The Washington herald., 1913-12-28

the Southern Pacific Railroad. which ex-
tends from New Orleans to FL Paso,
Tex, quit work at a concerted signal.
This strike was the outcome Of several
months Of futile effort on the part Of
the employees to secure better wages and
hours, Although at first the railroad at
thorities protested that there would be
no effort at compromise on their part.
1t was finally agreed to treat with the
federation, and the strikers returned Il
| their work.
Nature I'm Her sterner Mood.
The years record of climatic phenom-
! ena. resulting in gigantic loss OF life and
property and of disaster by flood and
fire, on land and sea, Is not less appall-
ing than usual On January z. the
citrus fruit region of California was
visited by a frost which damaged the
orange and lemon crop to the extent ol
81, 10000. On January 20, an eruption oi
Mount Colma, in Mexico. converted fer
tile district into a lava-buried waste
and drove thousands from their homes.
In February, one of the most distress
ing tragedies OF polar search came to
light, when the cable from Wellington
New Zealand, flashed the news that
Capt. Robert Scott and his antarctic
party. after reaching the south pole,
had been overtaken by a furious bliz-
zard and had perished in the storm.
Capt. Scott had been in the antarctic for
nearly three years, having started in the
race for the pole about the same time
as Capt. Road Amundsen. The latter
reached his destination in December, 1911
The last news Of Scott was in April
1872. He reported that he was within lSC
miles of the pole and was pushing on
On February 10, Capt. Sanders, who
with the Terra Nova, had gone &c
Scott's relief. reported by wireless that
he had found the Scott party frozen al
McMurdo Sound. From Scotts records
it was learned that the party had
reached the pole on January Is, lsl2
about a month after its discovery by
Amundsen-
On February 2s. more than 100 persons
were killed outright by the premature
explosion Of a blast at Gijon, Spain
March Is and Il tornadoes and electric
storms caused the death Of nearly lOc
persons and the destruction OF several
million dollars worth Of property in the
South and West A week later severe
windstorm, sweeping northWard aho
eastward from the Gulf States to the
Great Lakes, caused the death OF more
than 100 persons and the loss OF several
million dollars worth OF property and
growing crops. On March ., a cyclonlc
storm ravaged the Middle West. and IN
Omaha and vicinity a tornado killed 10
persons and destroyed thousands oi
homes.
The month Of March. 1913, will bt
memorable in American annals Tor the
most widespread and destructive storms
that have been recorded since the settle
ment of this country. The Omaha TORNADO
and others of less destructiveness were
the forerunners of an outpour Of rair
in the States OF the Eastern Mississippi
Valley which was unprecedented The
states OF Ohio and Indiana were cen:ra
in the precipitation. although the nooc
conditions extended across Pennsylvania
and New York. During the four day:
from March g to March IS, the precipi
tation in Indiana and Ohio, according tC
the weather bureau. varied from thre'
to twelve inches and averaged over So
inches There fell in those four con
secutive days as much rain as Woulc
have fallen normally through the entir'
months of March and April.
The chief danger center was at Dayton
Ohio. Fortunately the early reports o.
the appalling loss Of life in that regior
were not verified, although there were
hundreds who fell victims to the terrible
other towns in the Miami Valley were
completely at the mercy Of the floods
while Columbus. GAINESVILLE, Indianapolis
and many other cities suffered serious
damage The loss Of property wa'
enormous. This fell very heavily upoT
the railroads in the destruction of numer'
Gus costly bridges and hundreds OF miles
O, washed-out tracks. Many thousands
Of mills, factories, stores, and private
dwellings were either totally destroyed OF
damaged materially.
In point of material loss TINS grea'
food probably surpasses any previous
disaster due to natural causes IN tne
history of the country. That the attend
ant mortality was comparatively small
the total loss of life in Ohio is estimated
to have been 454-relieves the catastrophe
Of much 81 it's horror and makes the
property loss in Ohio-estimated at $SV,-
600 OOo-a matter of secondary import
ance.
Prompt relief was given by the Ma
tional Red Cross, the War Department
and the local authorities. PRESIDENT
Wilson made a public appeal for relief
funds, and in the course of a fortnight
8. 500 600 was raised. Secretary OF war
Garrison and Gen. Wood. his Chief of
stan. hastened to the scene at once.
Tha government rushed food and tents
to the sufferers, and set on foot active
sanitary measures to prevent the out
break Of disease. By the end OF March,
the danger in Ohio had passed, and the
popuIar interest was focused on Cairo,
at the mouth Of the Ohio River, always
a critical point in an Ohio River hood
An April 1, the levee at Columbus, ky.'
went out, driving 1,50O homeless per-
sons To the hills. On the same day the
Iavaa AZ Shavneetown, Ill. gave way
and that place was practically wiped
out bv the waters It was not until
April that the danger at Cairo was
practically over, being transferred to the
Lower Mississippi.
Scarcely less remarkable from me-
teorological viewpoint was the great au-
tumnaI blizzard, which visited the region
of the Great Lakes the second week in
November. This fierce storm was also
central in Ohio, although the theater OF
maritime disaster was Lake Huron. For
several days the city OF Cleveland was
brought to a practical standstill by the
force of this unexpected visitation. traffic
being interrupted by the snowfall and
most business suspended. There was
also considerable loss Of life due to this
storm, go persons and ten ships being
the Lake Huron record.
On October a tidal storm swept in
from Bering Sea and caused great suf-
fe-ing and damage to property at Nome,
Alaska. Three days earlier, Southern
Texas experienced the worst flood in its
history. In early December another rain
fall and food cost Texas upward of s, ,00o. :
600. On October 6. more than COG
lives were lost in flooded sections along
the Bosporus.