The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-02
CLOUDBURST IN
NEWYORK STOPS
ALL CAR SERVICE
Estimated That Millions
Of People Held Up
by Storm.
RAIN POURS DOWN
FOR ELEVEN HOURS
Fall Is Nearly Five Inches,
Which Is Heaviest Ever Rec
orded In That City-Subway
Flooded, and Women and
Girls Are Marooned
in Factories.
Especial to Tho Times-Dispatch.l ]

Especial to Tho Times-Dispatch.1
New York, October IA cloudburst
struck New York to-day. 1t tied up
the transportation system OF the city.
caused immense damage, and left death
In its wake; when it passed away af
ter battcring all sections for eleven
hours and twenty-five minutes.
From 1913 o'clock this morning un-
I'll 6:35 this evening the deluge whipped
down upon the streets, and in that
time 1856 inches of rain fell. This was
the heaviest rainfall ever recorded by
the local weather bureau. The storm,
in which continual lightning accom-
panied the rain. reached its height at
3:l5 this afternoon.
Service Is Demornlixcd.
In forty-nve minutes two inches OF
rain fell completely demoralizing the
street car and subway service, which
up to that time had been kept going
only BY the utmost efforts of the
transportation officials During the
evening rush hours no subway cars
were running, and trolley and elevated
lines were crippled
1t was estimated that at least .
100000 persons were held up by the
storm. hundreds of thousands OF these
were unable to reach their homes un-
e.
The food that poured into the subway
also flled the Easements in many parts
of the city.
Accidents Are Numerous.
Reports OF accidents were numerous.
The first fatal one occurred in the
subway. Thomas Walsh, a train dis
'patcher. was instantly killed by a
short circuit at the F'iftieth Street sta
tion. Thousands OF persons were
"a tuH In, fal 1oI
rose bove the. third rail and neared
the floor OF the cars
When the cars were able to proceed
women were carried from the cars in
n hysterical condition at the first sta
tion. Al some points az the passengers
left. they found the platform ankle
deep with water rushing in from the
entrances.
Stop Work in Subwnys.
All work had to be stopped on the
subways under construction downtown
hecause, of danger that the walls would
cave in. In many places the founda-
tions OF buildings we've undermined and
the flood so weakened the supports of
the Sixth Avenue elevated road that
service of Cortlandt Street was aban-
Goncd
The millionaircs of the financial dis
trict were marooned. There was no
service adequate 10 carry uptown the
vast army OF Wall Street employees.
They had to wait for hours or walk
through rain that beat down in sheets,
and in numerous cases swept women
on their feet. All boroughs OF the city
suffered alike. Brooklynites were un-
able to reach their homes.
Women md Girls Mnrooned.
Six hundred employees of the Model
Brassiere Company. 7S2 Wythe Ave-
nue.. were marooned for hours in the
factory. Five hundred of them were
women and girls. and 1t required all
the efforts of the officials OF the COM
pany to prevent q panic. Water four
feet deep swirled about the building,
and looked as IL the employees would
have TO be taken out by rowboats.
The ferry stations on Staten Island
were jammed with mass of human
ity, for residents OF Richmond Borough
found on reaching those points that
there was no trolley service on the is
land. At several points the tracks
were covered with water two feet deep.
Brooklyn Chr Service Suspends.
Street car service in Flatbush and
the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn
was suspended for some time. When
the deluge ceased it was found that
large piles of sand had been washed
up in many places, and this had to be
shoveled before operations could be
resumed.
The Brighton Beach elevated, on
which the traffic is very heavy, was
unable to use the depression between
Park Place and New York Avenue, and
all cars were stopped.
Drenched Humanity.
At every apparent dminution in the
force of the storm thousands of men
and women would rush for the car
lines. only to he almost beaten down
before thoy arrived there, and only
to find when they did that they could
not reach their homes by that means
The downtown section was n mob of
lrenched humanity rushing hack and
forth between subway and elevated,
and then taking up the weary walk
to their destination.