Blizzard of 1924

The extreme winter weather is supposed to remain much the same for the next few weeks, which is somewhat depressing to those of us who are still gainfully employed and commuting to work. Fortunately, I've already managed to take a tumble on the ice and put some dents in my car (on the same day) so there's really nothing for me to dread at this point.

One hundred and two years ago, Lorain and the country were experiencing a bad winter, as shown on the front page of the January 26, 1924 Lorain Journal (above). "Lorain awoke this morning to find herself in the grip of a blizzard that caused her to shut off the alarm clock and crawl back into bed for another snooze," the lead story noted.

"At 8 o'clock, when office folks with muffled faces were slipping along to work on icy walks and pavements the thermometer registered 2 below, the coldest hour of all. From that time on the mercury rose slowly, but not fast enough to warm pedestrians, and at noon it registered 6 above at the U. S. coast guard station.

"Blinded by whirling snow, James Sugg, 26, 2007 E. 30th-st, an employe of the National Tube Co., stepped into the path of a west-bound Lorain Street Railway car at Vine-av and 28th-st, while on his way to work at 6:30 a. m. today.

"Prompt action by W. Woodcock, motorman, saved the man's life. Sugg was struck by the car and hurled against a trolley wire pole. He was picked up by Patrolman C. C. Smith, and sent to St. Joseph's hospital in the same car that hit him."

The story goes on to describe an unhappy occurrence involving some pigs being shipped to market.

"Fifty porkers enroute to the east on a Nickel Plate railroad stock train have made their last squall.

"When the train stopped at Lorain this morning, it was found that the hogs had been frozen to death.

"The shipment was consigned to Cleveland, where the carcasses were taken for disposal."

The article goes on to describe the blizzards in Michigan and New York.

It sure was a strange time for newspapers. The somewhat light tone of the report of the frozen pigs, however, is nothing compared to the short item entitled, "Today's Best Story" at the top of the page, which recounts the death of a 65-year-old Cleveland man who apparently suffered some sort of heart attack while watching a burlesque show. Chuckle chuckle.

And how about the the discovery of two heads imbedded in a concrete block in Aurora, Illinois? The murderer was a distant relation of President Abraham Lincoln. Pretty gruesome.

Anyway, feel free to peruse the rest of the page, which contains several tragic stories as well as a few funny ones, including the story of Mrs. Maggie Welgelfsky, who unsuccessfully hid a gallon of illegal liquor in her baby's cradle.

All that and an odd 'Abe Martin' cartoon!