Evening star., 1919-10-12

"A tremendous storm struck wash
inEton on the morning of October 8.
1869. and did an immense
Damaging amount of damage in con-
rr..h.4 sequence of the excep-
tional volume OF rainfall.
According to The Star, the next day.
the storm. which began with light
showers on Saturday. the I'd. con-
tinued throughout Sunday. the Sd.
from early morning until a late hour
at night without an intermission. The
result was that all the water-courses
IN the District were filled. The Star
says:
The foot-bridge over the Tiber at
1 street was carried away, as also the
stone -and-brick structure at E street.
Ihe bridge at Jackson alley was also
badly damaged. The canal banks were
overhowed. especially at 11th street.
and numbers of cellars were filled with
water. About II and half o'clock
the whole reserve of the seventh pre-
c1nct was called out to go to the as
sfstance of the families in Purdy's s
court. near Pennsylvania avenue and
1st street. the Tiber having overfiowed
and made Its way into the court, and
to rescue some of the women and
children the officers were obliged to
wade up to their necks. Families
were carried to places of safety, and
in one or two instances the removal
was extremely hazardous. None of
articles Of furniture were carried away
in the flood. The shanties bordering
the Tiber back of the depot were over
flowed, but the inmates, mostly col
ored people, got away with their fur
niture. Three collins were washed
down the Tiber and lodged near the
Adams Express Office opposite the de-
pot. probably fromssome burial place.
The storm in Georgetown was
quite heavy. and the damage to prop
erty considerable, particularly on the
line of Rock creek. Lyons mill dam
and bridge were swept entirely away.
and the damage to the mill is heavy.
the mill this morning. Paper mill
bridge was swept away entirely, and
fences. frame shanties and everything
of floating nature, all the way down
the creek, have been swept on. Mr.
Darlings lime kilns were entirely sub
merged. He was obliged early this
morning to throw 200 barrels of lime
into the current for fear that the heat
would set fire to the buildings above
the water. The damage at Castle
mans and Godey's lime works way
also heavy. Castleman's loss of lime
was not so great, but the damage TO
his buildings was quite heavy. the
buildings here caught hre from tne
lime. A large iron boiler which was
on a scow was washed some distance
down. and, passing under K street
bridge, struck the iron stringer on
the north side and bent 1t inward
some inches: 1t took away about M
teen feet of the iron hand-railing and
landed on the wharf roof or the Mary
land Mining Company"
In The Star of October 4. 1869. Is an
item telling Of the erection Of new
bull ling on the
First nenot north side OF Penn
sylvania avenue be-
streets. taking the place Of famous
landmark. The demolished structure
ington branch Of the Baltimore and
Ohio road. 1t was erected about forty
years before the date of publication
and was bought from John Simon. a
tailor. by the Baltimore and Ohio
company for $4,000 and converted into
q depot In 1886. The Star says that
for a long time the trains came into
the city only as far as Kendall Green,
passengers being transferred thence
into town by stagecoaches. The first
train Of cars entered the Pennsylva- :
MIA avenue depot on the 18th of Sep
tember. 1886. In those days a bell located
on the top Of the building announced the
hours for the departure Of trains. 1t
was from> here that the District vol
unteers took their departure for the
Mexican war. It was from this depot
also that q number of young Washingto-
mans who had formed themselves into
a military organization for mutual
protection while crossing the plai2S
to California on the discovery Of gold
there departed. In 1852 the Baltimore
and Ohio company changed the depot
to the location for many years occu-
pied at the corner Of New Jersey ave-
nue. and c street.
y.
District affairs were in pretty bad
muddle fifty years ago. the councils
of the corporation of
Turmoil in Washington being con-
n., tinually in turmoil. On
this subject of the fric-
tion in the chambers The Star says, in
its issue of October 5. 1869:
I'VE are surprised to see a gentle
man of the journalistic experience of
Alderman Connolly charging the city
newspapers with exaggerating the
scenes of disorder in the city coun-
ellis. From what we can hear they