The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-10-26
LATEST ESTIMATES SHOW LOSS
CITRUS CROP WILL RANGE
BETWEEN 10 AND 70 PER CENT
Wind and Rain Created Disturbance the Like of
Which Has Not Been Experienced In This Sec
ton of Florida In Many Years-Worst
of Storm Seems To Have Passed To
the West of Polk County, Doing
Most Damage Along the Coast
of Gulf of Mexico

Lakeland is rapidly getting back to
normal after one of the most severe
storms experienced here. in. many
years.
While no official weather forecasts
had come through up to 1880 p. m.
1t was evident that clearing weather
is in sight with probably somewhat
lower temperature.
Throughout this tropical storm the
temperature, as in all disturbances of
this kind, remained practically station
ary at from 81 to 70 degrees, the ve-
Iocity of the wind actually carrying
the salty ocean air far inland.
Generally stated, Lakeland has es-
capped serious damage. AS a matter
of fact all traces of the heavy blow
will have disappeared in day or two
with the removal by the city street
cleaning forces of the treme ndous ac-
emulation of small twigs and heaps
of Spanish moss. The trees have been
given. a. thorough. "housecIeaning,"
tons of surplus moss being removed
by the gale.
No damage whatever was done to
the municipal electric light and pow
er plant, the shutting off of the elec-
trio current being necessary simply
because of broken wires throughout
the city. BY 10:30 o'clock this morn
ing Superintendent Joe johnson was
satisfied it would be safe to turn on
the current for the close-in section of
the city where all lines had been re-
paired. 1t may be lnte tomorrow be-
fore all the outlying sections can be
reached but it is safe to promise that
within very few hours the complete
service will be in operation again.
Hundreds of extra Iinemen have
been sent to the Lakeland district
by both the Western Union and the
Postal Telegraph companies to re-
store wire communication throughout
this section. These men are now at
work and already great progress has
been made.
Late yesterday afternoon r. H.
Fisher, managing editor of the Tampa
Times, accompanied by Rondo Hat
ton, special staff writer, came to
Lakeland by automobile after a siren
uous trip, to see if any of the local
offices we're in a position to get out
an edition of that newspaper Mr..
Fisher and Mr.. Hatton were forced to
return without any hope of success
since the Lakeland power lines were
down. Later in the evening Robert
Bentley, managing editor of the. Tam
pa Tribune brought over a sforce of
linotype operators thinking that at
least some of the Lakeland machines
would be in operation but he, too, was
forced to turn back. The Tribune did
get out four-page edition in the shop
of the Plant City Courier. In this edi-
tion appears all the storm news of
the Tampa section it was possible to
obtain. 1t Would appear that Tampa.
was directly in the path of the storms
center, the barometer falling to the
unusual and alarming figure of 28.S1
at 2:45 o'clock yesterday afternoon
when the gale was at its height. The
highest velocity reached by the wind
at Tampa was 68 miles an hour with
occasional gusts recording rs miles an
hour. Here in Lakeland the maximum
wind velocity was placed at so miles
at 4:30 p. m. Much of Tampa's Wa
ter front was inundated to depth of
from four to seven feet for several
blocks back from the bay. The water
actually reached the bottom of the
steps at the Tampa Bay Hotel, flood
ing the entire grounds. Three men
are supposed to have lost their lives
in Tampa and vicinity by touching
live wires or by drowning. All oyer
the city the streets are a tumble of
wires, signs and, telephone and tele1
graph poles that will require several
days to straighten up and remove.
Until the telegraph wires are work
ng to outside points It will not be
:nown definitely just what direction
she hurricane took but the general
supposition is that 1t skirted the Gulf
coast, travelling northward, possibly
turning inland in the vicinity Of Cedar
Key and crossing the Florida penin-
suIa In a northeasterly direction be-
tween jacksonville and Lake City. The
only other probable course would be
on due north toward Apalachicola and
up into Georgia. Storm warnings were
displayed along the Atlantic seaboard
from Mayport to Cape Hatteras last
night, this indicating that the wealth
er bureau thought the storm would
cross northern Florida and pass or
out over the Atlantic.
Reports from the Ridge section oi
Polk county state that very big winds
prevailed there and that there has
been at least thirty per cent loss o'
fruit, most of which however, can be
salvaged and shipped.
DO NOT CUT THE TREES
Every one of Lakeland's beautiful
shade trees Is beyond any monetar,