St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-21
BURST THE SEWERS.
The Storm of Yesterday Morning
Does Considerable Damage.

The heavy storm of yesterday morn
ing played pranks with the city's sew
er system, and as a result the heavy
flood of water burst its bonds on Tenth
street and ripped up the roadway for
some distance. At the corner of Tenth
and st. Peter streets the greatest dam
age was done, the earth and paving be-
ing blown up as if by dynamite blast
and Wreckage strewn in all directions.
in front of the O'Leary packing house
the pavement was torn up, and from st.
Peter to Fort street and Fort to Ninth
street the cedar blocks were displaced
in many places, in some instances
the rushing flood causing upheayalS
of nearly two feet. The damage
occurred at half-past L yesterday
morning, when the storm was at Its
height, and the sudden rush OF water
caused the sewer to give way. A num-
Der of cellars of houses were inundated
from the flow OF water.
As soon as news of the damage reached
the office of the city engineer. the super
intendent of sewers, Mr.. Wilson, col
lected all his force and set them to
work repairing the breaks in the sewer,
which are estimated to be about $1,000
damages. Mr. Wilson, in explaining
the damage. said:
THE Rice street sewer is connected at the
intersection of Tenth and Fort streets with
small sewer running TO drop shaft Here
the water passes from the Rice street or large
sewer down into the sand rock sewer. These
sewers were built in 1873. The capacity of
| the small sewer connection between the large
| sewer on Tenth street and the drop shaft on
| Fort was not large enough to take the flow
| of water falling during the storm. In
| of this fact the hrpaE at the end
| of the Tenth street sewer occurred, ana
| washed away the earth from under the city
| railway tracks al that point The same terri
| BILE force tore up the paving on Tenth street
| from Fort to St. Peter, and raised the pave
| ment on st. Peter from Tenth to Ninth. The
| cedar paving blocks are torn out and scat
| tered over the whole length OF Fort clear TO
| seven corners A similar condition exists
/ also on Sixth street, between fort ana EX-
| change streets.
For long time the city engineer has been
| DESTROYS of enlarging the sewer and connec-
| lions between Fort and Tenth streets and
! the ST Peter street sewer. Every year for
| some years past a large number of sewers
| have been put in at the upper end Of the
| Tenth street system. This has caused a
| heavy increase in the annual flow through
the Rice street ana Tenth street sewers the
| flow has passed down the drop shaft into the
| Fort street sewer. The rainfall Wednesday
| night resulting in the breaking of the sewer
! being liable to q repetition al anytime, makes
| il an absolute necessity 10 construct 4dISer
sewer between the intersection of Fort and
Tenth and Tenth and ST. Peter. The amount
| of rainfall this summer has been unusually
| heavy. and the strain upon the stone work OF
sewers, which are clearly proven not to be OF
sufficient capacity 10 carry of the surplus, IS
liable to cause burst almost any time.
Mr. Wilson expects to have the dam
ages repaired by this morning.
In many portions of the city the flood
caused serious damage. On Broadway,
between I bird and Fourth streets, the
cedar paving was upheaved owing to
the water getting beneath the blocks OF
wood and the plankS on which they
rest. At Ninth and st. Peter the catch
basin overfiowed and the cellar of p. j.
Dreis, druggist, was flooded, a quantity
of stock being damaged. In the whole
sale district a number of cellars were
flooded, as also were the easements OF
the Hotel Ryan. chamber of commerce.
Moves Bros. d Cutler and the Northern
Pacific yards.
During the storm lightning struck the
house of Mrs. J. Harrow, S69 Fuller
street, tearing the shingles from the
roof.
The chimney of the two-Story resi-
denee of John Koch, S52 Francis street
was struck by the electric fluid, the
bricks being scattered in all directions
The house of Nick Heinrlcks, at 50;
Van Buren, street, was also struck, bul
10 damage was done.