Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-07-06
LIKE A CYCLONE.


| of the Augusta lines in working order.
The fire alarm too was put out OF
joint through the wind and for an hour
or two after supper the youngsters who
have been in the habit of obeying the
curfew law We're kept on the anxious
seat on account Of the single strokes
| on the fire bells while the line men
were testing for the breaks. The dam
| age, however, was repaired so that the
| line was in working order before the
night was through.
| There was as usual q bit of comedy
! attached to the storm in spite of all
| the serious aspects and the damage
| done. Several hundred people at the
Fairfield races who had patiently stood
outside the rails, unable to gain ad-
mission to the grand stand, broke for
cover when the first drops began to
| fall. The only available place was a
large tent capable Of covering several
hundred people. During the first Of
the storm the people shook hands with
F.. themselves thankful that they had a
shelter in the time of storm. Their joy
| was short lived as the wind tackled
| low and hard ana in an instant every
| support was pulled out and the rain
1
pie, combining them like 50 many kit
| tens tied up in a pillow case From the
grand stand could be seen hundred
! heads striking vainly against the sides
Of the canvas as the owners tried to
| escape. When one side had been raised
the people broke like a flock of sheep
and in the midst Of the down pour hun
dreds Of young women. gOwncd in the
| ! .f al H.. a .,F
white duck skirts and shirt waists
| rushed for the horse sheds Women
who would have turned up their noses
| in disdain a few moments before at the
bare mention Of entering such "a place
rushed and pulled to get under the
horse stalls. Hundreds Of people when
| they arose. Wednesday morning, felt
Of the clothes they had worn the day
before, to see if they had dried out suf-
ficently to allow their being sent To the
| laundries.
| Lightning entered several houses IN
/ this city. among them being that OF
| Frank Gardiner on Ticonic street
| There the current entered on the tcle-
| phone wire. There was no one in the
house ut the time. but when the family
returned the telephone was shattered
|
and another part in its fight had struck
ana broken a looking glass.
| AT the home of Joseph Baldic the
| lightning gave both Mr.. and Mrs. Bal
| die severe shocks The lightning
struck the gable end of the house ana
| passing through the sitting room left
the house doing but little damage.
on the River road one barn was
completely demolished by the force Of
| the wind.
| Along Western avenue telephone
wires We're stripped down by the large
number Of limbs Of trees which were
| torn down. Parties driving ont from
| Oakland say that they counted over 50
| trees and four barns which We're de-
| Stroyed by the wind. The storm seem
ed to have made a path along this
| avenue for everywhere in the broken
| trees and tumbled down wires could be
| seen the devastating works of the
wind
| Those who We're out in the storm
| say that the sound Of its coming could
| be distinctly heard and that it sounded
more ike the approach of a train than
| anything else. There was roar and
| rush and in the distance could be- seen
! the bending of trees several feet in
diameter. In the midst of the cracking
and grooming of the trees with the
branches being torn of, came the
sharp quick flashes Of light accom-
| panied by the instantaneous, sharp re-
| ports of the thunder while the rain
poured in torrents.
| In Oakland the water stood To the lep.h
| Of four inches in the street ana backed
into cellars, doing much the same dam
age that was done in this city The path
| there seemed to be along Main street
Awnings We're no more able to stand
| against the storm than AS though they
| had been paper. Trees were felltd across
| the streets and signs We're torn from
| their .fastenihgS, and by their pointing
up street gave an idea OF the direction ot
| the storm
| At the house of Fred Puilen near Inc
shops of the Dunn Edge Tool 60. the
! chimney was torn off close to the roof
| and the bricks neatly deposited in the
At the Dunn Edge Tool 60. the tin roof
was torn off and half Of il carried dis
| tance of 500 feet and landed in a neigh
| bor's yard. The weather yane was landed
| down near the caves
The shops Of the shovel handle factory
| owned by G. Marshall were struck IN
| lightning ana it looked as though the
whole plant must BE- destroyed. The stu.
|
| fact that the upper part Of the building
was filled with shavings There was be-
tween $l5.MU and $2UUtW worth OF goods
| in the factory at the time ana these
| would surely have been destroyed had Ii
not been for one of The men in the shop
who put out the Slight blaze which hal
been started in the shavings. The fire
department was At that time bending all
| its energies to saving the shops Of the
| Somerset Railroad and neither men nor
| apparatus enough could have been OBJ.
| tanned to save the shovel factory had the
| fire once been started.
| There were but two things that prevent
| ed the village being partially if not
/ wholly destroyed These We're the rain
| ana the fire department. The town ac-
| cepted the water works system for fire
| purposes. last Saturday, the first day nf
! the month, ana had ii not been for thu,
| fire department there is but little uucs-
| ton that the whole of the Somerset shops
| would have burned. Everything about
| the town was a dry as finder, as was
| shown by the manner in which the flames
/ spread on the roof of the house. The ben
| eft Of the rain cannot be overeStimated
! There Were several small fires started by
| the lightning, but the downpour was 50
| great that no damage of consequence
| was done.
The house of Mrs. l.. ID. Emerson on
| Church street was struck twice by the
| lightning and small fire started. but il
was almost instantly put out. There was
| no one in the house at the time, 50 that
| no one was injured.
|