City Buried Under Record Snow Fall

This story was published by The Ypsilanti Daily Press on Wednesday, November 16, 1932. A snowfall that has no parallel at this time of the year in this vicinity, as far as old-timers in the city can recall, has disrupted traffic over a wide area and has been responsible for minor accidents and delays among motorists. At noon today, the fall had reached a depth of approximately one foot. The street department crew and trucks were engaged in removing the blanket from the main streets of the city and in applying cinders to the hills on important thoroughfares. According to Herbert Renton, street commissioner, no men were taken on for the task of removing snow besides those already employed by the department. Mr. Renton started that a crew wa engaged during the night with putting cinders on the hills, and that he had been out all night trying to keep the streets as clear as possible. Seven plows were out early this morning clearing walks. Warmer weather during the day started to melt the snow, but plans were being made to continue the work of clearing streets and walks. It is possible, Mr. Renton stated, that it will be necessary to put a grader to work on Michigan Ave. to throw the snow away from the curb. He added that a crew will be put on tonight to continue removal of snow from the streets. It is planned to have the work go on during the night after the bulk of the traffic has abated. A report from the Michigan Central station revealed that most of the trains coming into Ypsilanti were behind schedule. Trans were delayed from five to 20 minutes in their runs. Railroad traffic is held up so that no predictions could be made as to the time at which trains would arrive. Although the buses on the local runs were slightly behind time, those on the Chicago-Detroit runs were far off schedule. Trucks going through here frequently had difficulty in negotiating the hills at either end of the city. The larger tucks were inconvenienced most, while some of those with trailers attached found it necessary to leave the trailers behind. Police were called to guard a live wire at the corner of Congress and Normal Sts. Early Tuesday evening when one of two cars involved to an accident at that intersection struck a Detroit Edison Co. pole and snapped the wire loose. The accident occurred during the storm when F. J. Holleron, 1109 Grant St. driving east on Congress St. collided with the machine of Roger Cline, Packard Road. According to police report Mr. Cline failed to stop for the stop street and his car was struck from the side and badly damaged. The front bumper, headlight, radiator and frame of Mr. Holleron’s machine were damaged. The county road commissioner’s office put 10 men and 12 trucks at work at 6:30 this morning. Trucks had not been attached to snow plows, as the early arrival of winter had not been anticipated, and it was necessary to summon the men at about 3 o’clock, to get equipment ready for use. Truck line roads were given immediate attention, and less traveled thoroughfares will be cleared later in the day. Reports to the county office stated that large trucks and buses were encountering difficulty west of Ann Arbor, with delays and stalled machines general.