The Portland daily press., 1891-11-24
The Storm Made Havoc i'm
ALI Directions.
Life Lost Beneath Ruined
Washington Buildings.
Tons of Stone Fell from
the Presidents House.

| WA0nANoAoNs NofcmUor Ca Lf6
mendous wind and rain storm, amounting
almost to hurricane, passed over this city
at about IL 80 p. M, doing great deal Of
| damage. The worst occurrence reported
was the blowing down Of the walls of the
new Metzerett music hall, In course Of
construction, on 72nd street, N. w., just
below F street. The streets Of the city
were practically deserted at the time of the
accident, and the first intimation the pub.
lie had that there was any immediate re-
suit of the great storm was when the fire
alarm was rung and engines. hook and
ladder trucks and patrol wagons went
tearing up toward the corner of 18th and
streets. Chief Paris of the fire depart.
ment and his men went to work imme-
dlately to clear away the wreck and pre-
vent any danger OF fire. The back build
ings of half n dozen stores on F street
were buried beneath the walls of The fall
en- building. The only way to reach the
worst of the trouble was through the
fronts of the stores that face on r street.
or across great sea Of tangled beams and
girders, where the auditorium of the mu-
sic hall was to have been.
The rear OF the two stores, Nos lilo and
1112 r street, was found to be In the worst
plight. The first of these was occupied by
George White, ladies' tailor, and the sec
ond by A. GUIDE & Brother, florists. The
partitions between the two stores in the
wreck and ruin. The fronts of both
buildings were completely blown out by
the concussi0n of air from the rear, AT
first 1t was not thought any one was bur-
led beneath the wreck, but as soon as the
neighbors began to come in, the firamen
and p' licemen who were working hard re-
moving the debris, learned that when the
walls fell at least four people were in the
shop In the rear of Whites store. There
had been no warning of the impending
disaster. and the people did not leave the
room.
The workers renewed their efforts, and
after a few minutes labor with hooks and
crowbars. brought to light Clara Green
burg, sewing girl. She was near the
front and was soon taken into the open
ar; She was not seriously hurt. The
girl did not speak English very well, but
MANAGED man to, to say; "The boss and two
At 1.30 tIda White, aged q, was found,
She was badly bruised.
At 2 O'Clock. the dead body Of Mr.. White
was removed from the wrecked building.
Thorough examination of the ruins
showed Mr.. White to be the only person
killed. The loss on the music hall and ad-
goiuins uuiiuiuss IL Sou,VU. Inc total loss
in the city Is $3.50, 900.
The fact that 1t was noon and most of
the men were away at lunch, prevented
greater loss of life. The walls of the mus
1c hall were at their most vulnerable stage,
the building having progressed so that the
rear wall was very high and without the
support to be gained from completion.
Acrash at the White House.
A section of the stone balustrade around
the root of the White House was blown
down and crushed through the roof of the
portico at the eastern entrance of
the basement. A large number of
telegraph and telephone wires con-
carried down with the mass of stone, COM
pletely shutting off all Communication
with the house by wire. The section de-
stroyed was about 20 feet long and was
pillars. In falling, it carried with it
large portion of the cornice. 1t struck the
roof of the east portico with terrific crash
and wrecked 1t completely.
The noise caused quite cOmmotion In
the Presidents household for few min
utes, but speedy investigation showed that
no one was injured. Tue flag In front of
the building was cut in two as neatly as
though done with knife. The President
was receiving the Minnesota delegation at
the time and was apprlsed Of the storm
by the rush OF water under the window
and the crash of the balustrade. He
hastened to the private part of the house
and reassured the ladies Of the family.
The building on 18th street, opposite the
War Department. was partially unrO0fed
and the upper floors were deluged with
water.
During the storm, lightning struck the
large gas reservoir at the corner of 26th
and 9th streets. Long tongues of flames
from rents In the top Of the structure rose
high in the air. The gas blazed at the
The high casing of the reservoir was
twisted in all manner of shapes and frag-
ments of the iron columns scattered In all
directions. The reservoir was nearly full
OF gas and the company's loss is $4,000
with no insurance.