The stories making headlines 100 years ago today highlighted megalomaniacs bent on tyranny, November snow storms and debates over urban living conditions - not much different from the headlines these days.

politicians debated if suburban or "country living" was the solution to the growing issues in urban areas, and local police were on the lookout for nine missing billy goats that were roaming the city.

ex-dictator of Nicaragua Gen. J. Santos, who was living in exile in Spain, eluded immigration authorities after arriving to New York by steamship. In other news, eleven men were arrested in a police sting targeting "mashers," young men who were loitering and making unwanted advancements towards female shoppers, at a Sixth Avenue department store.

What were Clevelanders doing 100 years ago today? If you guessed digging out of a snowstorm you would be correct.

A massive storm struck the Great Lakes region on Nov. 9 and lasted for two days.

Cleveland area residents were left stranded without food and coal, the water supply was tainted, and transportation ground to a halt. Hospitals were forced to turn people away due to diminishing supplies while doctors performed operations by candlelight. The Cleveland Boy Scouts were enlisted to clear snow away from the city's fire plugs.

The Plain Dealer estimated that 100 died in the storm with undertakers unable to bury the deceased due the snowfall.

On Nov. 12, limited rail, phone, and telegraph services were restored to Cleveland residents. People in outlying communities faced worse conditions as they found themselves cut off from Cleveland supply lines and local businesses still shuttered. Flooding and starvation were feared in areas such as East Cleveland, Bedford, Warrensville, Willoughby, Boston, Amherst, and Brecksville.

Below are The Plain Dealer news stories covering the aftermath of the Great Lakes storm on November 12, 1913. The pages are in PDF form.

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