The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-09-24
Storms Local Dam
age Amounts to
Thousands.

Thunder and lightning and pelting
showers Of rain have kept San Fran
cisco indoors for two nights. Down
town in the fat section OF the city big
lakes of water formed in the streets.
Thousands Of dollars worth of dam
age was done by the flood. The rain
storm swept down from the north
Thursday and drenched the entire
country from Puget Sound TO the Te-
hachapi. II may last for several days.
Last night a binding fash Of light
ring lit up the city at about o'clock.
. From that hour till late at night rain
fell almost continuously and brilliant
flashes OF lightning appearing in rapid
succession illumined the murky sky,
while the thunder rolled continuously.
With 4 rending crash one bolt struck
telephone pole at Fillmore and Bay
streets
Il was the rainiest day in thirteen
years and the Wettest September day
in the history Of the local Weather
Bureau There was just enough dry
weather in the morning to permit the
odd Fellows to parade Then the
heavens opened and the record break
ing food resumed its progress. Dur
ing the q hours that preceded 3 o'clock
last night 300 inches Of rain fell.
one Of the heaviest losers by the
storm is Durham, Carrigan & Hay
den, wholesale hardware merchants at
Il Beale street Early yesterday morn
ing q cave in Of the basement wall
admitted flood Of water. The ware
house filed and water soaked into the
vault where the firms private papers
were kept.
The Waterman telephoned to the res
idence Of Andrew Carrigan, president
OF the firm. He rose from his bed
~ IL -
and hurried to the scene in a hack
His younger brother, Joseph Carrigan,
accompanied him.
Realizing that it would be hard to
find help at that hour and that prompt
action was necessary, President Carri-
gan removed his coat and with the as
sistance Of his brother and the watch
man buckled 10. They detached the
pump connected with the elevator and
set 10 work against the food.
WORK LIKE LABORERS.
The two nfIlionaires and society men
worked steadily beside their employe in
q desperate endeavOr to save their
goods. BY morning the trio were al
most exhausted.
When the employees Of Durham, Car
rigan g. Hayden began TO troop to work
IN the morning they were treated to a
sight OF their president working as
hard as a laborer. The millionaire was
covered with mud and perspiration and
doggedly toiling at the pump. gang
Of laborers was set TO work at the min
iature cellar lake.
Andrew Carrigan estimates the dam
age sustained by the firm as being over
81 600. Besides the damage done to
the hardware, account books and valu-
able documents have been ruined The
loss from this source the firm has not
been able 10 estimate.
A torrent Of water rushing down
Fillmore street last night tore a great
hole in that thoroughfare near Bay
street. The Board Of Public Works
sent forty men TO the place. All night
long the labOrers toiled in the rain,
building levee 10 check the cataract.
With sacks Of sand they were able TO
stop the damage 10 a small extent, but
the torrent did not loose in volume.
LIGHTNING BOLT STRIKES.
While the men were at work bolt
Of lightning with a binding fash shat
tered a telegraph pole near them. The
thunder clap that followed almost
blinded the laborers for q while and
they were forced to abandon their
task temporarily.
Meanwhile, the torrent of water
rushed down the steep hill and the re-
gion at its foot, known as Cow Hollow.
became an inland sea Cellars were
flooded, and in many cases wooden
structures were almost undermined.
After the flash Of lightning struck
the telegraph pole the neighborhood
was in a state Of panic until the thun-
derstorm died down. That bolt de-
stroyed the entire telephone service of
the district Fire alarms were made
useless and the electric fuse in the
North End Police Station was burnt
out.
With a portion Of the roof open to
the skies, in the course Of repair. the
south end Of the big Ferry Building
was caught IN the storm THURSDAY
night and between $4,000 and $4,000
worth Of damage was done. The OPEN