Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1919-03-17
Storm Friday Night Tied up
Practically Every Indus
try in the City
Saturday.
NO PAPER WAS ISSUED
Was Second Time in Twenty.
Five Years Daily has
Missed Issue.

Friday night about 8 80 the tail end
of a real twister" hit Webster City,
blowing down the three somke stacks
at the city electric light and power
plant, tearing out a part of the glass
front of the Louis Frank store, topping
over an electrolier in front of the
Dodge monument works and blowing
down the go-to-church sign ON the Mer-
camille store. A window was also
blown out of ]. w. Lees Office at the
city hall.
The damage to the eletcric light and
power plant put it out Of commission
the rest of the night and all day Satur-
day, practically tying up industry in
the city Saturday. The Freeman-Jouf-
nal was unable to issue paper Sat
urday, due to the fact that every ma
chine in this Office is operated with cleo
tricity, even the linotypes being equip
ped with electric pots, The Monarch.
plant, Brown Skate factory, Sanitary
Hog Trough plant, National CLICK
Writer company and all similar plants
were tied up and unable to turn a
wheel
Other Damage Slight.
Damage elsewhere than to the cleo
trio light and power plant was slight.
The storm lasted only about ten min.
utes. The wind came from 10 particu-
lar direction, but rather from all di-
rections and was accompanied by Il
terrific rain, which was also Of short
duration. The wind which blew in the
Frank front came from the north, while
the sign on the Mercantile store, just a
block away, was blown to the north,
The electrolier which was blown down
was twisted fairly in two, so strong
was the force of the wind.
The storm was comparatively small
in the area Init. No damage is reported
from the adjacent country and no
storms occurred elsewhere that day ex-
cept small cyclone in Nebraska.
The suspension of the Freeman-Jour-
nal for day was the second forced sus-
pension in the twenty-five years that it
has been published as. a daily in this
city. The former occasion was in 1909.
The 1909 Storm.
One of the worst winter storms, If
not the very worst, In the history of
the state occurred on January 20, 1909.
Webster City suffered much as did the
farming districts Of Hamilton county
and all the central part of the state.
Hundreds of windmills were demol-
ished. granaries, barns and outbuild-
ings generally, overturned or unroofed.
and live stock suffered severely. Here
in Webster City the smoke stacks of the
city heating plant were blown down
and as a result large number Of the
business houses and a few residences
were without heat. Stoves were tenn
porarily set up, but yet number of
water and heating pipes in some of the
stores froze and burst, causing con-
siderable damage and, great inconven-
fence. Part of the fronts in the Foster
furniture store, Oppenheimer's clothing
store and Hoyt's grocery store were
blown in. From Friday mOrning-the
storm raging all day Friday-to Sat
urday afternoon not Il wheel moved on
the Central or Northwestern railroads
in this part Of the state, and no mail
reached the city until Sunday morning.
Telegraph and telephone, service out
side the city was cut Off and the town
was completely isolated.
Thursday, the day before the big
wind and snow storm. it rained all day
and the farmers We're lily prepared for
the record blizzard that commenced
early next morning. The smoke stacks
of the city electric plant We're blown
down. The silo at the Cleveland dairy
in the southwestern part of the town
was demolished. The wind WAS so
fierce all day long that it was almost
impossible to be out of doors and some
of the men obliged 10 be about the