaths, Injuries Listed,” The
Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929.
[11] “School Children Injured,” The Indianapolis
News,
December 19, 1929, page 23.
[12] Ancestry.com. “1920 United States Federal Census.”
http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=judith&gsln=ray&mswpn__ftp=Bedford%2c+Lawrence%2c+Indiana%2c+USA&mswpn=40082&mswpn_PInfo=8-|0|1652393|0|2|3247|17|0|1706|40082|0|&msbdy=1920&uidh=qit&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=73541811&db=1920usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1.
[13] Ancestry.com. “1930 United States Federal Census.”
http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?new=1&gsfn=bessie&gsln=mosier&rank=1&gss=angs-g&mswpn__ftp=Bedford%2c+Lawrence%2c+Indiana%2c+USA&mswpn=40082&mswpn_PInfo=8-|0|1652393|0|2|3247|17|0|1706|40082|0|&msbdy=1914&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=116602841&db=1930usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1
[14] “Spend Night In School,” The
Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929, page 23.
[15] “Indiana Begins to “Dig Out” of Snow,” The Indianapolis
News, December
19, 1929, page 23.
[16] “Hoosier Blizzard Stirs Wrath of Snowbound Texas Senator,” The Indianapolis News, December 20, 1929, page 24.
[17] “Storm Crest Past, Mid-West Digs Out: Senator Seeks Aid Afoot for
39,” The New York Times, December 20, 1929, page 2.
[18] “Striking Thoughts,” The
Vidette-Messenger, December 23, 1929, Editorial page.
[19]
“Hundreds,
Marooned In Farm Houses, Freed as Roads Open,” The Indianapolis News,
December 21, 1929.
[20]
“Ice Causes
Death,” The Indianapolis News, December 19, 1929 page 23.
[21] The Indianapolis News, December 17, 1929 – December 23, 1929.
