Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-10-01

Thousands of Dollars Damage
Done at Many Widely Separated
Points-Four Persons Killed and
Many Injured at Alexandria, Va.
Washington Badly Shaken Up.
Great Damage to Georgia Towns.
washington, September 9O.-An equi-
noctial storm last night gave Washington
the worst shaking up it ever had. The
wind blew in a rotary, twisting, wrench
ing velocity of 70 miles an hour. Rain
was driven in foOds-it did not fall.
Lightning pierced and lit up the toss
ing black clouds, and sharp claps of
thunder contributed to make nature
weird caldrOn.
\ new brick building, five stories, in
Pennsylvania avenue, 1918, was demol-
ished, the ruins falling upon and crush
ing Beatty's restaurant and Kelly's
dairy lunch adjoining, and imprisoning
six men. Four of them were soon re
leased. George Sutton, cook, was pin
ioned in the wreck and was not released
until 2:45 o'clock The steeple of the
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
was blown off. The tower on the Grand
Opera House was hurled TO the sidewalk.
Trees on every hand were uprooted,
their branches being strewn so thickly
as to form complete blockades in many
places. Some of these are made COM
pact with additions 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 light wires were
snapped and their ends dangled furiously
in the storm. A morse stepped on live
wire at Seventh street and Pennsylvania
avenue and dropped dead. At the water
front every boat received terrible
wrenchings. The Mattano, an excursion
steamer, had holes stove in its side, and
was half sunk. The yachts were all torn
loose from their moorings, and some of
them went adrift down stream or were
dashed against other boats and the sea
wall
Ii impossible to compute the amount
of damage. The storm came up about
ten o'clock last night. A few minutes
after ten the wind struck the city with
full force, the rain following immedi-
ately.
About II 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-Half street,
had fallen in. All ths houses within
half a block were shaken to their foun-
dations and in a few minutes the streets
were full of scared people, running to
the scene. Then it was found that the
whole rear shed, walls and roof. had
gene down in tangled mass of iron
girders and bricks. Seven men were at
work in the building at the time it fell
in, and as they heard the cracking of the
roof, which was of tin, they ran out of
the structure just in time TO save their
Lives.
Reports received this morning from
the suburban towns about Washington
show that great damage was done
IWhroughout he surrounding country. At
| the Catholic University, just outside the
city. the dormitOry in process of con-
/ struction was demolished At Brook
! land, the town hall was destroyed and
many o,ner buildings unroofed. On the
outskirts of the city few localities es.
capped. The train shed at Alexandria,
land trains over the Southern and the
/ Chesapeake and Ohio have not passed
! Alexandria. In This city the Papal Le-
! cation was unrOOfed. and the Chinese
Legation was damaged about $500.
! Communication by telegraph and tele-
phone was absolutely stopped.
At the White House portion of the
| copper roofing was stripped off and
other damage done. The tall flagstaff
! disappeared completely In the beaut-
ful grounds, twenty-five OF the splendid
elms, sycamOres, walnuts. AMI mag
nolias. some of great age and historical
associations, were completely levelled.
while fully fifty Of the surviving trees
suffered the loss of their tops and prln-
cipal branches.
The vast pile occupied by the State.
War and Navy Departments was touch
ed on the southern side of the storm and
lost portions of its roofing and many of
the states, while the structure occupied
by the signal service was partially de-
molished The new naval observatory
building suffered $1,000.
AT the Washington navy yard the big
/ ship house was partially unroofed and
the gun shops were damaged slightly bv
the stripping of the roof.
A special bulletin issued bv tbe
weather bureau states that for one min
ute the wind reached so miles an hour,
AT ALEXANDRIA, VA.