The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-29
WRECKED THE WIND
SERIOUS DAMAGE DONE BY YES
TERDAY's STORM IN THE
NINTH WARD
WAS VERY LIKE A TORNADO

G. 9. Berthfamue's Barn Was Com
pleteIy Wrecked and Several
Residences Were Badly Damaged,
Chiefly by Flying Sections of
Sidewalk Being Blown Against
Them.
An embryonic cyclone swept over the
northern part Of the city shortly after
o'clock last evening. wrecking a barn
IN the rear of c. S. l3erthiaume's home,
ct Winnipeg avenue, and tearing up sec
items of sidewalk on Atwater street, Park
aH enue ana Winnipeg avenue, but no cas-
ualties were reported. One section Of the
Park avenue sidewalk thirty feet long
was picked up by the wind. carried near
~ o00 feet in the air and hurled against
the brick wall of James Whites residence,
6l AtWater street. crashing through the
wall and tearing The plastering from one
side of the room. Other parts of walks
about the streets in sections varying from
5O to $50 feet in length. Some of the
larger sections were lifted iii their en-
tirety and carried to the opposite side of
the street, showing that where the cy-
clone dipped to the ground tho force of
the wind must have been terrific. Sew
eral trees in Oakland cemetery were also
blown down. The blow was accompanied
by a heavy fall of rain
Residents of the dc mayed district real
lied that a storm was imminent and
watched the cloud formations until the
fierce gusts of wind drove them indoors.
The storm seemed to center i'll the vicin-
ity of the state fair grounds, where two
bodies OF Clouds met almost at right an
giles. One body approached slowly from
the northwest, while another body trav-
eled rapidly from the southwest When
the clouds met there were apparent at
mospherfcal disturbances. The denser
clouds from the northwest began whirl-
Ing and twisting about as though given
momentum from the rapidly moving body
from the southwest, and then as one force
the agitated area started in a southeast
erly direction. The usual cone-shaped
cloud was not so distinctly formed, al
though the rear part of the clouds hung
lower than the other and the evolutions
l
STRUCK RICE. STREET.
The wind seemed to reach the earth first
at Rice street and Winnipeg avenue. On
the south side of Winnipeg avenue a sec
ton of sidewalk 100 feet long, in front
OF vacant lot, was torn up and hurled
to the opposite side of the avenue At
the corner of Winnipeg and Park avenues
another large section Of walk, running
beside an empty lot, half the length of the
block on the west side of Park avenue,
was lifted up and thrown against street
grading machine standing near by Part
of the walk lodged against the grader,
while other parts continued on across the
street. Still beside a vacant lot on the
east side of Park avenue the wind tore
up more sidewalk, and here the force
appeared to have been the greatest AS
one heavy piece Of walk was raised in
the air it began whirfing about and was
dashed broadsfde against Berthiaurne's
BARN.. The force of this revolving ram
and that of the wind veered the barn half
way round on it's founda ton, tearing
the tinbers apart and completely. wreck
ing the upper part. The roof was carried
to a lot $50 feet away, while boards and
shingles were scattered throughout the
block. }.'t 80; $50 =z7z - 81 -:
IA The only occupant of the barn was Mr.
Berthiaume'S two-months-old setter pup
by, Fanny. The little dog was found
high up in the manager after the storm,
unhurt but whining piteously. The dog
was unhurt, but from it's position must
have been thrown into the nlanger, as it
could not have reached the height other
wise. =
Continuing in a SoutheaSterly direction
the wind carried with it another piece
of the Park avenue sidewalk, which was
whfrling about in the air ike a spindle,
according to spectators. until it crashed
into the wall of The White residence. In
its fight the section of walk passed over
half a dozen frame houses and narrowly
missed striking the home of Patrolman
William Coveny, Of the Rondo station,
who lives at II Atwater street Some
shingles and a part of the chimney were
blown from Officer Covenys house, but
no other damage resulted. When the
walk plunged against the brick wall the
White family was in the front of the
house. One of the heavy beams penetrat-
ed the wall and dozen yards of plaster
ing inside were torn of. A sideboard
placed against the wall was knocked half
way across the room, while glasses and
silverware were scattered about bed
rooms, parlor and kitchen. The walk
struck the wall about twenty-five feet
from the ground and fell into Nels John
sons yard, next door.
On the south side of Atwater street an
other 100-foot section of walk was torn
up and carried to the opposite side of
the street. From this point the wind
passed on, without further damage, to
Oakland cemetery. Here 1t dipped down
several times and uprooted a number of
trees. The storm seemed to continue it's
southeasterly course beyond the city and
no reports Of severe damage in any other
part of the city were received, although
the entire city suffered a severe drench-
ing, which washed out a number of
streets on the hillsides badly.