The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-09
Another Tremendous Downpour
Does Much Damage.
LIGHTNING PLAYS FRANKS
Cellars Are Flooded and Trains Are De-
layed-The Great Northern Track
Near Woodville Covered With
Dirt Six Feet Deep.

|
NC coded cellars, dug holes in the streets,
washed oIt street car AMI railroad
tracks and cid damage which in the
aggregate will amount to a considera-
Die sum. The storm was accompanied
by lightning that frightened the timid,
shocked two or three people, rang the
| fire bell and played numerous ether
| pranks. Between the rain and the
| lightning not much tranquility was en-
| joyed.
1t started about o'clock or little
before. Dark lowering clouds, CLEFT by
vivid flashes of lightning and then a
| heavy clap of thunder, presaged a
| storm of more than ordinary severity
Then the rain commenced in big drops
that seemed to carry a bucketful
| apiece. There was great scurrying of
people to get under shelter, and then
| the storm broke in full force. In two
| or three minutes from the time the
rain set in in earnest the cutters were
| running full. A few minutes later and
the streets were rivers of water that
| eddied and swirled and, striking the
street car tracks, formed current that
made every street look like raging
mountain torrent.
Owners of property soon had some
thing to do. Nearly every cellar or
basement had a crew at work with
| buckets bailing out water, while men
with shovels dug bitches to head the
water away from their premises, but it
was all in vain, the rise was too rapid
and much damage was the result.
Probably the greatest damage was
suffered by the Great Northern outside
of the city. Between the tunnel and
WoodVille for a distance of a quarter
of a mile perfect river of dirt came
down the mountain and covered the
track to a depth of six feet. No /, the
incoming passenger train from the
East, was stalled at Woodville and did
not get in last night. Major Dawson
sent out carryalls and brought the pas
sengers to Butte. The east-bound pas
senger came up from Anaconda and re-
manned here over night, Major Daw-
son expects the road to be open to- day.
The Montana Union also had diff
culties. The flood came down from The
canyon to the east, and spread gu; over
the flats, washing out the Montana
Union bridge over Silver Bow creek.
or rather the approaches, and necessi-
tating the running of the Short Line
and Northern Pacific trains over the
B., A. q p. The street railway lines
suffered also. In many places dirt was
washed over the tracks till they were
impossible and on some lines traffic
was suspended over an hour. The CO.
lumbia gardens line suffered most The
water from the canyon washed out
about 500 feet of the track across the
flats, the upper track in the canyon was
washed out for 300 feet and 500 feet
more was covered. Fortunately the
gardens escaped more luckily than
week ago and little damage was DONE
The bridge on the wagon road to the
Olympia brewery, which is also crossed
NJ ri h
ed out. Here, what might have been
serious accident was averted by the car
men requiring the passengers to get
out of car that was passing over the
bridge just after the storm. The car
was then backed up for a run and 1t
just got over when the bridge went
down. Manager Wharton succeeded in
getting the bridge repaired in time to
carry the druggist excursion to the
gardens, by way of the race track and
the lower track up the canyon, which
was not damaged. Manager Wharton
expects to have all the lines open again
to-day.
In the height of the storm, street car
No. 2, in charge of Conductor NJ NJ
Vivian and Motorman F. A. Anderson,
was passing the city hall when light
nings struck the wire. Conductor Wv
ian had his hand on the trolley rope
and intuitively gave 1t jerk. The
trolley few off and no damage was
done beyond giving the passengers a
good scare. The same bolt struck a
fire alarm wire, rang the bell and
burned out several connections. An
other street car was struck at Granite
and Washington streets and an arma-
ture was burned out.
The residence of DR.. Gum on West
Granite street was struck by lightning,
but the damage was very light. Teie-
phone and electric wires and poles in
the locality We're struck and consider
able damage done.
At the residence of w. E. Burgess
in West Galena street, Mrs. Burgess
and Miss Fredette We're slightly shock
ed, and several other ladies are report
ed to have tainted, either from fright or
shock, in houses on the West Side,
where the force of the electric storm
seems to have been chiefly spent
Damage from flood was very general.
Captain McCormick's place near Gran
lite and Arizona, stood eight feet deep
with water; his house was nearly I'M
dermined, his stable Inundated. and
shaft that was being sunk on the prop
erty and was down 50 feet, was filled. |
Alderman Britt was among the suf-
ferers. His place in Covert street was
nearly washed out. When the street |
was graded at Alderman BIRTHS re-
quest. a hole in front of his property |
was not llllpu, ne utSlItu " put up |
a stone retaining wall. This left the |
property in such condition that the wa |
ter flowed into the fill, carrying his lot |
with it, The basement of the Mc-Der- |
mott hotel the California cafe, and the |
bicycle store at 1874 West Broadway, |
We're other places that were flooded
The south side of West Park street. |
from Academy street to Montana, sui |
fered more than any other part Of the |
business center. Every cellar was nil |
ed and a great deal of property was |
damaged or destroyed, The property |
owners in this particular section were |
among the loudest protesters against |
paving. The storm furnished them
forcible object lesson in favor of paved |
streets, for it was noted that on all the
rest of the streets that were paved the
water was carried off and no damage
was done.
Missoula gulch has rarely, if ever,
carried such a volume of water as it
did yesterday. 1t was so great that the
work that had been done by
Contractor Thomas Rowan on the