The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1918-06-22
CYCLONE CAUSES DAMAGE.

CYCLONE CAUSES DAMAGE.
Heavy Property Toll Exacted by
Terrific Wind Storm.
Severe property damage was caus-
ed by wind storm of cyclonic veloci-
ty which swept over this section at 4
o'clock Tuesday afternoon. The dis
turbance was accompanied by al.
electrical display of remarkable bril-
liancy, the flashes Of lightning being
practically continuous, and was IN,
mediately followed by !. torrential
rain, with hail. The blow lasted only
few minutes, and is attributed by
meteorological experts to atmosphor-
ic conditions caused by excessively
high temperature, Tuesday having
been an intensely warm day. About
6 o'clock in the afternoon another
electrical storm occurred, accom-
panied by tempestuous downpous
Of rain.
The old Phoenix opera house in
Donaldsonville was completely de-
molished, topping over on its side IN
to Opelousas street. While the
Wreckage extended entirely across the
street and onto the sidewalk on the
opposite side, crashing into the fence
in front of the Singer residence,
none of the adjacents dwellings was
damaged in any way and no one was
hurt.
Colored churches were hard hit by
the storm. The st. Peter M. ~.
Church at the corner of Houmas and
Claiborne streets suff the loss OF
portion of its steeple, and the
Nazarene Baptist Church in Cla.-
borne street, opposite the residence
Of Jaslnin Tobias, was blown from its
foundations and was only kept from
collapsing by braces which had sse as1
erected following previous hurr1-
cane. Another colored church m W.
Patrick street, near the freight depot,
was partially wrecked.
The roof was Wl1isked off OF that
portion of the shed at the 1. u s.
passenger depot extending in the di-
rection Of the bayou. One OF the
large plate-glass show windows OF
the Meter store was cracked from
top to bottom, and the broken show
window of the Fashion store was
smashed to bits and the pieces
hurled into the front part of the es-
adjustment. Windows were shatter-
ed in the Masonic Temple, Donald
sonville High School, and other
buildings.
Trees were uprooted, fences level
ed, and electric light and telephone
service seriously crippled through the
blowing down of poles and lines. .
The towering hickory nut tree IN
the front yard of the Prosper Ro-
driguez home in Faubourg la Pipe,
which has been landmark in that
locality for many years, fell a victim,
to the gale, and in falling carried
away corner of the roof over the
front porch of the dwelling.
On the Mount Houmas plantation
at Geismar, in the sixth ward Of the
parish, one of the big silos was blown
over, and the implement she'd, blacss-
smith shop and two coWbarns were
demolished. Sam. Wynder, negro
Waterman, was caught in the wreck
age Of the implement shed and sus-
tanned painful but not serious lnJuf-
les. The report that several persons
had been hurt at Geismar fortunate
" proved to be unfounded.
Extensive havoc was wrought py
the storm on Linwood plantation, aa
Joining Mount Houmas. A hay barn
I75x42 feet, which had just beer
completed last week, was among the
structures wrecked. Alcide eau
treau. manager of the plantation, was
in the barn at the time with his men,
getting ready to operate the oats sep
arator, having about 5000 busheIs $. %
oats to thresh. When the bullalhp
commenced to fall Mr.. Gautreau ana
his men ran for the open, but before
thew could get out Of the way. the
big structure collapsed about them
and smashed into pieces. BY an al
most miraculous stroke OF fortune,
however, all Of the men escaped IN
iurv. Mr., Gautreau was caught be-
meath a piece of 8x8 timber that feh
upon him, but sustained no hurt other
than a few bruises. Assistance was
extended him by the other men and
all clambered from the wreckage IN
safety. Besides Mr.. Gautreau, those
in the building were Philip Chris
stone, white, and Philip Watson and
his son, Alex, and Rankin Bennett,
colored. The implement shed and
the courthouse trolley were also
blown down, and the pecan grove was
badly damaged. Lightning struck
the blacksmith shop and slightly
shocked Eugene Gautreau, brother OF
the manager of the plantation,
Slight damage was done to the Mel
son dairy.
On R. E. NoePs McManor planta-
ton above, Donaldsonville negro
field hand was struck by lightning
and instantly killed.
Considerable damage was sustain,
ed on S. Prejean's Halfway planta-
ton on Bayou Lafourche, through the
unroofng of barns and other build.
Iings.
One of the silos on the j. 4. New
man dairy farm was blown about two
feet out of plumb, but otherwise thu
modern establishment Weathered the
blow without damage.
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