The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-07-21
New Manual Training High
School Slightly Damaged.
Topeka Visited by Most Terrific
Storm OF Season.
WINDOWS ARE BROKEN
Hail Does Considerable Damage
to Glass.
Over an Inch of Rain Falls in
% Minutes.


the roof trusses at the manual train
ing high school, in process of erection
at Eighth and Harrison. Four feet
of the brick wall at the southeast
corner of the building was torn out,
but no other damage done. The light
ming struck about two feet from Peter
Tulene. a contractor. but aside from
being nearly scared to death the man
escaped injury.
This afternoons storm, which com
menced at 40 o'clock, was one of the
most terrific downpours of rain which
has ever occurred in Topeka. For Is
minutes the rain and hail came down
| in binding sheets, driven by a north
west wind of great velocity. Hail
| stones as large as walnutS fell, but
| these extremely large sizes were not
very plentiful. Most of the stones
/ were about the size of small hickory
nuts. The wind drove these stones
with such violence, however, that win
dowS were broken.
In 10 minutes almost an inch of
rain fell, according to the measure
ments made at the government wealth.
er bureau office. The otal rainfall
during the 25 minutes of the storm
was one inch and 16 hundredths, and
90 hundredths of rain fell in 5 min
uteS.
In about 20 minutes the temperature
fell 20 degrees, from 50 to 62, and the
W1nO changed from the northeast 10
the northwest and back to the north
est and blew steadily for some time at
"a miles an hour and for a short time
blew as high as 35 miles an hour.
During the most severe part of the
storm, the rainfall was so heavy that
it was impossible to see buildings
across the street. At the end of ten
minutes, when the storm abated some
what, the streets were full of water.
The cutters carried torrents Is or 20
feet wide, and often extending the full
width of the paved streets. The catch
basins were unable to take care of the
big rush of business, and at many of
the street intersections on Jackson,
Quincy and Van Buren, streets the wa
ter stood from IS inches to two feet
deep.
Just as the greatest violence of the
hail and rain commenced to abate, the
wind increased in velocity, and broke
a great many trees. In the state house
square, the ground was Uttered with
fallen limbs, and all along the resi-
dence streets were evidences of the
destructive force of the storm
Many windows were broken by the
hail and offices were flooded. AT the
government weather bureau office the
windows were open when the storm |
came up and they stuck and could not |
be closed and the office was soaked
with rain.
The water ran deep over the street |
car tracks in several places on West |
Sixth street and the cars were tied UP |
In the alley between Jackson and |
Van Buren, streets and from Seventh |
street north the water poured IN |
torrent over two feet deep. The cell
lars of buildings along the alley were
quickly filled with water On Sixth
street between jackson and Van Buren,
streets the storekeepers worked hard
with brooms and improvised dykes
to keep the water from running over
the first floors of the stores
Hail stones broke several windows
in the colored school house at Lowman
Hill, and the rain entered the building
in such torrents that the building may
have been somewhat damaged.
The hail did considerable damage to
greenhouses. One hundred lights
were broken out at Frank Sachs
the same number of Hulse's green
house. No damage was done to Hayes
greenhouse, which is west of Wash
burn college and seemed to be out
of the path of the storm.
One of the peculiar features of the
storm was the narrow territory which
it seemed to cover. Out at Washburn
college and the Washburn baseball
pared to what fell down town. The
business part of the city seemed to
be right in the center of the storms
path.
The storm had been brewing since
about 1890 o'clock. About 1 o'clock
the clouds began to come up from the
northwest in dense black rolls, and
formed an arch over the northern
horizon. The lighter masses of clouds
moved up and covered the sky, while
the storm arch" of a peculiar yellow
Ssh gray color gradually swept down
On the city. The storm was accom-
panied by vivid lightning and tremend-
ous peals of thunder. By $3.50 o'clock
The sun was shining again.
Lightning struck a big tree on the ,
tiles place, on Eighth between Kansas
venue and jackson. The tree was rip
,ed open, but no property injured.