The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1912-09-06
STORM CAUSES HEAVY LOSS
Upper Wisconsin Suffers Severely
from Wind and Cloudbursts-Mer-
rilI and Wausau Threatened.

Merrill.-Flood conditions caused
by a cloudburst are repeating the
scenes of five weeks ago. The fall
of water on the headwaters of the
Prairie river was the highest in the
history of the country and the Wis
consin river has again risen to it's
high water mark of twelve and six
tenths feet above normal Streets
and easements here are flooded and
all railroad connections in and out
of this city are cut off. The filing
in the dam of the Grand Father Falls
company is washed out. The total
loss here will reach $4,000.
Maiden Rock-Another terrific
storm, the most severe and damag-
ing in the history of this section,
has done damage amounting TO thou
sands OF dollars. An electrical storm
accompanied by torrents of rain and
wind of cyclonic proportions, was
followed by hail storm that stripped
and leveled the standing corn, kill
ed chickens, and broke all the win
doWs in scores of houses and other
buildings.
Wausau.-Wausau is again flood
stricken, due to heavy rains. The
Wisconsin river has risen ten feet
above normal and the water is still
rising about three inches an hour
The present stage of the river is
within two feet of the July food, the
greatest in the city's history. No
fYoi inc
road north of Wausau. The recently
completed Northwestern railroad
bridge has been dynamited to re-
lieve the pressure on the Golfer dams
in the east channel, which if washed
out would cause immense damage to
the business and manufacturing en-
terprises along the river front
Durand.-A damage of approx
mately $4,000, all the plate glass
along the east side of Main street
gone, roofs smashed and thousands
of residence windows broken; crops
pelted into the ground and trees al
most shorn of their leaves, marks the
damage of the worst hail and cleo
trical storm which ever visited this
and measuring nearly three inches
in diameter were common. P En-
geldinger & Son, the Masonic temple,
Frank Fox, P. w. Goodrich, E. w.
Oesterreicher, Thomas Lucas, Dur
and Drug company, Durand Hard
ware company, King & Boushous and
the Chippewa hotel, were the heav-
lest losers. Roofs on the buildings
of Vautrot Brothers and Charles
Raitt were badly damaged, so ter
rife was the force of the large hail
stones
Medford.-Three and one-half in
ches of rainfall has caused the 60
ing out of the Medford Lumber com
pany dam and several washouts on
the 500 railroad. All crops along
the Black river are ruined. South
bound passenger train No. 104 was
wrecked three miles north of this
city on account of the Washout and
was delayed twelve hours.
Birchwood.-A terrific storm broke
over this place on Saturday, caus-
ing many thousand dollars in dam
age to property. The Ahnapee We
neer and Seating company of Birch
wood and Algoma are the heaviest
losers. Their large smokestacks are
wrecked, as we'll as several of their
warehouse and store buildings. The
100 foot lumber sorting shed was
picked up. turned entirely around
and thrown across their Office build
ing, demolishing both. Curious
freaks played by the storm are shown
in the way large spots, some 20 feet
across, torn entirely out of the steel
roofs covering the large veneer mill
Lumber piles are scattered for nearly
a mile.