The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1907-07-25

A storm OF wind and rain with al
most continuous flashes of lightning
swept over the western portions of
southern and central Maine last Sat
urday evening, old residents of Som
erset county stating that it was by
all means the most severe Within
their memory. Like most of our
thunder storms it came after three
days of excessive heat. 1t commenc-
ed in Madison about 6.15, and in
Skowhegan nearly one hour later.
The worst of the storm was over be-
fore midnight but rain continued to
fall throughout the early morning
hours. An enumeration of the places
struck would resemble county di-
rectory. Throughout the towns of
Madison, Arson and Emblem the
reports of buildings burned, houses
struck, cattle killed, etc., would give
the impression that the lightning
must have descended on every square
mile of territory. 1t is quite evident
that these towns were in the very
center of the storm area. Skowhe-
gan seemed to be spared to some ex-
tent, the worst of the wind and rain
and the lightning which accompanied
them seeming to pass little to the
north.
Considering the length and severity
of the storm the actual damage in
Skowhegan from the lightning was
very small. Among the places struck
was the house at the corner of North
avenue and Prospect street owned by
w. H. Pearson of Portland and occu-
pied by Earl Barnes and family. Mr..
Barnes was out of town and Mrs.
Barnes had gone to neighbors so
that no one was in the house at the
time. No fire resulted and the dam
age otherwise was small. A bolt hit
the arc light near the corner of Madi-
son avenue and Winter streets, shat
tering the glass globe and doing other
damage to put this light out of COM
mission. Electricity also entered the
Bethany church on the lighting wires
but did little damage aside from the
destruction of the meter. 1t is also
reported that the Morse place on the
Malbon's Mills road is among the
places hit and that the lightning struck
the William A. Wescott residence on
the Athens road, about one and one
half miles from town. The Wescott
house was struck in June of last year,
so that the present instance was at
variance with the old rule that light
ming will not strike twice in the same
place. The barn at the Abel Patten
place on the Swain road, recently
owned by Chas Church, was struck
and burned. This is the only large
loss attributable to lightning within
the limits of the town of Skowhegan.
By far the greater damage was
from water. In this respect, so far
as Skowhegan is concerned, it was the
northern and eastern portion that was
the hardest hit. In that portion of
the town north and east of the Ken
nebec river the highways are badly
washed and many bridges and cul-
verts are out or badly damaged. The
bridge on the river road at Susie
brook, so called, about three miles
from town, was carried away and the
bridge few rods above, where the
Canaan road crosses the same stream,
is almost wholly destroyed. There is
also bridge out on Cold brook, on
what is known as the Steward hill
road near the Roscoe Bigelow farm.
Many culverts and small bridges are
in bad shape and the highway COM
missioner, Geo. H. Webb, estimates
that the damage in his department
will be over $4,000.
The electric car service on the
Somerset Traction line was interfered
with to quite an extent and that cor
poration will be put to considerable
expense to repair its roadbed. The
car leaving Skowhegan for Madison
at O'Clock on Saturday afternoon
got through all right but could not
make the return trip. There were
bad washouts at many points along
the line and no cars were run through
to Madison until Monday noon. The
Lakewood -Skowhegan section was
not SO seriously damaged as the bal
ance of the road. The service was
resumed from Skowhegan to the
Lake, after little delay, on Sunday
morning.
lHO iOlCPIiphO company
sustains a considerable loss in the
shape of poles washed out and thrown
down and lines otherwise disorgan-
lied. This is chiefly in the section
formerly operated by the Central
Maine Telephone Co. in Canaan,
Clinton and Fairfield, but the line
between Madison and Bingham was
considerably damaged. Several lines
connected with the Skowhegan ex-
change were out of working order
through Saturday night, but were re :
paired on Sunday. The Farmers Tel
ephone Co. had its lines interfered
with in various parts of the county,
the most serious trouble being Madi-
son, but nearly all of its instruments
were accessible by Monday.
The Skowhegan Electric Light Co.
maintained the current for the street
lights and for the stores throughout
the storm but were obliged to shut off
Owners to Be Called to Account