Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-08-21
SEVERE STORM
DOES MUCH DAMAGE
4 HEAVIEST RAINFALL in YEARS.
OCCURRED LAST SUN s5
DAY NIGHT. .58. Is
J. B. HIGMAN BARN BURNED
lightning Struck In Many Places, Pc
sulting In Considerable
%.35s Loss. III 4

4, 41 as
this section OF the country in years
d was experienced Sunday night. Tht
terrific heat Of Sunday portendet
r trouble anG abou' five in the after
noon the sky commenced to darker
4 and the distant rumble of thunder
Il could be heard. 35yi Il 5s 4.
The sky had dire appearance jus'
Y before the storm broke. Inky clouds
II were banked on the horizon on q \
sides while overhead the creamy swint
clouds scudded here and there. TINS
4 wind storm that broke first was not not
VI very severe but this was followed ly
~ heavy down pour OF rain accom-
4 panied by terrific lightning
4 The storm ragged all night long
with but occasional lulls, after which
II !. would break again with redoubled
fury. Nm. II.
People were unable 20 sleep Le-
cause Of the. deafening roar and
crackle Of the, thunder while the SLY
was a continual glare OF light It
was the worst electrical storm Of the
season. zsa,s i5
The different residents say that It
was the heaviest rainfall in years
One man reports inches Of rain
fall. This did not come in a steady
Gownpoul, but would break now and
then in verltable cloudburts. y
+ 81 The river rose rapidly and Monday
morning had the appearance of the
spring high water. '5.3
4, Traffic impeded. 5.,5 !. ].
The storm which was quite genera.
played Il havoc with traffic. Tw
5.iridges were washed out on the Illi-
nois Central, the slough bridge wes-
sof Dubuque and a small bridge be-
tween Julian and Center Grove. No.
SO. a stock freight was derailed on q
piece OF badly washed track west O:
Dubuque. These conditions made
4 the trains very late and they did no-
1 set through until nearly noon.s
Many Of the telep homes over the
country were rendered useless. Wires
were crossed and fuses burned out,
causing consid dera bic trouble. e
Barn Burned. 5sia
The high htning got in its deadly
work both in town and in the yicin-
sity. The Baptist church spire was
struck but the resulting damage w>s
small !. but few shingles a and y
boards being torn off.
The Centra. school building was
struck and a. large hole torn in the
roof. The rain poured through this
gap all night, flooding one entire
floor and doing considerable damage
to the plasteering and interior TX
lures. ssS 81 J.
The barn on the ]. B. Higman farm
northeast OF town was struck and
burned to the ground.
The building was large structure
and was filled with hay and straw.
The. heaviest loss falls on the renter,
Harley Miller, who lost all Of his
machinery, wagons and buggies.
Luckily the horses and cattle that
are usually kept in the basement CT
the barn were in the pasture or they
would probably have been burned. Il
The total loss was considerably ov-
Ser $4,000. The barn was insured for
$500 and Mr.. Miller's loss was part
~ insured, but he probably suffered
"a loss Of over $500.
The storm was general covering
nearly all the state. Reports from
different districts put the storm as
one of the worst in years and high
water, washed out bridges and burned
et. buildings were left in its wake.