The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-15
FIERCE NHILE II LASTED
YESTERDAYS STORM STARTED
SEVERAL FIRES AND DID
MUCH DAMAGE
RAIN RECORD ESTABLISHED
In Twenty Minutes I.o2 Inches Fell,
While Wind Was Blowing 81
differentiation at Camp
NOrthcOtt.

storms that has struck St. Paul for
many years visited the city and vicinity
at about 2:45 o'clock yesterday after
noon. For twenty minutes the rain fell
in torrents, filing the cutters SO rapid
ly that the sidewalks in many places
were under water. A high wind, which
attained a velocity of thirty-seven miles
an hour, worked considerable damage,
blowing down sign boards, feed and troll
Icy wires, breaking many windows In
stores. dwellings, and office buildings, and
in some places tearing UP board side
walks and carrying them forty or fifty
feet away. The lightning caused three
fires which kept the department busy
during the heavy rain, and also burned
out a great many telephones, Gripping
the service all over the city.
The neat was oppressive at about 100
o'clock Clouds began to gather in the
southwest and at 2:20 o'clock a light rain
began to fall. Ten minutes later d high
wind was blowing and in a few minutes
q deluge of water broke over the city.
The rain drove the people off the streets
into Railways and buildings. The wind
rapidly increased and at 2:45 there was a
gale which stripped trees and broke
great many windows. A heavy feed wire
at Fourth and Wabasha streets was
blown down and it fell across the trolley
wires making an electrical display of fire
for several minutes. 1t was finally
burned in two and fell to the ground
without doing any other damage than in
terrupting the service. Another feed
wire en- the Robert street bridge
was blown down. Trolley wires
on the Rondo street line and on the
?IniOn depot loop between Fourth and
Fifth streets were blown to the ground.
Three cars on the interurban line were
burned out by the lightning.
At 3:45 a bolt of lightning went down
the chimney in the nome of George
Honstrom, III Wells street, scattering
the furniture all over the house and
starting a fire which did $50 damage At
about the same time a. house at 442 AIin-
nehaha street, owned by =. johnson,
was struck by lightning and the roof and
upper story badly scorched The dam
age amounted to 500. At the breaking
of the storm barn owned by Christ
Johnson at 169 McBoal street was visited
by a bolt Of lightning and burned to the
ground, the loss amounting to $780,
After the fire department. had taken sew
eral runs through the mud and rain
Chief Jackson concluded that it was
in no condition to participate in the
parade which had been arranged for last
evening
The south wall of the old cold storage
plant, which has remained standing since
summer,
down. and bricks and mortar were
scattered so deeply on the Omaha tracks
that trains could not pass until the
rubbish had been removed. Building In
spector Wheeler viewed the structure
shortly after the storm and gave orders
that the walls still standing should be
torn down or secured so that they would
not be a menace Forty feet of board
sidewalk at the corner of South Robert
a gale of wind and deposited on the other
side of the street. There was a similsr
occurrence at State and Eaton streets.
CONFUSION AT CAMP NoETHCOTT.
At Camp Northcott there was consider
able excitement during the storm. Sew
eral tents were blown down, and all who
were at the camp were drenched by the
heavy downpour, which soaked through
The canvas. The main dining tent was
caught by the wind and the large center
pole snapped in twain. The tent fell over
a number of mattresses, who screamed
with fright until they were rescued from
under the folds of the canvas. None of the
girls was injured, but all were as wet as
they could be made by rain. Several Of
them got down-hearted, and, amid their
tears, swore that they would never aga.n
try to spend a part of their existence in
anything that looked like a tent. Maj
Gen. MltchelpS quarters were blown
down; also the hospital tent and the tent
attached to the police station, in which
the patrol wagon and horses were kept.
The postofice tent was carried twenty
feet away and deposited in a wet heap.
All of the refreshment tents were on the
ground after the storm had passed over
The campers and visitors presented a
sorry spectacle. Their persons and all
their belongings were drenched. Some of
the gaudy Woodmen uniforms lost their
beauty Many Of the campers seemed
discouraged and there was a general
packing up Of belongings.
Though the flow Of water through the
streets and sewers was very heavy there
was not much damage wrought. The
most severe washouts occurred on the
bluff on the West side. There was but
one break in the sewers reported. This
was at South Wabasha and Isabel streets.
The water flowed over the sidewalk at
this point and flowed into the cellar OF
John Lynch.
Street Commissioner Steeg and his force
We're kept busy all afternoon clearing
the wrecked sidewalks and limbs of trees
from the cutters. City Engineer Claussen
stated that the damage would cause but
little expense to the city.
III speaking of the storm Local Fore
cast Official p. f. Lyons said that, in
one respect it was the heaviest rainfall
that has ever been recorded in st. Paul.
In twenty minutes there was a fall of
1.G2 inches. In one hour the fall amounted
to 10 inches. The wind blew at the rate
of thirty-seven miles an hour.