The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1882-04-13
OUR MISFORTUNE YESTERDAY.

OUR MISFORTUNE YESTERDAY.
About . o'clock yesterday morning an ex-
traordinary rain commenced in this city.
The wind was not so unusually severe, but
the lightning was terrific as was the thun-
der, and the rain fell in torrents. In The
course of an hour, Main and other streets
were literally covered with water, and peo-
Pile naturally became apprehensiye as TO
the result throughout the city. II was dis
covered soon by the attaches Of the HER
AID Office that the cellar OF our establish
ment was rapidly being inundated. In the
course of an hour our engines, presses
paper, of which we had two or three car
loads, tables and everything in fact were
under water, the amount of water in our
cellar being from four to six feet. A fire Is
disastrous, as all know, but few can con
ceye of the ruin that waits upon food.
The WEEKLY HERALD was being run of
when the terrible storm came up, but the
fall was so great, and the flooding Of the
HERALD cellar so instantaneous that no
time was left for arrangements Of any char
acter. For half or an hour there
was an incessant and tremendous fall
of rain, at times accompanied by
hail and lightning and thunder,
and the means used therefor seemed wholly
inadequate 10 relieve us of the trouble.
The press-room, the mailing-room, the
storage-room, with all their contents, were
covered and soaked with water, rendering
almost entirely useless their contents At
an early hour the mayor Of the city, Dr..
CRowpUs, was appealed to for an engine to
draw the water Off from our building. The
mayor generously and instantaneously
granted the request, but it was fully two
hours after, before the engine and hose
cart reached the HERALD building and
began work. 1t was rain and then
mud which deferred the "chief from
using his engines, as they should have been
Immediately used and the damage.and de
struction to the HERALD Office alone amount
to over S0l 600. This may be too high, and
on the other hand too low, but as estimated
closely in the neighborhood of our actual
losses. 1t was feared by us at first, that We
would be unable to get out this morning''
issue, but by hcrculean efforts, on all sides
the vast accumulation of water was re
moved the engines and presses were clcanset
morning in its usual dress Pardon Tho
pride with which we regard our enterprs,
and invlncible get-up.and-get We hay,
lost, but the patrons oftho HERALD will moi
be permitted to perceive it in the character
OF our edition. To MAYOR CRowDUs we
must return our thanks for the speedy re.
Spouse to our call for assistance, but we can.
not but feel that negligence existed some
where in getting the water from
our building. 1t was long after the engine
had been ordered to our assistance before il
commenced work, though each hour Of
standing water was costing from 500 to
$500. The members Of the fire department
on hand were outspoken in their criticisms
of the delay and want of intelligent action
on the part of the chief of the department
The men were ready to act but waited
in vain for orders from the chief, so nothing
could be done but wait till the season which
seemed most convenient to that powerful
official referred to. As consequence, il
took two hours TO DO what should hay,
been done in twenty minutes. But oil Is
well that ends well, and by extraordinary
eNerions, we come out from the flood this
morning and greet os usual our large ard
generous number ofpatrons Itisasourcc OF
pardonable pride we trust, 10 us, that the
HERALD has reached that point that moth.
ing but absolute destruction can prevent
us from daily giving our readers the benefit
of the news of our columns, and each
month only adds to our ability to with.
stand the vicissitudcs which oyertake pa.
pers as well as individuals and come out in
the early morning with the freshest news
from over the globe. We trust our readers
may all be equally able to recuperatc from
disasters, ana that neither they nor the
HERALD will again be subjected to the raw.
ages of misfortune,
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