Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-20

/ Average for month Of January, J.
| J. 2.93 inches. 4.
+ Rainfall for present season, I'll +
| : inches. Z
/ Rainfall for corresponding period T
/ last year, ell inches. +
ar.f- + + 80 :z'.''r
Damage to the extent of $4,000 was
| done by the rainstorm which swept Los
Angeles yesterday and Thursday. The
| Douglas block alone suffered to that
extent and the total loss caused by the
storm Is in the hundreds of thousands.
In the Douglas BLOCK the recent fire
| had stripped the roof from the build
| ing and only canvas was placed over
| the large irregular openings to keep
out the water. The cloth soon became
saturated and in spite of the labor done
| by thirty men who were kept there all
| Thursday night mopping up the water,
| the flood of storm water poured into
the unprotected building. Plaster was
ripped from the walls and the entire
building was saturated with the rain.
1t was impossible to put on n tenn
porary roof for the reason that the
heavy downpour of rain demolished the
work as fast as it could be constructed
and the entire attention OF the inmates
of the building was turned to bailing
water as fast as possible, but in spite
of the large corps of workers the rain
was ankle deep on the top story.
1t was estimated by A. NJ. Edelman,
architect of the building, that the loss
| to the office furniture and fixtures
would exceed $4,000. which brings the
total loss in the Douglas building to
$4,000.
Benefits of Rain
| Although there were many cases of
| damage done by the storm the gem
eral belief is that it will be of much
| benefit to Southern California for the
reason that on the ranches such crops
as barley, rye and other grains have
been recently put in and the rain will
| certainly give them an impetus.
| While last year was generally con-
| ceded to be a wet year, this season is
more than two inches ahead of last
seasons rainfall. 1t was feared at the
| first Of the season that the rain would
be so long delayed as to render it al
most useless in starting the crops, but
it has conclusively shown that such is
not the case, for more timely series
of rains would be difficult to imagine.
| Reports from all oyer the state indi-
| cate that a heavy rain has fallen in al
most every district in California. San
Francisco reports that the heavy rains
| have raised the rivers to the danger
| line and If any considerable amount
falls today there Is danger of the levees
going out, thus flooding a large terri
| tory.
Sacramento reports that the rains
have ceased, leaving the sky perfect
blue, with a cold north wind blowing.
| The general consensus of opinion from
all points in the state is that the dam
age done by the storm is slight COM
pared with it's immense benefits.
| Hollywood reports that the rain of
the past two days has been especially
welcome to the orchardists and farmers
of that vicinity, but not to the con-
tractors engaged in improving Pros
pect boulevard, nor to the Los Angeles
Pacific railroad. This morning the
street car track in front of the Catholic
church caved in to the excavations that
have been made for the storm culVert
at that point. This accident tied up
service for some time, while the sand
on the track east Of Center street added
still further to the delay. 1t was al
most noon before the service was any
where near regular.
Streets Turn Rivers
In Los Angeles considerable discom-
fort was caused by the rain which
damned up in many places, thus form
| ing miniature lakes from six inches to
three feet deep. The streets in the
southwest part of the city were in es-
pecially bad condition and many anus
ing Incidents occurred as the result Of
the damned up condition Of the streets.
| At the corner of Vermont avenue
and Twenty fourth street was lake of
water knee deep. One young man on
stalled street car hailed a husky
member of the street department who
was FLASHING through the flood. Say
| there! Please carry me to the walk.
1 will make it worth your while"
The sturdy laborer bent his back to
receive his load and the passenger
reached firm ground in safety.
| A truckman at this point reaped a
| handsome sum crossing back and forth
through the flood until the crowd of
business men were placed on cross
walk where they could wait for a car
| in comparative comfort.
The street department was put to
much work by the rain and a large
force of men were kept at work on the
cutters. The most serious trouble oc-
| CURED in the western part of Los An
geles and the major portion of the work
required was in that section.
| A caVe-in at the corner of Ida street
and Sunset boulevard, requiring a fill
of about 800 cubic yards of dirt. is the
worst damage to the streets wrought
by the storm. Having had experience
in last winters storms and knowing
where he could expect the most dam
age, Street Superintendent Hanley was
unusually well prepared for Thursday
nights deluge.
Arlington street, in the western part
of the city, that almost invariably
caves i'm during heavy storm on ac-
count of the big sewer running under
It, was scarcely damaged by the rain,
only few small holes being reported.
Sixth street, between Figueroa and
Hope, suffered considerably, some of
the asphalt pavement being torn up
and carried along by the rush of water.
These pieces of paving were deposited
on front lawns.
Work of Department
1T is impossible to tell the day after
storm just how much damage has
been DONE" said Mr.. Hanley yesterday.
"Cave-ins, damage to sewers and other
causes of trouble that may originate
under the streets do not always show
until a day or two after the storm. ItI
may appear tomorrow that I have not