Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-10-19
HAIL STORM DOES
7 100000 DAMAGE
Balls of Ice Bigger Than Goose
Eggs, Weighing From 6 to IL
Ounces, Gripped by Terrific
Wind, Crash Into City.

HaiIstones weighing from six ounces to
a pound, many of them larger than goose
eggs, crashed into Atlanta at an angle
of As degrees during a terrific thunder
storm which burst over the city Thurs
day afternoon at minutes past O'CLOCK
and continued ten minutes, running prop
erty estimated at 100000, smashing inc
heaviest plate glass windows, knocking
down chimneys. breaking skylights, twist
ing roofs awry, tangling electric wires.
wreaking untold damage upon trees ana
shrubbery
When heavens artillery ceased. the
scenes of havoc and terror In central AT
lanta produced the vivid illusion that the
city had been besieged by earthly batteries
loaded with grape and canister.
WINDOWS WE'RE RIDDLED.
windows of tall office buildings on
Peachtree street were riddled as II VIII
minnie balls, pondercus weights of plate
glass crashed to the pavement and were
splintered into fragments, -hysterical Wo-
men, screaming and praying sought
refuge beneath the first roof where they
could find shelter, and then rushed out
into the storm again for fear the buildings
would topple upon their heads; negro
teamsters left their drays, while madden
ed mules and horses carecning around
sharp corners heightened the danger. 1t
seemed almost a miracle that accidents
were rare.
A veritable reign Of terror existed in
the quarters of the city Inhabited by
negroes; many believed the end Of the
world had come and rushed out into the
streets, praying and even singing; 9TH
ers fearing the heavy hailstones would
break their thin shingle roofs hid them
selves in cellars and beneath bed mat
tresses
HOW THE STORM BEGAN.
At 4:S0 Thursday afternoon heavy
black clouds, ominously fringed with
swirling masses of dark green. began
to gather above the northwestern hori-
zon and move slowly toward Atlanta
swerving toward the southwest and ris-
ing slightly from the line where earth
and sky meet they. formed an inky pail
beneath which the slanting rays of the
setting sun burned blood-red glare; con-
tinuing to rise, the rolling, eddying mass
es of black mist came to a nucleus about
5 o'clock. Just above the western por-
ton of Atlanta, while the sun still blazed
below them its hSzy disk distinctly WISH
BILE.
Suddenly a wind travelling with We
Iocity Of 48 to 56 miles per hour. began to
shrek and whistle through the air, and
then the storm broke. Gigantic hail
stones. falling from great altitude, were
caught by the hurricane and driven at
a murderous angle against the western
faces of all unprotected buildings; VIM
dows began to crash and tin roofs as II
tons of heavy gravel were being dumped
upon them.
The real bombardment lasted only
about three minutes, but the wind, laden
with rain and smaller hailstones, con-
tinued for ten minutes, ending alta quar-
ter past S as suddenly as 1t began.
AS LARGE AS THEIR FIST.
People venturing into the streets picked
up hailstones seemingly bigger than their
asts stones half hour afterward,
though partially melted. weighing any
where from six to u ounces. One stone
was reported at the weather bureau as
weighing exactly II oun| :, and 1t was
weighed more than half hour after the
storm had ceased
NARROWLY MISSED BEING TOR
NADO.
Mr.. Won Hermann, head of the local
limited states weather observatory, ex-
plains that the storm was local, and
was nothing but an unusually severe
thunderstorm However. he declares,
there are indications that 1t nearly
nassed the lines which differentiate be-
tween the common thunderstorm and the
tornado.
The thunderstorm is characterized al
ways by rise in the barometer, but
when this tempest was about to break
saws ~ Won hermann, the first thing
the barometer did was to fall 2-10 of an
inch. Had it fallen just little further.
1t would have meant that Atlanta was to
be devastated by a cyclone. So the
womens fears, at which the brave hus-
bands laughed good naturally, were not
so absolutely unfounded, after all.