The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-01


branches being strewn so thickly as to
form complete blockades in many places
Some of these are made compact with ad-
ditfon of tin roofs from houses. sign boards
shutters. pieces of fencing and boxes and
barrels from in front of adjoining stores
Telegraph. telephone and electric Egnt
wires wtre snapped and their ends DANCED
furiously in the storm A horse stepped on
live wire at Seventeen street and Penn
sylvania avenue and dropped dead
At the water front every boat received
terrible wrenchings- The Wattano, an ex-
cdrsion steamer had holes stove IN its sac a,,
and was half sunk. The yachts were all
torn loose from their mornings and some
of them went adrift down stream or were
dashed against other boats and the sea
. wall.
The storm came up about 10 o'clock last
night. A few minutes after 10 O'Clock the
wind struck the city with full force. the
rain following immediately About IL
o'clock crash that could be heard a mile
away told those in its vicinity that the
Metropolitan railroad power house on Four
and-a-haIf street had fallen in. All the
their foundations and in q few minutes the
streets were full OF scared acoelc running
whole rear shed, walls AID reef had gone
down in tangled mass of iron girders and
bricks. Seven men were at work in the
heard the cracking of the roof. which was
of tin, they ran out of the structure
just in time to save their lives
The storm damage is estimated to run
from a quarter to half million dollars
No lives were lost, but several were in
Reports from the suburban towns about
Washington show that great. damage was
AT the Catholic University. just outside
the city. the dorrnitory in process of con-
struction, demolished. AT Brookland,
a few miles out, the town hall was de-
stroyed and many other buildings were I'M
rooted and otherwise damaged. On the
outskirts of the city few localities escaped
Three trains due in Washington this morn
ing from Southern points on the Southern.
Chesapeake & Ohio and the Atlantic Coast
line have not been heard from and are
stopped at some point south of Alexandria.
In this city the papal legation was I'M
aged about $1,000. Communication by tele-
graph and telephone with the outside world
Reports from Rockville. Nd and other
small places along the METROPOLITAN
show that this storm did great damage,
but no loss of life was reported. The Epis-
copal Church in Rockville was demolished,
and tree fell on the Episcopal parsonage,
wrecking portion of it. Houses were I'M
rooted and trees blown down in ali the
smaller towns outside of Washington.
Great damage is reported in the farming
districts. where all grains in stack or
shock have been Strewn over the land.
Many barns have been blown down
The White House was slightly injured by
the storm. a portion of the copper roofing
The tall flagstaff, from which the signal
was given to the city that the President
the beautiful grounds surrounding the
house twenty-five of the splendid trees.
great age and of historical associations.
were leveied. while full fifty of the sur
viving trees suffered the loss of their tops
and principal branches, and are perma-
nently defaced
The immense pile occupied by the State
War and Navy Departments was touched
on the southern side by the storm and lost
part of its roofing and many of the states
while Il structure erected bv the Signal
TALLY demolished. The new naval observa-
tory building suffered in the same fashion
Washington navy yard the big ship house
was partially unroofed, and the gun shops
the roof
special bulletin issued sue by the Weather
wind reached eighty miles an hour.
The Metropolitan street railway probably
suffered the heaviest individual loss in the
city. but in it's case. $35 600 will cover fully
the damage to it's buildings and cars In
every direction there were. houses
rooted and otherwise damaged to greater
less extent and all the chief streets in
each of the four quarters of the city were
strewn to-day with broken trees and
wreckage. Fully five thousand out of the
$4,000 trees in the city, it is estimated,
| were destroyed by the storm. Along the
river front few boats escaped injury. The
large excursion steamers all were damaged
to some extent and less than half dozen
of the smaller craft weathered the storm
The storm completely shut off electric
| the outside world. and from II O'Clock last
night until this afternoon not single, tel
! from Washington. north. south west.
The Weather Bureau gives the official
| history of the storm: The storm which
| passed over Washington last night was re-
ported on Sept. % as a tropical cyclone,
! moving northwest from the Caribbean sea.
it being then southeast of Cuba During
the 9th it passed northwestward into the
southeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico,
and on the 2Sth moved northward. west
Of Florida On the morning of the, 29th it
| was central over southern Georgia. and by
| the afternoon of the 18th had advanced to
southwestern Virginia. The. center passed
over Washington about half past II Tues
| day evening. the lowest barometer read
| ing $3.50. During the first three days the
storm appeared to have very little energy
| but on the 18th it developed force rapidly
| as it moved northwestward. velocity of
fifty-four miles occurred at Charleston
! forty-two at Wilmington. At 2:30 p.
| Yesterday the following message sent
| by the Weather Bureau TO the President at
| Gray Gables: THE tropical storm moving
| northward from Florida. will cause danger
| Gus gales on the northeast coast by
Wednesday morning. All shipping in north
err ports has been notified"