The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-03

Rain which began railing In san
Francisco and throughout the the CEN
trail part of the State with the dawn
of the new year continues, and indi-
cations are that it will fall for the rest
of the week. The entire State is receiV-
ing a drenching such as has been ar
IDENTIFY prayed for by the farmers,
miners, orchardists and merchants for
weeks past and the feeling of alarm
and apprehension of a devastating
drought has given place to general JOY
In this city the rain has fallen inter
mittently since o'clock Sunday morn
ing. 1t let up for a brief period on Sun
day night. only to come down again in
sheets early yesterday morning. Dur
ing the forenoon the sky again cleared
and the sun came out bright and warm
but the old Jupiter Pluvius was not
through with his job by any means and
before 8 p. m. the sun had again re-
tired behind the weeping clouds.
The storm has gradually spread all
over the State. In the north it has
taken the form of snow and the fall OF
flakes in that section has been greater
than at any time since the early seven
ties. 1t has now reached clear to the
Mexican lines on the south, and the
parched hills and valleys in Southern
Monterey and Northern San Luis
ObiSpo counties where the lack OF
moisture has caused great suffering to
stock, have been soaked through and
through The value of this opportune
rain to the whole State of California
cannot be overestimated. 1t will en-
rich farmers and Orchardists and give
an impetus to all lines of business as
nothing else could.
The local Weather Bureau issued no
bulletin yesterday, it being holiday
but Professor Harmon says the storm
has hardly reached its height and that
there is nothing to cause any fear of
let-up for several days at least.
REDDING, Jan. AT o'clock on
the morning of the new year eighteen
inches of snow on the level was meas
ured in this city, and it was still snow
ing heavily. Between midnight and
break of day the electric lights went
out, the wires being down in many
places or crossed by the broken lines
of the Sunset Telephone Company. A
number of barns and sheds throughout
the town were crushed in by the weight
of snow, but the damage IS inconsider
able. Front yards and flower gardens
suffered most from the phenomenal
snowfall. The north bound oregon ex
press was held here until the tracks
north to Dunsmuir could be cleared by
SnoWplOwS working this way. The
south bound Sacramento local. due to
leave at a few minutes past s a. M.
was unable to get away until late in
the day. The local coaches stand on
siding a quarter of a mile below the
station, while the locomotive is housed
in the roundhouse above the depot. 1t
required three hours buCking and
snorting and shoveling for the engine
to couple on to the coaches. During the
forenoon the snow settled almost as fast
as it fell SO that the depth did not quite
reach two feet. 1t is estimated that
fully thirty inches fell. An eXtraordt-
nary depth fell in the mountains. When
the storm broke in Redding shortly
after noon the nearby mountains were
still enveloped in furious snoWStorm.
The roads are blocked and teaming and
staging will be tied up for several days.
Should a warm rain follow, the Sacra-
mento River will be booming at high
water mark LaT orerS reaped a harvest
ShoVeling snow from roofs. They got
their own prices. Fifty cents an hour
was no inducement. People became
afraid their houses would fall in and
kill them and the roofs of all the other
buildings were c.cared of the snow.
Such a storm is almost as much a phe
nomenon here as it is in San Francisco.
as many winters pass without flake
of snow Only once in the history of
the town was the present snowfall eX-
ceeded and that lrly il the seventies.
The storm is worth thousands of dollars
to Shasta, and everybody is accordingly
jubilant.
CAYUCOS. Jan. 2-This vicinity re-
ceived a rich New Year blessing last
night and to-day in a copious downpour
of rain, amounting to 1.30 inches. Cayu-
cos had suffered immeasurably from
the long-continued drought, but this
rain is sufficient to star he grass and
grain. In the past twenty-one months
only nine inches of rain had fallen and
last season no crops We're raised. This
is a dairy region and cattle suffered
greatly. Many thousands of head have
been shipped out, and the industry is
much crippled. Fearing another dry
season less than the average acreage
of seeding has been done. but the
ranchers will now make UP for lost
time.
DUNSMUIR, Jan. yesterday at
noon a snowstorm with a strong south
wind began to cover the ground rapidly
and tonight there are three feet of
snow, with indications that there will
be twice that by morning. This is the
deepest snow since the winter of 1893
and bids fair to equal or surpass that
of the winter of 1S90-91. The Oregon
express that left San Francisco yester-
day evening was DELAYED in the Red
ding yard until the snowplow from
Dunsmuir arrived to clear the yard at
that point allowing the express train
to move, it arriving at Dunsmuir at $50
p. m. Here it met the south bound eX-
press The road is open, but the storm
increases to a gale at times and makes
it difficult for the plows to keep the
track clear The rotary did excellent
work in clearing the Dunsmuir yard to-
day and is ready for any emergency
that may come up. The south bound
express left Dunsmuir at p. m.
FRESNO. Jan. Rain be"an to fall
last night at $50 o'clock and continued
until after o'clock this morning. Up
to o'clock .5S of an inch had fallen.
making a total of 2.52. which at this
time is fully one-half the total rainfall
for last ears winter season. The in
dications are for more rain. The sun