New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-06-13
STORM COVERS WIDE AREA
Million Loss in Pennsylvania,
Jersey and Maryland.
IBy Telegraph to The Tribune.


reports are meagse. hnt from those re
ceived the loss OF life may be large. ant
the property loss will probably exceed ST.
100000
A cloudburst. accompanied by a forty
two-mile wind. struck Phlladeiphia dii
Camden at o'clock tonight. Houses we'
unroofed. trees blown down ana wlnoo"'
smashed In Camden the authorities turhe'
off all electric current for fear the lalnhe
wires would kill pedestrians. ana the ci.'
was in darkness for nearly an hour u
TO a late hour no fatalities had been re
ported in Philadelphia
The local storm seems to have ceh,re'
at Allentown Here three men were kiiieu
end damage was inflicted amounting u
hundreds of thousands OF dollars Inc uls
patch from Allentown was written IN
telegram Office in which there were foui
inches Of water The workers there. III
cor,r,on with thousands of other men II
Allentown. we're wearing rubber boots
All dav 1he air was sultry following a
,,orr, Of great violence last night. AT
o'clock the clements broke loose again Gull
,rinatine in storm OF intense violence az
sN o'clock Chain lightning was accom-
panied by terrifying thunder. \ gale that
rose TO seventy miles an hour blew down
trees by the hundred in every part OF the
city The trees tore down electric llSht
and trolley wires in practically every street.
multiplying the storm danger.
The live wires falling into the street lit
orally Sc, the thoroughfares ablaze. and
for blocks some of the streets looked Ike
chains OF red FIRE. Within tWo minutes
is,ree,s were gu,terful and water flooded
over the sidewalks into cellars.
During this time houses were being un-
rooted in every section OF the city ana
wooden steps were washed away from the
houses.
To add TO the damage. the storm was &C
companied by hailstones ranging In size
from a hickory nut TO a boys FIST The hail
smashed window panes on the exposed side
OF almost every house in town.
During the height of it all three men
were killed At 10th and Union streets a
lightning blast smashed a tree, which fell
on house in which Mrs Carrie Allender
conducted boarding house. This house is
built on the edge of bluff overlooking
the Little Lehigh. and one side Of it is cor
rd,ated iron. on account Of the iron,
against which the wire fell, the whole house
was charged. the wire being high tension
and carrying the initial load Of 1900 volts.
and this is believed TO have been trebled
on account Of its being crossed with other
lines. Two men in the house, Hannibal
Dotterrer and Irwin Gackenbach. were in
stantly killed and Mrs. Allender shocked
into insensibility. Dotterers body fell
against the iron wall
John Wagner. a friend of the men killed.
rushed into the house In heroic effort to
rescue them. despite warnings that the
attempt might prove fatal The warning
was prophetic. as. when he touched Dot
terer's body. Wagner was shocked uncon-
scious. and died as he was being carried
into a house across the street.
Wagner was pulled out by man who
entered the house in rubber boots and
raked him away from the wall. This man
too, was shocked, but a human chain res
cued him
Many dogs were washed into the sewers
and drowned 1t will take $4,000 to re-
store washed out streets in Allentown
alone.
The Colonial Express on the Pennsyl-
vana Railroad. which left Washington for
Boston at 5:35 p. m. had a narrow escape
from being wrecked few miles north OF
Baltimore Near Magnolia. Nd where the
storm had been especially severe the train
was running fifty miles an hour, when the
engineer was startled to see a tree lying
across the track lie applied the airhrake>
so suddenly and with such force as 10
bring the passengers to their feet in alarm
The next instant those in the forward
cars heard a crash and the train came 10 a
standstiI A big sectiou Of the fallen Tree
was wedged so firmly between the pilot
and cylinder head of the engine that the
crew had 10 use axes to remove it, A few
hundred feet further on there was large
tree lying across the rails, and an hour s
fdelay ensued while this and two other
trees were removed
Telegraph wires and poles were down fOi
miles, and the railroad people claim that
much Of the damage was done by the ex-
Extraordinarily severe lightning though the
wind was very high.
Al Bacon Hill near Elkton. Md. the
;southbound Colonial Express was stopped
sby red light at the signal tower. Aftei
ZONE delay there was an investigation tt
see what the trouble was. II was found
that the operator had been struck by light
ming and Was lying unconscious on tine
yfoor. lie was taken on the train TO Elk
zion. where it was said late tonight his
;Sondition is serious.
. Baltimore. June IA terrific electrical
storm. with rain. hail and wind. broke
over Baltimore at O'Clock tonight. put
d ting practically all telegraph and long dis
.tance telephone wires 10 the North out OF
scommission and doing thousands of dol
lars worth Of damage 10 property in the
.suburbs. This storm was Of short duia-
stion. but after brief interval another
yheavy rainstorm set IN. lasting for sev.
eral hours
Newport News. Va. June 12-Sweepne
out Of the southwest with cyclonic velocity
a wind, rain. hail and electrical storm
struck the lower END of the Virginia
peninsula late to-day and left a trail o.
death and ruin. Tonight it was Difficult
even 10 estimate the number OF dead. fol
many small craft went down in the storm
at various points along the James Rvel
and in Hampton Roads Conservative esti
mates placed the dead at not more thar
fifteen
Great havoc was wrought in this city
houses being unroofed and trees. wires an
telegraph poles blown down. Half dozel
vessels moored at piers here broke ava!
and nearly all were damaged
AT the ward Of the Newport News Ship
building Company the submarine Seal wa!
struck by a schooner and badly disabled
and the same schooner rammed hole il
the old Dominion liner jamestown. Roof
OF shops at the shpyard also were tori