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Show FIERCE STORM SWEEPS OVER CENTRAL WEST From Omaha to Louisville, Kentucky, Wind, Snow, Sleet and Rain Cause Discomfort. , CHICAGO AT MERCY OF THE ELEMENTS Steamer Icebound Two Miles Outside the Harbor, but Was Finally Towed Into Port. CHICAGO, Jan. 6.Chicago was the center today of one of the most severe snowstorms that has visited the central west in a number of years. Steam, railroads rail-roads suffered severely, traffic on some of the lines being practically at a standstill, stand-still, and fears were expressed that should the storm continue tonight a number of places in the area affected would suffer for want of fuel. Temperatures throughout through-out the central west were moderate, but a strong wind whirled the falling snow into drifts that at many points were almost al-most impassable. The storm, which, started in the southwest south-west on Friday, moved slowly northward, widening its path until today it extended from Omaha, where snow driven by wind was prevailing, to Ohio points, where the storm became one of sleet or rain, extending ex-tending from Louisville, Ky., to Toledo. Gale in Chicago. In and around Chicago for a wide distance dis-tance almost a foot of snow had fallen between 3 o'clock in the morning and 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Lriven by a thirty-five mile gale, the snow piled in drifts of six and more feet, sometimes assuming fantastic shapes and filling the entrances of such places as remained closed on Sunday. Surface lines .made strong 'efforts to keep their tracks clear, but toward the latter part of the day service on many of the cross-town lines was stopped. Main north and south lines maintained an irregular service the latter lat-ter part of the day, with the transportation transporta-tion officials uncertain as to whether even such a service could continue many hours. Autos in Snow Drifts. Elevated railroad lines suffered the least from the storm. The strong wind swept the snow from the elevated structures, and the companies managed to maintain a fairly regular service, although all schedules were awry. OnV of the larger of the taxicab companies com-panies withdrew nearly a thousand of Its vehicles from districts outside the central area, operating only in the "loop" or downtown section. Innumerable automobiles auto-mobiles were abandoned in snowdrifts. Officials of the weather bureau predicted pre-dicted early in the evening that the storm would continue throughout the night, the only relief coming from a . possible decreased de-creased velocity of the wind. Shipping Endangered. Lake shipping was endangered by the storm. The. steamer Missouri of the Xorthern Michigan Transportation company, com-pany, plying between Racine, Milwaukee and" Chicago, is ice-bound two miles outside out-side the harbor. Life guards at the harbor har-bor entrance caught the call of the steamer steam-er and late tonight a big Ice-ramming tug reached the Missouri and reported by wireless that it was preparing to low the steamship Into port. Some concern was expressed for the steamship Illinois, owned bv the 8am,e company, which had not reported re-ported late tonight. |