Scan barcode
A review by ericwelch
Blizzard!: The Storm That Changed America by Jim Murphy
4.0
It had been an unusually winter, so mild that Longfellow,
enjoying the warm sunshine, had just penned a poem
about dandelions. Two unusual weather patterns were about to combine and bring the East Coast to a standstill. For three days, beginning on March 12, 1888, one of the greatest blizzards in recorded American history was about
to paralyze everything.
Murphy, a Newberry Award winner, has combined the personal accounts of several individuals of different ages and social positions to bring a sense of "being there" to his account.
What made the storm even more unusual was that after having pounded the Northeast, the storm reversed course and plastered the same area again. Snow removal became impossible; trains became stuck for days, and soon
food was in short supply, prices rising commensurately
with demand. Shoveling was impossible, and soon tunnels needed to be dug to get anywhere. Sleighs could be seen moving down the street at a level with second-story windows.
Different ethnic and class groups fared differently.
Some needed money so badly and working conditions were so demanding that they walked miles in the blizzard, risking life and limb, to get to work.
There were spectacular feats of bravery and extraordinary examples of stupidity. After the storm, huge cakes of ice had formed on the river, and some bright little fellow got the idea of using a ladder to bridge the distance from shore to one of the large ice floes. He demonstrated how safe the
ice was and soon was making a mint by charging for the use of his ladder. Everything went well, with several hundred people gathering on the huge piece of ice, until the tide turned and the ice began to break up into small floes and float out to sea. Many managed to scramble ashore, but, sure enough, some refused to leave at the first signs of breakup, and they became stranded on increasingly small pieces. Finally, only one man, dressed quite nattily, remained stranded until a tug pushed its way through the ice to rescue him. The blizzard of 1888 killed some 800 people, and this does not include those who died from heart attacks or ancillary causes. The storm
changed the way the government viewed snow.
The economic hardship and losses were so substantial
that cities realized they could no longer afford to ignore snow removal. Even though 17,000 shovelers had been hired to clear streets, the task was haphazard at best. Electric lines were another problem. They had been strung on overhead poles
by numerous private utilities. Visions of live wires
snapping on mounds of snow and an electrocuted lineman hanging from a wire with blue flames coming from his mouth left indelible impressions on both citizens and politicians. Soon laws were passed requiring that wires be moved underground.
The Signal Corps, which had previously been given responsibility for weather reports, had its mandate given to a new agency, the Weather Bureau, which was also charged with
learning about what causes storms in order to better predict them. It remained a difficult task. A hurricane in Texas killed 6,000 several years later, despite predictions. Nature -- or God if you prefer to believe She actually pays attention to such things -- remains impossible to predict with complete accuracy. Storms, like life, remain
random and mysterious.
This is wonderful narrative history, seen through the eyes of numerous individuals. One gets a real sense for the ambiance of the time.
enjoying the warm sunshine, had just penned a poem
about dandelions. Two unusual weather patterns were about to combine and bring the East Coast to a standstill. For three days, beginning on March 12, 1888, one of the greatest blizzards in recorded American history was about
to paralyze everything.
Murphy, a Newberry Award winner, has combined the personal accounts of several individuals of different ages and social positions to bring a sense of "being there" to his account.
What made the storm even more unusual was that after having pounded the Northeast, the storm reversed course and plastered the same area again. Snow removal became impossible; trains became stuck for days, and soon
food was in short supply, prices rising commensurately
with demand. Shoveling was impossible, and soon tunnels needed to be dug to get anywhere. Sleighs could be seen moving down the street at a level with second-story windows.
Different ethnic and class groups fared differently.
Some needed money so badly and working conditions were so demanding that they walked miles in the blizzard, risking life and limb, to get to work.
There were spectacular feats of bravery and extraordinary examples of stupidity. After the storm, huge cakes of ice had formed on the river, and some bright little fellow got the idea of using a ladder to bridge the distance from shore to one of the large ice floes. He demonstrated how safe the
ice was and soon was making a mint by charging for the use of his ladder. Everything went well, with several hundred people gathering on the huge piece of ice, until the tide turned and the ice began to break up into small floes and float out to sea. Many managed to scramble ashore, but, sure enough, some refused to leave at the first signs of breakup, and they became stranded on increasingly small pieces. Finally, only one man, dressed quite nattily, remained stranded until a tug pushed its way through the ice to rescue him. The blizzard of 1888 killed some 800 people, and this does not include those who died from heart attacks or ancillary causes. The storm
changed the way the government viewed snow.
The economic hardship and losses were so substantial
that cities realized they could no longer afford to ignore snow removal. Even though 17,000 shovelers had been hired to clear streets, the task was haphazard at best. Electric lines were another problem. They had been strung on overhead poles
by numerous private utilities. Visions of live wires
snapping on mounds of snow and an electrocuted lineman hanging from a wire with blue flames coming from his mouth left indelible impressions on both citizens and politicians. Soon laws were passed requiring that wires be moved underground.
The Signal Corps, which had previously been given responsibility for weather reports, had its mandate given to a new agency, the Weather Bureau, which was also charged with
learning about what causes storms in order to better predict them. It remained a difficult task. A hurricane in Texas killed 6,000 several years later, despite predictions. Nature -- or God if you prefer to believe She actually pays attention to such things -- remains impossible to predict with complete accuracy. Storms, like life, remain
random and mysterious.
This is wonderful narrative history, seen through the eyes of numerous individuals. One gets a real sense for the ambiance of the time.