New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-05
DAMAGE BY THE WIND.
vc1R1c LIGHT POLES BLOWN DOWN.
o,x r1RsrAvE. FROM FORTY SECOND TO
rvrxrY EIFTH sTREErs-STREFr CARS
srorPEp AND TRUCKS SMASHED,
NAxY NARROW ESCAPES.


MANY NARROW ESCAPES.
..orm Of wind and rain which swept over
~,,v Yesterday afternoon and eliminated IN
.hout o'clock assumed the form oi some
f'rN ~, = hurricane in Firstave at the time of
" sratest fury, and bowled down the electric
.Iss like a lot Of ninepins, from Twenty
nl" 90 Forty-second-sts Some OF these poles
auS ssx,v feet high. and on their crosstrees were
s.'.d wins of the Manhattan Electric Light
o.ov They were on the east side Of the
oS- 80 the telephone and telegraph wires being
$500 on poles on the west side. People in
s-,ave were running for shelter at the time, for
.. xtpd came bowling up from the southeast
s-.ns through the side streets leading TO the
O.. River and driving great sheets of rain before
In the avenue were many surface cars going
- and down and crowded with people. No one
- could ride wanted TO walk in such weather
several truckmen up and down the avenue were
..htshing their herses TO lead them 70 their
..s,s The storm came with rush and a roar
ys,u Oame a sound of crashing wood, and up by
yoytrsecond ST. the great poles, with their weight
!, wires began 10 tumble. They fell across the
.r.t tearing down wires from the telegraph and
.l.ohone poles opposite and letting loose flood
A sleciriety which ran up and down the car
,,,ks in . little stream of blue fire. Only one
Ar was struck. the big poles falling in front and
h.Aind the other cars and stalling them, but
,sdng them in some cases by only few feet.
ry last pole TO fall was just below Twenty.
rrAsA
The electric light plant which supplied the
xf,x shut down it's dvnamos at once and no
vasus damage was done by electricity. OF course
,b<re was great confusion for time in the avenue.
.sd this was increased by an alarm of fire and the
r,,h Of engines snd hose-wagons The avenue
,s hat section OF the city is mostly lighted by
"a, but falling poles and wires smashed the
lusrns and wind and rain eXtinguished the lights.
y that for a time the avenue was in darkness.
N FIRE was caused 10y pole falling across tele-
saae wire on the other side of the avenue. One
4 the electric light wires on the pole came in
intact with the telephone wire and sent burn
ns current mp TO the cornioe Of building at No.
gss The OOrnioe blazed up at oI,., but the fire
nsr scon sxtinguished it.
paicemen fremen. eectric-hght men and men
ron the Bureau Of Encumbrances we. not long
n reaching the scene. The storm soon moderated
nd then ceased. The work of clearing away the
xreok began. and before long the avenue resumed
snething like its normal state People gathered
reywbsTe in groups 10 discuss what had hap
psnsd and tell stories OF hair breadth escapes.
terms brought so that by 8 O'Clock the avenue
vs firly well lighted, and one could see what
had happened Most Of the poles seemed TO have
been broken clear of about twenty-five feet from
The ground leaving few splinters sticking up.
Hsr and there were croSstrecs and poles lying
on demolished trucks Before long the cars be
Gan y rnn again. the big pieces of timber which
had held them prisoners having been removed.
OF Ill the people on the avenue at the
tine, rev were injured. Thomas Delaney,
tvenvevn years old, Of No. 303 East
ForUSrfh-st., was driving down Firstave. and
was near Twenty -sixth-st. when the high wind
ane and the poles began to fall. He was struck
By erosstree wire, he could not say which,
ard cut about the neck and shoulders. He was
sSk 10 walk TO Bellevue Hospital. where his
Wounds were dressed, and he was sent home.
Car No. g. of the line which runs from the East
River over TO PsvOnia Ferry, was between Twenty
sventh and Twenty-eighth SITS when the trouble
egan There were twenty-three passengers in
The car. Then came the sound of the rushing
rom and crashing poles, and then, while the
passengers looked TO see what was coming, pole
fell across the roof of the car and electric sparks
began TO fly around il. The driver said last night
that his emptied of its passengers before he
could realize it. They came flying out through
INwors No one was injured, and the pole, catch
irg in the telephone and telegraph wires, so eased
Ia fail that it did not 90 through the roof of the
ear Many OF the passengers and the driver eX-
ptrenced d slight shock of electricity
Between Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth SITS. a
pole fell on a horse hitched TO wagon and
killed. him. The driver Of the wagon, Christopher
fAerth, Of No. sol First-ave., was leading the
horse at the time but escaped without injury
Al Twenty -ninthst c. Miller was driving truck
upon which pole fell IL just missed Miller, and
ruined the truck At Thirty -frstst. an unknown
nAn was driving a truck downtown. boy was
ndHz az the back of it. A pole fell between
he man and boy, demoishing the truck, but
hurting neither OF them. A boy at Twenty
sventh-st was Just unhitching horse from
raek when the wires fell about him. lie received
sight shock but was not injured Thomas
Harris, OF No. 23s East OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
vas thrown from a truck he was driving at
Twenty Sxth-st. by falling pole. lie was In
l1Rd sbont the legs, the pole rolling over him as
lay on the ground. He went to BelleVue
hspiaL His injuries were not regarded as
Hnos
k Bureau Of Encum brances placed sixty men
"srk who labored all night 20 clear the sueeO
tsn poles and tangled wires. The poics
See Two feet in diameter, and were regarded do
'ey ystsOng IL was thought last night that there
sT have been a weak pole somewhere up oy
ioysecOndSt which started the collapse and
u,sssed the others with it, The other poles had
hey could do TO stand up against the hurricane
200 we're unable 10 resist the extra drag put on
s'n By the first pole, 90 one went down another
huowed it. until the limit of the hurricane was
,1sefd, and forty poles lay low. No other
s'nase was done by the wind of any account
ueie, though signs and showcases in front OF
n's were blown about considerably. The wind
'fT al the rate OF forty-eight miles an hour
D. m. Before that time it had made
su Tine, never under twenty-five miles from
s time it began blowing, and several
s es reaching the rate of fOrty-siX and forty-seyen