European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page <10 the stars and stripes Winters Wrath Friday january 21,1994nation s capital freezes to a Stop Washington a single digit cold brought the nations capital to a virtual standstill thursday with Federal government offices closed and most businesses ordered shut by a state of emergency to conserve electricity. The crisis changed the routines of hundreds of thousands of residents As schools closed and workers stayed Home. The High of 7 degrees wednesday was Washington s lowest this Century according the National weather service. The Mercury was expected to Inch into the Low teens later thursday but the slightly warmer temperature brought Snow to overlay a Glaze of ice on streets and sidewalks. Among the most uncomfortable were 4,100 suburban Maryland customers of Washington Gas who had their Supply Cut off overnight As the system lost pressure because of the severe cold. A hopefully the children will be of a said Rick Macchio of Bowie md., whose Gas was Cut As part of the company a controlled shutdown. A a we be got lots of blankets so we think Well be All right but Well bundle up. At the request of local Power utilities Federal offices were staffed by Skeleton Crews As All but essential workers were excused from work thursday an order covering nearly 362,000 workers. The rest were told to Wear heavy clothing because building heat would be kept lower than usual and to practice strict Energy conservation on the Job. Elevators were turned off in private office buildings to conserve Energy a and to avoid people being trapped Between floors in Case of an electrical blackout. Pep co which provides electrical Power to the capital and surrounding Maryland suburbs warned of a widespread uncontrollable outages in the Region a and imposed a series of a rolling blackouts wednesday morning to curb demand for electricity. The blackouts Cut Power to an estimated 50,000 customers at a time for up to 30 minutes at a stretch. In the District of Columbia mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly called a state of emergency ordering nonessential City government offices and businesses to close. Violators faced $1,000 fines. She did not define nonessential Busi ice and fire battling subzero temperatures in the Midwest firefighters have Norwood Ohio. Hindered by Frozen hydrants firefighters to Bridge icy barriers to tackle flames racing through a House in needed six hours to get the Blaze under control. Nesses but did note that grocery stores hospitals and pharmacies were not affected. A believe me we  do it unless we were deeply concerned about the ability of these Power companies to provide Power in the Middle of this frigid weather a Kelly said. It was the first time the City had called a state of emergency and the Federal bureaucracy had shut Down at the request of a Utility company. All cosmetic lighting around the White House and monuments was turned off leaving Only Security lighting. The Washington Monument usually lit at All hours was dark except for the red safety lights at the top. Along with the rolling blackouts Pep co appealed to All customers to set thermostats to 60 degrees and turn unnecessary appliances off to Cut demand for electricity. The Belt tightening by the Power company had an effect. The blackouts were halted at mid afternoon wednesday As offices sent workers Home early.3 sure Steps to higher prying Job skill from it cd Eudez i Hawe Slick a to aim hands on training with lamp comp atom equipment. Fasy to  accredited Home study course that fits into your Schedut anywhere in the world certification that employers demand to move up in your j09, you need macs certificate in computer a operations. Send for we information today pentium technology ready Cau today a 06302-92120 rank housing address. City a / am interested in earning a certificate in computer operations _ first name last name Home phone Date entered Active duty a married a single age. State country. Work phone rotation Date a discharge Date a i would like to use my . Bill tenth Coupon Mac 8303 Arlington blvd. Suite 210 Fairfax a 22031 Accra Drtad mamber of the National Horn study Council ism i. A registered trademark of International business machines Nachilly from Page 1 wednesday and remain closed thursday. The conservation measures worked said Bruce Balmat spokesman for the mid Atlantic Power Grid. A we done to expect to have rolling blackouts today a he said thursday morning. The utilities that rely on the Grid serve More than 21 million people in five states and the nations capital. Virginia Power which serves 1.8 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina also said it was unlikely the rolling blackouts would be repeated. John Day of Baltimore said he did no to know what effect the outages would have on his apartment which was cold even with heat. A i had to put More clothes on after Midnight a he said wednesday when the Mercury reached a record minus 4. The cold spell has been blamed for at least 97 deaths since last Friday. Many died in traffic accidents on Slick roads. Others suffered heart attacks while shovelling Snow while some froze to death outside or in unheated Homes. A Minnesota woman collapsed after going outside in 17-below temperature to put seed in her Bird feeder her body was found i hours later. In Worcester mass., 69-year-old Stella Bilzerian  get into her House because the lock was Frozen in the 5-degree weather and died after her neighbor was too afraid to answer a Knock at the door. A if Only she could have called my name i would have been there. I feel so bad that she died All alone a Doris Hermann said. A but you just can to take chances these  on wednesday it was too cold to go to work for roughly 362,000 Federal employees in Washington. Nonessential employees were told to stay Home thursday too. Bethlehem steel turned off the heat in its steel furnaces in Bethlehem and steel ton pa., As the temperature outside Sank to 11 below and Pennsylvania utilities strained to meet the demand for electricity. It was too cold even to go ice fishing. The ice was 14 inches thick on Lake Erie but the temperature was minus 5 at put in Bay Ohio. A Nice fishing is great. But you done to want to freeze to death either a Angler Jack Reynolds said. And in Rochester n.y., it was too cold to walk to your car. A i Tell you by the time i got to that door my feet were like blocks of ice a said insurance agent Greg Kausch said of his one minute trek in minus 11-degree cold. In Milwaukee temperatures Rose to 1 below Zero a High enough for the Miller brewing co. To resume production which had been shut Down for most of tuesday and All of wednesday