Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-21
THE GREAT STORM.
An Unprecedented Fall of Rain
in this City.
HIGH WATERS TO BE LOCKED FOR.
The Condition of the Rivers and the
Levees at o'clock this Morning
The Yolo Situation-Etc.


throughout the valleys and on the mountains,
and that rain and snow on the latter, and
rain in the former, is playing sad havoc with
property. The rain began to come down most
heavily about A. NJ. yesterday, and gradu-
ally increased in volume until noon, when the
heaviest fall of water set in which has been
known in this valley for very many years.
The rain literally
CAME DOWN IN A SHEET,
And being driven by strong southeast gale,
the appearance was that of a wall of water.
This heavy fall continued until P. NJ, when
it abated somewhat, and by half-past the
rain had dwindled to very fine proportions,
and at times was but a mere mist At 8 P. NJ.
it began to rain harder slackening again at
4:30, setting in again at 3, aud at 6 o'clock at
tanning a stage equal to that which was so
fearful from II to 2.
THE WIND AND CLOUDS.
During the day the wind blew hard, rising
at times to hard gale and then lulling to a
stiff breeze. 1t came from general south
east course At II a. NJ. it was quite in the
southwest, and during the noon storm was
due south. At $50 P. NJ. it held from the
sOuIL, DuO dJ " NJ Scb SJStlJ III lIOIl bHc
southeast and began 10 increase in intensity
At its greatest hight the wind blew at the
rate of 80 miles an hour, by measurement.
At this writing it still holds in that quarter
During the day the sky mad a general over
cast of dark gray clouds. Beneath this back
ground during the heavy fall of water de-
scribed, thereswept across the sky great masses
of darker tinted clouds. These covered nearly
the whole armament leaving only a fringe of
light about the horizon. From these clouds
were discharged the sheet of water. This
discharge, from u noon to 2 P. NJ, measured
1.99 inches, being but
ONE oNE-HUNDREDTH
Less than two inches of waterfall inside of
two hours. During the storm hay barn on
the railroad, between Eleventh and Twelfth
streets, blew down. The Third street sewer
failed to discharge the waters fast enough,
and they backed up through side drains One
of these burst and flooded the basement floors
of the grocery house of Hall, Luhrs & Co.,
corner of Third and K street, and of the
hardware house of Huntington, Hopkins &
Co., next west on K street. The water was
discharged so suddenly into these easements
that but little time was available in which to
move goods, and the damage cannot but be
great. At 4 P. NJ. a steam fre-engine was
brought into requisition to pump the water
out sufficiently to enable the most perishable
goods to be removed. At Fifth and j streets
the bulkhead of the sidewalk area gave way,
and the basement of Lipman & Co. fine dry
goods store was flooded, but most of the
goods had been removed in time
The water flooded the sidewalk area at
Scriber's stables, Fourth street, and of the
Man sion House, Seventh street. The station
house floor being below all surrounding
grades, the waters ran in there and
drenched the entire floor space of the institu-
ton. On all sides there came accounts of
flooded cellars and easements. On all the
low grade streets the water had risen from
the cutters half way to the crown of the
grade at P. NJ, most of the sewers and
drains being choked. NJ street, from Seventh
to Tenth, was at one time a sheet of water,
as was also G street, from Twelfth to TWEEN
tieth streets. Here and there sidewalks on
walks generally were much demoralzed, and
still are.
HARDLY A sFREET-LEVEL HOUSE
On the low grades in all the city but reports
yards and cellars flooded. Nearly all the al
leys hich are generally below grade are full
of water. All low lots are now lakes, and the
low grades between high-grade streets are
simply huge reservoirs, with from six inches
to two feet of water in them. So general Is
the drenching OF lots, cellars and open areas,
that any enumeration of theIa is useless.
On the open parks the water stands as in
lakes, and at Agricultural Park many horses
have been removed because of the stall floors
being flooded. The dome of the Capitol builc.
ing was leaking, and a small food descended
into the rotunda. The water beat in through
the upper portion of the State Printing Office
necessitating the discontinuance of work in
the press-room below, and also in portion of
the composing-room.
THE INCHES THAT TELL.
The fall of rain from P NJ Monday
night to s P. NJ. last night, meas
ured by the Signal Service gauge, was
five inches and twenty-eight one hundredths
of an inch, or 81 inches plus. This is be-
heved to be the heaviest rainfall here in any
twenty-four hours on record. The rainfall
for the season, up to P NJ. yesterday, aggre-
gated % 20 inches up to the same date and
hour in 1879 the fall was 1898. The fall for
the present month has been, up to P. NJ.
yesterday, TO- 70 inches This makes April the
"boss month for wet weather. During all day
yesterday ard especially last night there was
considerable uneasiness manifest among citi-
zens relative to the probable high water in
the rivers, and it was universally conceded
that the American river levees would be
UNION made trip over most OF the line of
levees between and P. NJ. yesterday. Be-
low the city the waters were not threatening
the entertainments greatly at Merkley's or
Fllnts, but some uneaslness was felt as to the
capacity of the works at Lovedale's to with
stand high water in the Sacramento. On
the north of the city the levees were found
at Twelfth street to be Just washed at the
base by the back-water of the American
river, and the information derived was that
the river had risen during the afternoon, after
3P. NJ, at the rate of one foot an hour at
Lisle's bridge. At 4 P NJ. the water was
running from six inches to one foot deep over
the fats between the river channel and the
levee. At Smiths Gardens the water reached
the levee base as early as Ii A. NJ. and at
P. NJ. was up some two feet on the levee side
and rising rapidly.
THE LATEST OF THE STORM.
A reporter of the RECORD Z MON took foot
and walkers line at 10 o'clock last night, and
traversed the north levee between Twelfth
and Eighteenth streets, going up aud back to
| street by u o'clock The whole north part
of the city along d, L, T and G streets is a
sheet of water. In many places fences were
down and garden trellises and trees wrecked.
The American river showed no material rise.
The back-water touches the base of the levee
all along, ana at several points rises on IL.
It needs to raise eight feet more to
greatly endanger the levee. At and
beyond Smiths Gardens is deemed the
point of danger in case of sudden
rise. Superintendent Davis has wstehmen
on the levee to give notice of any encroach-
ing rise or wash. Dispatches from Folsom
indicate that rise may be expected here
about II A. NJ. to-day. The Sacramento
river at midnight at the foot of X street
marked 81 feet 10 inches. At p. VI. it was
81 feet 10, at 9, 81 feet IL, and it therefore
recorded a fall between and midnight. at
twenty minutes before Il another of those
FIERCE SHOWERS.
Began to come down as hard as did the FIRST
at O'Clock in the afternoon or the second at
6P. II. On the Yolo side the workers at the
wash-out above the bridge were found to be
of the opinion that they had prevented fur
Their washing for the night, but all who live
in two-story houses have made ready to live
up stairs. Those comfortably housed last
night in this city have no idea of the fierce
ness of the storm. A full realization of it
could only be had by midnight fight with
the gale and the torrents of descending water
far out on the levees, where the loneliness OF
the situation, the roaring of the currents, the
moaning of the wind in the trees, and the
beat of the rain upon the face in binding
sheets of water driven by the blast, made the
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