The Savannah morning news., 1903-09-18
INJURY To BUSINESS
FROM THE HEAVY RAINS DURING
THE LAST FIVE DAYS.
OUTDOOR WORK STANDSTILL
AND WILL REMAIN SO UNTIL CLEAR
WEATHER COMES.

| Travelling Men Report They Can Do
Little and Many Lay OF During
the Rainy SpeIl-NeVvs from storms
Indicates They Have Joined Gem
tiers and Are Moving NOrthward.
Their Move Extended the Rain
Area-Fair weather Promised To-
day.
The weather man promises clear
weather for to-day. and the promise
will bring joy. The continued rain Of
the week has had a depressing effect
on everyone, and on every line of bust
ness and complaint has been general
| and vigorous There is scarcely a line
| of business which has not felt more or
less the absence of clear weather.
The shipping interests are at a loss
for remedy and unless the promise
of the weather man is fulfilled serious
damage will result. Masters of both
steam and sail vessels have battened
down their matches and refuse to take
on more cotton during the rainy spell
| Insurance companies will not pay for
| losses incurred while loading cotton
that the cotton is bound to absorb more
or less moisture while being loaded
and water accumu1ates in the holds of
vessels. Damage is sure to result to
the cotton Then, too, most of the con-
signments are to be shipped at a GER
tain date. and demurrer charges may
result if there is any considerable de-
lay.
The interests of the city are also
heavily handicapped by the rains. The
automobile shops have been seriously
effected. No automobiles are being
taken out.
Travelling Men Idle.
Travelling men have fallen off con-
Siderably in numbers. There was
scarcely half the usual number regis
tered at the hotels yerterday Those
who are still covering their routes
say there is little or no chance to do
business and they had been better off
had they followed the example of
those who waited for clear weather
Col. Quinn reports that there has
been practically no work done by
the engineer corps since the rainy
weather began. The snag boats which
are at work in some of the rivers have
been compelled to lay off on account
Cumberland which was recently sent
to Fernandina, las done nothing since
her arrival, owing to the weather. All
work around Fort Screven has also
been held up.
Building operations in general have
been abandoned. Contractors say they
have been unable to put in a full days
work this week and in some places
work has ceased entirely The clear
weather of yesterday morning started
everything off with a rush but by
O'Clock the rain began again and work
ceased. On many buildings the work
is now considerably behind.
Two storms Joined Centers.
The two storms which wrought such
havoc during the week, one in Florida
and one at Atlantic City and on the
middle coast, have joined centers and
the effect is to extend the rain area
over greater stretch of country. The
combined center is now over Buffalo,
N. Y, and the lower end of the rain
area reaches into Georgia The join
ing of the centers is the reason for
the rain in Savannah yesterday.
The rainy area had passed north
with the southern storm and met with
the northern storm. The sun of yes
| terday morning, however, shining upon
the heavy cloud bank, had the effect
| of expanding the area and raising it
to a higher altitude. The expansion
| again brought the southern edge over
| Savannah and the rain began falling
again. With the setting of the sun
! the expansion movement ceased and
with it the rainfall. During the night
| the storm will continue its northward
| movement and by sunrise this morn
! ing will be far enough away to remove
| any effects of this expansion from Sa-
! vannah. AS a result, clear weather
| is promised.
There has been some speculation as
! to whether the two storms were the
result of a split in the storm which
formed over the West Bahamas. This
! idea is not held by the weather men,
! The belief expressed yesterday was
| that the northern storm was one which
| had swept in from sea, striking the
coast at the points where the dam
| age had been done. The reason that
no warning was received concerning
it is because it probably moved along
| a route outside of that taken by YES
sells and hence was not sighted.
The Weather in Savannah.
Rain fell yesterday in Savannah from
| about o'clock in the afternoon until
| nearly o'clock. The total amount reg
| istered was only a little more than a
third of an inch. a decided falling off
when compared with the amounts
! Gu QuIlAS Tie last Two UdYS.
| Fair weather is the prediction for to-
! day.
The maximum temperature was 80
degrees at l o'clock, and the minimum
/ ~ degrees at o'clock. This made the
mean II degrees or one degree above
| the normal. For to-day a falling off
in temperature is predicted, though
there is no cold wave" approaching. A
comparison with the thermometers OF
other cities at night showed a gradual
falling off since morning, with the ten
! dency of the low temperature area be-
| ing to move toward Savannah.
s32. Savannah to New York and re-
turn, via Atlantic Coast Line. Norfolk