The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-23
YESTERDAYS STORM.
Cellars Again Flooded and
Trees Blown Down--City
Hall Flag staff Shattered.

A heavy thunderstorm smote the city
last night about shutdown. and did a
great amount Of damage. The rain Hood
ed the streets, choked the sewers and
made il extremely uncomfortable for
those whose cellars are in the vicinity Of
Jersey City's innumerable neglected sewer
basins. AS for the lightning, it played
high jlnks all over the city. and cost
Messrs. A. G. Washburne & Bro. a pref
ty penny for the damage done to a stable
at the foot Of Jersey avenue. When the
storm was at its height a thunderbolt
struck the roof of the building, and there
was the ~fiercest excitement when flames
were seen pouring out of the roof. The
doors were burst open and the horses led
out trembling with fright. Fortunately
none of them was injured. The building
being Of wood and old, dry, tarry wood
at that, quickly burned to the ground.
The hremen from No. 1 and No. ? engines
had very little to do except prevent the
adjoining buildings taking fire. The dam
age done was about $500.
Lightning struck a steam valve in the
| electric power house Of the Pennsylvania
Railroad at Warren street and Railroad
avenue..sfbiew aout by the electric current
An empfoye, Frank Nolan, received a Sc
we're shock and was sent home.
The sewer basin at the corner of Cres-
cent avenue and Aston place was choked
last night and the streets near it were
flooded. This happens after every heavy
shower of raif and is a source of annoy
ance to foot passengers.
LightnihgtIast night struck the flag pole
on the big tower of the City HALL. The
pole was shivered oddly enough from the
bottom to about midway up the pole.
From the sidewalk the big crack is easily
discernible.
The storm did very little damage in
the Greenville section. Several trees or
Danforth avenue, near the shore, were
blown down, and two young trees on the
Boulevard were uprooted. AS usual, Dan
forth avenue, between Old Bergen Road
and the Boulevard, was in a deplorable
condition. The street is one mass of
mudholes, and in some places they are
over two feet deep. The mud and water
which flowed from Danforth avenue just
swept across the Boulevard at that point,
leaving a layer of mud about three inches
deep. The water flowed up on the side
walk along Danforth avenue, and pedes-
TRANS had to get planks to get by. The
sidewalks along Ocean avenue, from
Warner avenue to Gator, suffered greatly:
oODie OIL lIltHl nave fSuIh ~ d dCptli y
two feet and walking along them is very
dangerous. West Side avenue also has
about a foot of mud, as a result of the
storm.
The Bergen section also suffered from
the storm and the streets are literally
covered with ranch of trees, broken
off by the strong wind. At Jackson and
Clinton avenues the sewer basin became
plugged up and the streets were flooded,
the water going up over the sidewalks in
the lots. The cellars of Nos. 26, Is and 80
Jackson avenue had about three inches
of water in them. A large tree on Bergen
avenue, between Forest and Oak streets,
was uprooted last evening and fell with
a terrible crash. Luckily no one was hurt.
Also several large ranches of trees were
blown down on Oak street.
Flower gardens suffered greatly from
the wind and rain and many of them
were totally destroyed. The dirt on the
c~arriageway which leads to the City Hos
pital grounds, was washed away, leaving
deep gullies. The sewer basins at Harri-
son and Monticello avenues became
stopped in the first part of the storm and
water flowed up over the sidewalk, max
ing that place impossible. The water ex-
tended out about twenty feet into the
streets. People wishing to get off the
trolley at that point We're carried half a
block past their destination to escape
the water. All along Bergen avenue. from
the Boulevard to Bergen Square, the
street was strewn with branches of trees
as a result of the heavy wind.