The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-06-07
INTERURBAN ELECTRIC LINZ
WIRES GO DOWN IN AN ELEC-
TRICAL STORM.
FOR VERY NEARLY A MILL
THE LINE is BLOCKADED-CARs ES
CAPE BY A PIECE OF
LUCK.
ALBANs AND LEXINGTON
Are the Streets which Mark ths
Limits of the stormbound Dis
trict.

Tne electrical storm, accompanied py
drenching rain, which struck ST.
Paul about 10 o'clock last evening. left
traces in all parts of the city The most
serious damage was caused by the
lightning striking the poles of the Twin
City Rapid Transit company on Unit
versity avenue. AS result of the eleo5
trical disturbance traffic on the in.ers
urban line was blocked at 10 o'clockj
and the equipment Of the line DAM
aged to the extent of $4,000.
AT two minutes to 10 the engineer in
charge of the power house which sup
plies the current for the interurbaIl
line became aware that there was
something wrong. Investigation showed
that part of the line was down and
the trouble was soon located Reports
from the car barns at Midway were to
the effect that the trouble was between
that point and Rice stret. crew was
at once dispatched from St. Paul, and
at the corner of st. Adams street and
University avenue the wrecking car
was blocked. From that point to Lex
ington avenue the poles which carry
the current between the tracks were
down, and strewn along the street for
distance of seven blocks. The poles,
which are cast iron, were not only
down, but broken. and the current wires
broken. 1t was at first thought the
damage had been done by the wind,
which for a few moments was of a
cyclonic nature. This, however, was
not thought possible, especially as the
poles when examined were warm 10
the touch.
In the territory bounded by st AlbanG
street and Lexington avenue. there was forf
tunatey no car passing at the time. and nc
serious damage so far as loss of life ot
injury to person was concerned.
The officials of the street car company ara
inclined to the opinion that the lightning
struck one or two of the poles and knocked
them down, and that the others were pulled
down by the break. AS result Of the acck
dent, travel on the line was suspended. and
hundreds of passengers forced to walk ID
their homes.
The accident also suspended travel on the
Hamline line, and residents in that section
of the city were obliged to walk from Rice
street to their homes remain down town.
force Of thirty men were at once put to
work to repair the damage and by this
morning the company expect to have tenn
porary line in operation.
The poles of the Western Union Telegraph
company, which are on one side OF the avenue,
and those of the Northwestern Telephone COM
pany which are on the other SIDE will be
utilized and wires strung to the center OF
the street to support the current wires. While
this will be used only as an expedient, the
company expect to have the broken poles re-
placed by Tuesday.
The roads running into st. Paul were al
most completely blocked by the storm. the
Milwaukee and Omaha lines being the ones
most seriously affected The Dutchman, on
the Milwaukee, due here at 10 o'clock, was
storm bound at Red Wing at l o'clock this
morning, and just when 1t would arriye was
question. On the Eastern division OF the
Omaha there was serious washout at Knapp,
Wis, and the train from Chicago was stalled
at that point. On the Western division there
was washout near Blakely. and the train
from the west was storm-bound at that point.
The limited train to Chicago on the Omaha
was sent via Spooner and was not delayed.
The Milwaukee limited went by the way OF
Austin, and escaped the storm.