Louie's Superette across Banks Street from Mather House also reported a booming business, with 974 sales--10 times the usual number. Clerk Angel V. Gallinal '85 said a steady stream of customers snaked through the aisles and out the door until noon yesterday.

"It's been unbelievable," said Jim Frazier at Nini's Corner newsstand on the Square. "We sold through the papers, the magazines...everybody wants something to read."

At the six-month-old Charles Hotel, about 200 stranded guests paid to stay an extra day in their posh Cambridge suites due to the inclement weather. "They couldn't get out," said hotel spokesman Joanne R. Emerson.

Down at the city's emergency command post on Hampshire Street, several hundred calls flooded switchboards all day long. Armed with walkie talkies and flashlights, city department heads huddled around a black and white television set for weather updates and fielded citizens' questions until last night.

Assistant City Manager Richard P. Rossi said the storm would probably cost the city much less than winter blizzards do, when Cambridge must mobilize extra snow plows.

One candidate for city council reportedly scrambled about the city to recover campaign signs, while others pumped the hands of likely voters stuck in the city's shelters.

Although Cambridge public schools were closed yesterday, 12 students showed up for classes at Rindge and Latin High School on Broadway St. "I guess some students like school a lot better than home," said Assistant Superintendent Oliver S. Brown