Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-01-21
A ROARING STORM.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT
DAMAGE LONE.
The Heaviest Visitation of Wind
and Rain Sacramento has
Known In Many Years.

Early yesterday morning strong breeze
from the southeast set in, and before the
forenoon was well advanced it incl eased 10
a gale, and was accompanied bya heavy
rainfall. About noon the storm was at its
hight, and about 2:30 it had moderated
greatly, and soon ceased. While it pre-
vailed considerab damage was done in
the city, fences, gates, small buildings, etc.
being blown down, signs sent flying in
every direction. and trees and shrubbery
destroyed or seriously injured in every por-
ton of the city. Hundreds of papes of
glass were broken in windows tin roofs
were made to suffer, and roofs leaked that
never leaked before When the storm
commenced the orange trees were tolerably
well laden with fruit when it ceased the
| fruit was iving on the ground, and the
small boy was feasting his eyes upon it
/ from the sidewalk, and wondering if any
one was looking, and what would
happen if he should be caught inside
the fence. The wind at times had
an eccentric twist to it, consequent upon
! its shifting from one point TO another in
an unsettled manner, and this was the
! CauSG Oi It's uClIIS So lnEtn ndlldGt. III
| was an evil-dispositioned wind, as could
be observed in its conduct towards fences.
| If possible il sent fence To the ground
| with a straight-irom- the-shOulder blow;
but if ii failed to knock it out with one
| gust, but only staggered it, as ii were, it
| would go after it like catch s-catch-can
wrestler, toss 1t about viciously tumble
all over it and crunch it, and not cease
until it was as flat as a pancake and I'M
able to come to time. 1t was great day
| for flying hats, and when man wasn't
chasing his own tile he could laugh at
somebody that was in anxious pursuit of
Woodworking through mud ard rain At
| the passenger depot two of the large storm
| doors broke from their fastenings and
| came down with n crash, first one and
| then the other, making such racket that
nervous people began To fear that the
| building would soon tumble about their
ears. Doubtless the widest scene in
the city was created by the thrashing
about of the tall eucalyptus and ever.
green trees in the grove in front of the
depot sitting rooms the wind making them
writhe and bend and snap, their tops at
| times almost touching the ground and
their branches intermingling in utter con-
| fusion. The eucalyptus trees withstood
the strain nobly for hours, but when the
| storm reached its hight many of them sue
cumbed and will have to be cut up for fire
wood. Nearly 100 trees, of the number
ornamentng the grounds about the rail-
road works, were blown down. After the
gale subsidized some one called attention to
the eucalyptus trees that survived, and in
quired Don't they look tired ?'' and they
certainly did seem to be examples of COM
plete WEAKNESS Very few ladies appeared
on the streets during the day, and rude
Boreas" never showed himself more rude
! than his treatment of those that ventured
out Horses that were doing duty had the
hardest time ofall animate things, and fire.
quently were unable to make headwav
with they ehicles to which they Were at
tached. Finally, business having been
virtually brought to standstill the larger
| business houses sent their trucks and big
wagons to the stable, and the car. express
wagon and hack-horses were almost the
only equine sufferers. Railroad men ar
irving on the various trains reported the
worst storm of the season wherever they
came from, and there was general re-
| hearsal Of the fact that the Signal Service
had prognosticated For California, gen.
orally fair weather with variable winds"
| The
| DAMAGE REPORTED
| Was serious in many instances The roof
of the new Phoenix Mill, on Thirteenth
| street, built by George Schroth TO replace
| the structure burned a few months ago
! showed signs of breaking away during the
forenoon, and men were working upon it
| when, about 1230 P. NJ, gust unusually
strong ripped it up, and two large pieces,
| rolled into lunches were hurled into the
street, and another large piece fell over the
side of tie building and hung there Two
men on the roof at the time did all they
could to prevent the catastrophe, and only
fgot out of the way in time. BY the prompt
spreading of canvas the rain that fell was
| kept from the machinery, and, the upper
| floor being tight, the water did not descend
lower, and the damage done is not great,
beyond the cost of the roof
At the railroad works about sixty feet of
the ventilator roof of the rolling mills was
| torn Oft assembled into the air as though
forced upward by an explosion, and fell
upon the trees in the yard. Some of the
other roofs of the works had to be looked
to carefully.
The large ornamental piece surmounting
the front cornice of the Free Library build
ing was blown of, and fell upon the stair
way leading from the sidewalk to the base
ment, crushing the steps into kindling
| wood Other damage was also done by the
falling mass.
The front forty feet of the roof of the
building 4l9 and 421 J street, occupied by
Benz. Cohen as a carpet store, the upper
story being used as residence, was also car
ried away by the gale. The water passed
into the residence rooms, and accumulated
to depth of about six inches on the floor.
Mr. Cohen and others assisted in removing
the furniture, carpets etc, into rear apart
ments, and then attended to goods in the
store. The store floor is double but the
water found its way into the basement
nevertheless, and considerable stock was
| injured.
The lofty smokestack at Warehouse &
Testers mill fell with crash into the
alley, carrying away small portion of the
iirewall, and doing some damage to small
building upon which it fell. The mill was
not in operation, and consequently no in
convenience OF a business nature resulted
, A small house on X street between
Eighth and Ninth, occupied by Mrs.
Keller, a member of the Salvation Army.
and her children, four or five in number.
| was blown from the scantling upon which
it was raised about five feet from the
ground, and was almost wrecked No one
was hui and a goat, which was kept be-
Meath I building, also escaped uniniured.
An old structure back of the St George
building, belonging to William Cummings
and occupied as stable, was tumbled into
| ruins.
a stable on street, near Nineteenth. be-
longing to Mrs. C. Mangon, fell. covering
COW in the debris. The animal was ex-
tricated Immediately afterwards by A. Fra
zee and officer Frazee and son, and was
found to be pretty badly hurt
The roof of the Synagogue, Sixth street
between J and X, is reported to have en-.
tirely. blown off.
The upper portion of the front of Philip
Phillips house, o street, between Fourth
and Fifth, was blown off
The roof of the Golden Eagle Hotel got
started, and soon portion of it would have
been on an excursion but for the prompt
work of mine host Bowers and his en-
ployes.
The Wooden Mill lost its smoke stack and
part of fence
Among the fences blown down was that
in front of Gribble d Josephs property.
| Second street, near l Frank Miller's high
fence on Fifth street, near J. used by W. A.
Caswell as a bulletin board George Har-
vey's fence, Thirteenth and streets; fence
at the Nineteenth and ? streets school
building; that at the German Lutheran
Church fence at William Boone's, Twen-
| tieth and G streets. This is but small
portion of the damage of that character