about ten o'clock in the morning
It was about ten o'clock in the morning and a northeast storm was raging in Boston . The narrow crooked business streets were slippery with mud and thronged with drays and wagons of every description , which , with the continual passing of the street cars , made it a difficult and often a dangerous matter to attempt a crossing . The rain came in sudden driving sheets , blotting out all but the nearest cars or vehicles , while the wind seemed to lie in wait at every corner ready to spring forth and wrest umbrellas out of the hands of pedestrians at the most critical points in the crossings . Two ladies coming along Causeway street by the Union Depot , waited some minutes on the sidewalk watching for an opening in the endless stream of passing teams .