The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-10-13
TERRIFIC RAIN STORM.
A Regular Tidal Wave vlslts PENNEY.
y.nla On Tussday-Rala. Comes Down
10 6aeketiuiIsI.- -

After passing through severe drought
Berks County, Pa, was visited Thursday
morning by rain storm which has not
been equAlled by the amount Of water fall.
ing and the damage done to property In
Reading Tor many years. Tho rain DOM.
menced shortly before O'Clock and con.
tinued with little let up for sevSral hours
resulted In the greatest food In tbs history
/ Of Northeast Reading.
time the water on Nichols street tho
scene Of many disastrous foods. was from
SIX to eight feet deep. II was necessary TO
tako many residents Of Nichols street CUB
or tho second story windows Of their
homes.
The water rushed down In torrents from
Mount Penn, quickly surrounded many
houses and gave this part Of the city tho
appearance Of an inundated district dur.
Ing the Mississippi food.
AT one time 1t was feared that number
OF rows OF houses would be washed away,
but while they remained standing tbs
damage to the foundations and walls has
placed them In dangerous condition.
Tho entire Schuylktll valley was deluged
and reports received from Hamburg,
Fleetwood, Bernville. Adamstown, Birds
points In Berks and Lancaster counties
say the rain literally fell in sheets for
several hours.
Tho storm also visited PhiladeJ phia, ithe
water doing considerable damage to prop
erty ut Kensington. A regular cyclone
visited the Kensington river front and for
period OF five minutes leyeled every thing
IN its bath. Boats were picked Up as
enough they were SO much paper and
fNrled q considerable distance III the air
Masts Of scho0ners were also snapped off
short like pipe stems, trees were blown
down, buildings partially demolished aud
the air was filled with flying debris. Two
ugly looking rain clouds met between
Poplar and Shackama4on streets On q Ill.
rect line with the Delaware avenue
With roar, q swirl the wind shot
downward, and III Its fury several lumber
piles at Charles NJ. Belts & Co.'S lumber |
yard Delaware avenue and Shackamaxon |
street, were scattered In every direction. |
II WAS q regular cyclone and tore things |
loose in its path Us 1t travelled Its course
along the edge Of the wharves as far north
az the wood and manure wharf Of Will
liam I. Wood at Beach and Marlborough
streets.
At Neane and Levy's shipyard the old
Delaware river steamboat, Thomas Nor
gan, parted two 9 inch hawsers and was
carried broadsldo across q wide dock and
held against an upper wharf In tho teeth
of the cyclone.
A small tool house was turned upside
down at Cramps dry dock.
Tho cyclone from this point on to
Cramps upper yard, at the foot of Ball
street, took course as straight As an arrow
After wrecking smokostack over the on.
gne at tho Hancock Ice Company's wharf
near Otis street, u portion of tho roof OF
the old spar shed at the latter wharf was
blown of.
The last building to be damaged was
the boiler shop at the Cramp shipyard.
The full force of tho blast swept against
the west wall of the boiler shop and stove
In number of windows, frames sash and
all. This was the last place visited
The cyclone at the above point. like tho
one preceding it in July almost described
M ellipss aud Cio ssing tho Delaware blew
down II number of trees on Petty's Island
and lost Itself In jersey.