The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-07-29

back twenty-eight years. From 400 to 4:36
the gauge on the roof of the government
building. The other record breaker was
that a veritable cold wave passed over the
thermometer fell from 90 degrees to II. and
then went back 10 81. Had IL not been that
the slightest change is registered in ink
this phenomenon would not have been no.
ticed. The sudden change in a large ex-
tent caused a terrible electric display that
continued without ~interrpission until mid
night. I'D to . O'Clock this morning the
rainfall was La inches. and as the ground
Is thoroughly soaked all Of 1t will reach
the rivers and the flood or Saturday Will
probably be repeated.
After an hour of low murmuring thunder
and the lightning the storm broke out
the country districts back Of the South
side hills. and reports coming in at a late
hour contained the. that much
damage had been done by lightning and an
exceptionally heavy downpour of rain.
This storm crossed Silver lake and the
dam, unable to stand the strain of the
flood behind. gave way, turning Finley's
hollow into a raging torrent and swelling
Negley's run INTO a river until emptied
into the Allegheny. near the Brilliant
The full extent of the damage wrought
was not known until daylight. Summed
outlying districts to hear from. the result
was two lives lost, thirty-six persons in
aged to " the extent sf E of a sioO. esc0psTrhbs s li eaW of
killed and injured follows:
LIST OF THE VICTIMS.
JACOB AFFELTER, aged thirty-five
years. instantly killed in Greenfield avenue
by a falling fence.
JOHN FIGUS. aged twenty-five. skull
crushed by falling tree at Sugar Camp
Grove.
Abner Hayes. freight receiver. p, TT. w.
& G.. struck by lightning: may recover.
with fan6y OF six, shocked by lightning;
and two ynildren. Is ST. Clair street. struck
by. lightning; condition critical. George
Miller. 225 Main street. Allegheny, fatally
injured. Thomas O'ConnelI, Jacob Metz.
all seriously injured by falling trees at
Sugar. Grove. Henderson Richie; aged.
Rocks; will not recover. Sydney Gebhart,
South Side. struck by lightning; VIII re-
cover. William Parffitt. postal messenger.
struck by lightning: injuries slight. James
Brady. janitor of the Ralston public school.
struck by a flying Dough. Police officer w. p.
Smith, struck in the pack by Il flying sign
the oomfie line. shocked, by lightning.
Six girls in Armstrong cork factory, cut
by flying glass; Uncle Bob" a ~welloknown
negro. shocked by lightning. E. McGovern.
a baker and an unknown boy, slightly hurt
by falling awning. - Miles. six-year-
alley, struck in the head with a brick.
Mrs. Thompson. of Carbon alley. struck by
a. falling chimney. Unknown stable boy,
DlOHl dkdlIlSl al III Ill
street and Pennsylvania avenue and broke
two ribs.
AT Braddock hail added to the damage
and when the hurricane reached Turtle
Greek it assumed the awful proportions OF
a cyclone, doing untold damage. In the oil
larry in OHara township. S~ewickley,
CoraopoIis- Bellevue and McKeesport SUI
fered severely. In Millvale and Sharpsburg
hail caused havoc and glaciers will be busy
Col. Frank Ridgeway. the local forecast
official. was at his desk when the first
storm cloud darkened the sky. He said last
night that he had never seen a more per-
feet cyclone formation I'm the clouds and
that the city was not visited with a cyclone
worse than that which caused the St. Louis
horror is due to the intervening hills. The
circular movement of the wind was broken
in the lower strata. or else there would
have been q path plOwed through the two
cities several blocks wide.
In the evening another storm swept over
the city, during which torrents of rain fell,
while the wind blew a gale, but no serious
damage resulted. From s O'Clock until mid
| night 10 inch of rain fell. making a total of
1:42 inches. The storm died in long con-
tinued rumbling that rolled through the
heavens with the noise of distant. can
nonading. the lightning. meanwhile, illum-
mating the sky with incessant flashes of
| blush. glaring light. 1t was not until the
midnight hour that the storm ceased.
EXTENT OF DAMAGE.
The damage TO property was general and
various. The wind unroofed dozens Of
houses. while others were damaged by the
water washing their foundations away.
Str others were struck by lightning. The
traction lines, as usual, were compelled TO
suspend operations. Great heaps of dirt
and debris from the previous floods piled
near the tracks were washed down again,
and the only lines which escaped serious
damage were those Of the south side. In
the. Pennsylvania-avenue mill district
tw snty-ive large smoke and draft stacks
were blown down. buildings were un-
rooted. trees were uprooted and scarcely a
house in the district passed through the
storm intact. The east end got its first
graph poles went down under the wind.
Fences and outbuildings were destroyed
and large buildings suffered the loss of
roofs and windows. Brushton and VIII
kinsburg suffered to a considerable extent.
but no. so badly as the districts not far
from the rivers.
The telegraph and telephone systems of
the two cities We're badly damaged. All
the police and fire alarm wires were
dint or hard work during the night they
nave been put in fair shape again. The
T. u * Telegraph Company suffered
greatly. Almost half the telephone lines i'm
Ailegheny county Were out of order last
night. AT 3 a.; m. II was estimated that 200
ROADS suffered heavily from landslides hut
the through lines are all open and trains
are running with very little delay The
Durg by the washing away of a bridge. and
the Ftttsburg, Virginia & Charleston road
- iHpassdue beyond M0nOngahela CITY
Inc southwest branch of the Pennsylvania
road Is also tied up by washouts and
slides. but the officials hope to have trains
running within A few hours.
Dispatcnes from all points report heavy
damage from the storm and many narroyr
escapes. but fortunately no more fatalities
Al Ellwood. Lawrence county. the pump
ing station was struck by lightning and
cnaries Mitchell. the engineer. paraivzed'
py hghtning and demolished. Four ci,ii-
eren VINO had sought shelter i'm the house
from the storm ESCAPED injury. In Fav~
cite county seven bridges were washed
away between Connellsville and Union
town.
At West Newton the building of the
west Newton Ground Cement and Lime
company was crushed by falling debris
from the overhanging cliffs. The loss will
amount 10 several thousand dollars. Ar
Penn Station n two-story house beloneinp
10 John Driestadt was demolished. but the
family was not hurt.
The greatest damage. however. was In
81 this mornings cloudburst. Hundreds of
bridges have been washed away and traf-
nc has been Suspended on the Washinpton
* WaynesburS Railroad. In the oil fields
an enormous amount of oil was lost
through breaking of mains and scores of
rigs were demolished. At Claysville houses
were unroofed, trees uprooted and many
Presbyterian Church and the ClaysyiIIe
high School building suffered the severest
loss there. being struck by lightning and
wrecked. ~
Reports brought in from the country
state that the storm has wrought great
obstruction for miles around. In some
places houses were removed from their
1OundatlOrS. but no further lose of I;fa a.