Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1896-07-03
THE SUNDAY STORM.

Sunday afternoon about half past
two a heavy dust storm was seen in
the valley north of town. 1t was
travelling eastward and seemed to be
keeping about the middle of the val
ley. IL being north Of town it was
thought II would not touch us, but an
area Of low pressure must have been
over Pyramid, for It took a sudden
shoot to the south and enyeloped the
town.
1t was ten minutes Of three when
the storm struck the town, aud IL
seemed like a section of the st. Louis
tornado. The dust filed the air so
completely that 1t was soon impossi-
BILE to see objects a few feet from the
windows, then 1t got too dark to read,
then a cloud Of dust high In the air
rolled over the town and all was dark.
1t was absolutely black, without a
particle of light, so black that when
the writer tried the standard expert
ment to prove the absence of all light,
be could not see his hand when IL was
held in front of his face.
The dust and the darkness was ac-
companied by a terrible wind that
threatened to demollsh the buildings,
but at the time of the most intense
darkness the wind almost stopped.
The darkness only lasted a few mo.
ments, and then it grew lighter, but
not light enough to read, then came
another dark cloud which produced
absolute darkness.
Then, at ten minutes after three,
the wind quieted, the dust COM
menced to subside and the storm ap-
peared to be over, but it was not by a
good deal, the wind and the dust and
the darkness came again, and again
they passed away, and then the storm
was over.
For an hour after the storm ceased
there was a brisk breeze and then a
dash of rain which cleared the air
nicely and caused a delightfully."- cool
night for sleep.
Considering the strength Of the
storm comparatively little damage
was done, The most serious being
the unroeflng Of II. A. Fuller's sa-
loon. The roof is of iron, the wind
caught it just right and rolled it up
like a sheet of paper. The tree be-
tween the drug store and the Bank
Exchange was blown down. The
fence in the rear OF the Bank Ex-
change suffered. The tile chimney
above the LIBERAL Office was top
pied over.
VIM. ID. Griffith was walking from
Shakespeare to Lordsburg when the
the storm caught him. He had to lie
dewn and grab a bush to keep from
falling off the earth.
The storm struck just before the
Sunday school opened. There were
about twenty people in the building,
but the exercises did not commence
till the storm was over.
When the storm was over there
was not any dust to be seen in the
streets, they were as clean as new-laid
asphalt pavement. All the dust in
the country was concentrated in the
houses. 1t was queer how much more
dust got in some houses than ia 9th
ers. One lady, whose house was in
the track OF the storm, assured the
LIBERAL that the dust was half an
inch thick in her room when the storm
was over. Another lady, living about
a block away, found an inch of dirt il
her rooms, while a third, who lived
within a couple Of blocks of the othel
two, found the dust two inches deeI
on her floors.
W. w. Buchanan, travelling fol
the Kansas City Coffin Co., was in the
City this week. He was in Willcol
Sunday and says the storm there wa!
something terrific, but it vas not a
good for his business as the last grea.
storm be saw, which was at Marsh
field, when a cyclone killed 2S3 per
sons out Of a population of 500.
Monday night the weather clerl
made another great bluT for a SAINT
storm, but when he pushed across tn
valley north Of town he found tina
the Sunday storm had cleaned all tn,
dust out of the valley. He was S,
disappointed that he cried in his rag e
and we had a splendid shower.
ID. @. HOBART, Manager Grant Coun
ty Weather Bureau.
SIR;-If you send us another storm
like that of last Sunday We will taxi
pleasure in ~lynching you.
TNDTnNA MI DIrrvEJc