The age-herald., 1902-03-28

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 More than seven inches of rain has fallen in Birmingham since Wednesday morning at o'clock. The fall Is phenom- enal and as a result the streets and pave ments are pools of water, all the creeks and branches are swollen and several small washouts are reported on the rail- roads.
 No serious damage or loss of life has been reported from the high water so far. The weather prediction for today is rain. Better weather is promised for Saturday, but the weather maker has nothing to offer for Good Friday. A con- tinuance of the heavy rains willprove dis astrous to the railroads.
 Downpour Continuous.
 Birmingham has practically witnessed a continuous downpour of rain since Wednesday morning It rained all day and all night Wednesday and all of yesterday and half of last night Sometimes 1t came down in a gentle "drizzle drazzle" and once the sun peeped out to see if the dust devil had been knocked out. Usually, however, 1t has been coming down in gull ly washers and at times the lightning has flashed and the winds howled, re- sembling the storm scene in Macbeth as produced by an athletic stage hand in modern play house.
 It has been a season of umbrellas, rain coats and rubbers The dirt has been washed off the street cars and the original color of the paint can be seen. Some of them, especially the new ones, look nice" just as they did when they came from the shop. The merchants have lost thousands of dollars worth of tr~ie while the shop girls have taken things easy as customers have been few and far between.
 Record of Rainfall.
 From the time the rain commenced Wednesday morning to o'clock Wednes- day night the fall was 1.1o inches. From then until o'clock yesterday morning 2.10 inches fell. Yesterday 2.s7 inches fell until o'clock last night. From that time to midnight 1t is estimated to i.5 inches fell This makes total of 717 inches.
 When compared with the rains during the entire month of February this fall Is a record breaker. During the last month. although there were twenty days of cloudy or rainy weather, only inches of rain fell. In twenty-four hours more than that has fallen.
 Last night the downfall of rain rem dered walking almost impossible unless the pedestrian had no objection to wad- ing. On Nineteenth street between Sixth and Eighth avenues the street car tracks were two inches deep in water for some distance. On Twenty-third street, south, the cars had great difficulty, and along Tenth and Eleventh avenues the street was wellnigh impossible to pedestrians.
 The Gate City cars could get no nearer town over the regular line than Wood lawn. From there they came in over the East Lake tracks. A deep pool of water near the East Birmingham round house prevented the cars passing.
 One long distance telephone line Is re- ported down on account of the rain, and connections are had over all of them. To Tuscaloosa communication by telephone Is cut off.
 A small washout was reported on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad below Calera, but the trains passed safely over 1t yesterday. One is also reported on the Birmingham Mineral. Neither are serious. The Blocton accommodation, winch leaves Birmingham in the after noon, was forced to bring its passengers back to the city. When 1t reached the Big Spring. about four miles this side of Blocton the water was so deep the train could not get through.
 Lake Grows Larger.
 The lake at the corner of Avenue A and Ninteenth street was so high yesterday that a mule or horse could swim in 1t. It extends for more than block on Ave- nue A and is about 200 feet wide. There is no outNt for the water and it remains there until 1t drains out which has not happened for over four months. Appropriate signs of the times' ap- pear on all the corners in the neighbor- hood of Avenue A and Nineteenth street. A sample:
 
 THIS WAY TO THE FERRY"