The evening times., 1896-05-19
SHORT and SHARP STORM
CITY Was Wind Lashed and Water
Swept About Noon.
TELEPHONE WIRES SUFFER
Branches of Trees Scattered Along
the streets and Rivers Ran In the
Sewcrs-Nuture Aids the Tired
Workers ON Last Nights Fire
RuIus-A and Incidents.

A furious storm OF wind, lightning, ram
aud hail swept over the city at l2:io
O'Clock this afternoon. The outburst was
mich like a tropical hurricane and the
ceIuge of water and hailstones presented
ali the elements of a doudburst.
The uwupour ci natuies iiquid wrati
was preceded by great masses OF cumulus
clouds, dark aud threatening, which came
rolling over the center Uf the city from the
northwest, tumbling about IN space ana
finally spreading with great rapdity ana
covering the heavens with dark gray
curtain Then came nimbus and the iiood
gates were opened.
mo downulur of rain was the heaviest
cxnarleuceu mere for many years, ana al
though the storm lasted hut a lew minutes,
Penns ylyania avenue was Hke shiiiioV
river the waters flooding the roadway
and the gale iashing them into miniature
white caps.
LIGHTNING AND HAIL.
The lightning was iDccssant. ana heaVy
clans OF thunder followed cach other III
rapid succession. Thcn came the nail great
chunks of ice of varying sizes. rattlihS On
tin roofs and beating tattoos upon WIZ
dow naneS. The sewers were quickly chohcu
by thc great masses OF water, ana thc
howiing wind filled the air with great gray
gusts OF dust and debris ana piaytu uaFoc
with tree branches ana pia MS on Tie stFetes
and III the city parks. ..
The water iciI upon the smoldcring ruins
oflast nights COnflagration. Nature proved
Ia bc OF great assistance 10 the tireo iitf
hazeS which were popping up hereahu thcre
in the burncd-out uisuict.
The weather office officials stated inns
afternoon that the ma Nimum velocity was
fiftv miles an hour the extreme velocity Mt
tie height of the outburst being sixty miles
an hour. The officials are trying To learn
whether the storm was iocai or schef"i'
ALL SERENE AGAIN.
ttar .,
bufst over the city the sun was shining
brightly. and the great gray mountains OF
clouds mad rolled away 10 The southeast.
y large maple tree on Rhode lsiahd
avenue midway between Thirteenth ana
Fourteenth streets. was overturned ana
upruOtcd by tie stern. No one was IN
jured- 81,
Lutheran Church, at foutteeuth stfeet ahu
Vermont avenue was blown iIom Its Iosl-
tion aud landed in front OF the cdiiicc, near
the bronze statue OF Luther.
Only mea ger returns OF the damages OF
last night storm, even locally, were Oh
tainablr until a late hour this afternoon.
Telephone ana telegraph lines In all
Darts OF the city were bIown down, and
AZ! of the police wires even We're not Ill
working condition.
CASUALTIES REPORTED. =
So far as learned there were no fatalities
or injuries from wind or lightning. Reports
of a few Chimneys down III some parts OF
th.. city and OF an occasional house un-
rooted came into police headquarters and
other Ccnicrs OF news
There was hardly a street IN washington
the trees OF winch nid no. suffer from the
wlnd The gale seemed TO have beeu hard
est in the northeast section or the ciJy,
and the lightning was there flercer than
anywhere else. II seemed that the heavy
black tOrn ClpId came almost To The very
ground there and swept along with awful
IOrCe.
ou sixth ytTcct northeast. from Florida
avenue to X street, scarcely tree remains
This morning without broken branches,
though III hut few instances W vas tie entire
Tree blown down. In some cases, however,
branches twenty feet and over in length
auu hall Il COZcn lncnCS III diameter at TIE
circumference were blown to the side
walk.
In the neiGhborhood of Second and c
streets northeast, u similar scene was
presented.
i big tree was blown across the ira ks
Of the Columbia cable road i'll Northeast
Washington, and della yed traffic for over
fifteen minutes.
A number of small boats on the river
front were blown from their moorinGs aud
set atlrift. The surface OF the Potomac
was lasted into biliows and several of the
smaller craft sunk.