The morning call., 1892-12-01
STOPPED THE DUMMY.
The Preside Line Washed Out in
Places and Blocked With Sections
OF Floating Sidewalk.

The PresidiO dummy line is In hard luck.
Besides being covered with sand aud de-
brls. including big sections of sidewalk on
Greenwich street, at the switch on Baker,
where transfers are made for HarbOr View.
a sewer broke yesterday morning and
Hooded the track. A little further on the
grade was washed away at the roadside and
the fence on the east hung suspended In the
air.
Midway to the beach on this line the food
that poured down the street in the morning
began cutting away the grade, which is five
or six feet above the general level. By
noon there wasn't much left OF the embank-
ment at this particular point. and for
twenty feet the rails and ties of the west
track hung suspended over chasm which
the water had excavated beneath it. At
the same time The east track was partially
undermined. and with this great gap in the
emOankmenL II was plain enough why
transfers to Harbor View didn't go at
Baker and Greenwich.
Nor did the damage suffered by this line
stop here. The car barn at the terminus
was partially unroofed by the gale, which
dld It's work piecemeai, taking the shingles
from about 200 square feet of roof. one by
one. scattering them over the adjacent
streets and leaving two great holes, where,
through network Of rafters and battens,
the rain dropped dTearily.
The rolling stock of the dummy line was
all housed In this barn, but IL will be sew
eratdays before II is rolling over the rails
again.
On the east side of Baker street, at the
Germania Garden, the big pavilion was an-
rooted, section at the south nd OF tha
east roof being lifted bodily, rafters and
all, and carried about 100 feet. 10 the north
east corner of the building, where two huge
cypress trees, sixty feet in height and
among the largest In the city. blocked its
way and put period to its aerial flight
Ihey dld not come of unscathed, however,
put were borne to the earth ana uprooted
by the force OF the blow.
Some idea of the shock required to pros
trate them was afforded by the roots, which
stretched upward OF twelve feet from the
cavity they had torn when they came out of
the SOIL. The tall fence, the big trees and
the splintered roof lay in inextricable ruin
and confusion. The amount of damage at
the Germania is estimated at $500 or 5000.
At the corner Of Vallejo and Pierce a
hole was cut in the high grade by the sur
iaee water, anu as the downp0ur kept up
the embankmeDt began TO move 10 ward
The bay, until by noon there was a erevasse
the whole width of tie street and twenty
yards IN length from which the food had
removed hundred OF tons of earth and sand
placed there at the expense OF the taxpay-
ers of San Francisco.
Evidently sewer had run along this high
grade, as numerous sections of Pinch stone
tling lay scattered along The path of the
flood to the north. The sandy torrent from
this embankment ran diagonaliy northeast
across two blocks. and at the depression
where the Union-street cable crosses
Steiner deposited a portion of the solids
There 1t took two hours steady shOveiing 10
clear the tracks for the cars, the sand being
packed about eighteen inches deep on the
sidewalk at the southeast corner.
On the opposite corner westward the
wooden walk was washed away for twenty
feet Or more. and block up the hill, at Pine.
street, as much as forty feet of planking had
been undermined and wrecked, lying at
every conceivable angle in cavity twenty
feet in depth
Still further up the hill, at the southwest
corner of Pierce and Union, the food that
had poured down had undermined and
ruined the curbing of the new stone sidewalk
In front of David Bixler's handsome resi-
deDce.
BY 10 O'clock yesterday morning sn much
sand and debris had got into the Steiner
street sewer as to completely clog il north
oil FIlbert and the waters thus interrupted
in their course backed up and burst out of
the manhOIe at the crossing of those streets
like fountain. rising to the height OF seven
feet The flood thus let loose poured down
Steiner street, washing cut the sidewalks
ana prostrating fences at the corner of
Greenwich, obliterating the railroad track
with silieious deposit and rushing on to
see what other damage il was possible to do.
AT the northeast corner of Greenwich and