The Sauk Centre herald., 1908-08-06
ELECTRIC STORM
Sauk Centre and vicinity Have
AtmOSpheriCaI Disturbance
LIGHTNING and HAIL
Barn Owned by Robert KeIls Struck
and Burned, Together With a
Valuable Horse

There was a severe electric storm
at Sauk Cent.e and in this vicinity
Sunday night. There was heavy
rain, accompanied by hail in some To-
calities. and the lightning struck and
did considerable damage.
Sunday was abnormally hot and in
the afternoon there was high wind.
The weather was we'll nigh unendur-
able and the signs of storm were in
the air.
In the early evening the sky be-
came overcast and about ten o'clock
or little before the storm broke.
Rain fell in torrents in the city and
there was considerable wind. After
the. storm had been raging some ten
minutes there was a vivid flash Of
lightning followed by terrific crash
of thunder that made everybody sit
up and take notice.
The lightning struck in several
places. A vacant house in the south
east part of town was hit and set on
fire but the rain soon extinguished
the blaze. Several persons received
shocks which stunned them for few
minutes but there was nothing serious
in this line.
Out in the country things were diff
ferent. The fine new barn on the
farm of Robert Kells, two miles east
of the city, was struck by lightning
set on fire and burned to the ground.
In the barn were three horses, one
of them fine stallion. The stall
lion was shocked by the lightning and
could not be taken from the barn.
although every effort was made to 90
so. It was lost in the fire. The
other two horses we're rescued with
out being hurt. Seventy-five tons
of fine timothy hay were burned In
the barn. The tenant, William Parks
had Just finished putting the hay in
the barn Saturday evening. Mr..
Parks owned the stallion. Mr. Keils
visited the scene Of the fire Monday
morning and said there was nothing
left but the two horses. He figures
the loss at $2,5O0, partly insured.
Considerable damage resulted from
hail which accompanied the rain. In
the town of Birchdale the hail now
ed a path across the township half
a mile or more in width. Several
farmers suffered heavy loss of crops
from this cause.
Spring Park, the new summer re-
sort on Sauk Lake four miles north
of the city, was right in the centre
of the hail storm. At this point
hail stones an inch and more in d.
ameter fell and the ground was COW
cred to the depth of two inches or
more. The hail could not do much
damage at that point as the timber
is heavy. After passing the wooded
section, however, the hail did more
or less damage to growing grain.
Some farmers lost most of their crops
lJ. F. Cooper of this city had forty
acres in oats which is a total loss.
Detailed losses have not been report
ed but the total will aggregate
considerable sum.
The hot wind of Sunday undoubted-
ly hurt the wheat to some extent, es-
pecially on light and high ground.
Fortunately, the belt which suffered
from the hail was of small area, and
while the loss falls heavily on a few
yet this vicinity as whole received lit
tie damage. In the city the rain fell
heavily and the wind blew fiercely for
some minutes but no damage was dont
The rain came as a welcome relief
from the heat and was of undoubted
benefit to the crops.
The local telephone system was
somewhat demoralized by the storm,
no less than eighteen instruments
having been burnt out.