The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1921-09-20
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL
STORM v|S|TSC|TY
OF DOLLARS LOSS
FROM BROKEN GLASS IN BUS
MESS HOUSES AND PUBLIC
BUILDINGS.

AT fifteen minutes before nine this
morning murky clouds, gathered in
heavy masses over Madison and vi
cinity, not with any particular threat
of fierceness but simply wearing the
aspect of extra saturation. Finally
there decended such a downpour of
rain as has not been seen in many q
day. From S:45 to $50 about an
inch of rain fell and this afternoon
the creek is a muddy torrent carry
ing off the excess water.
Following the rain there was a
brief outburst of sunshine that lasted
half an hour then the upper stratum
of air went through a lowering of
temperature that with regathering
of dense clouds, brought on, at 10
o'clock another shower, characterized
at first by a gentle fall of rain, then
by small hail pellets. Only a few
minutes after il had started falling
the size of the pellets increased un-
til ice masses, some of them the dia-
meter of a teacup. began firing down,
resembling very much the velocity OF
stones sast from a sling shot. Peo-
pie. animals and chickens took shell
ter Immediately.
The hailstones went through the
tops of autos and broke windshields
with ease. Skylights on the roofs of
business houses and public buildings
were simply shot full of holes.
The storm came from the west ac-
companied by some wind, just enough
TO drive the large hailstones through
plate glass fronts in the sto' IS on
the east side of Egan avenue. J cry
where along that side can be seen
perforations by the hundreds and
great cracks in windows that cost
hundreds of dollars.
A summary of the damage runs
about as follows: Four panes broken
i'm ]. A. Johnson's department store;
three panes broken in second story
of Regan's tailor shop; two panes
broken i'm second story of w. t.
Stearns' store and large plate glass
in lower front cracked: two lights
broken i'm Odd Fellows hall and glass
i'm burglar alarm at First National
bank wrecked; one light gone in DIR.
Westaby's private office; two top
panes in Ed Gunderson's shop brok-
en- and big plate glass below badly
cracked; ten lights wrecked IN sec
ond story of Hank Miller's shop;
four broken glass at Otto Koehler's
China shop; about all glass on west
side of all the elevators smashed;
three lights wrecked in Nelson mar
ket; only one big pane left in the
book store front, all others broken;
Every pane of glass in the upper part
of Peters pool hall and smaller ones
| in sash below entirely wrecked; eighr
| ty-seven glass broken at New Madi-
son Hospital. also the two electric
light globes on pillars in front; plate
| front in Huntemer block badly
cracked; four large lights broken in
f. J. Mundt's office and four in Dr.
Nolan's next south; all glass broken
/ in front stairway adjoining Ruby
theater; both large glass in Corbin
garage cracked; five front panes in
second story OF Madison Motor and
Supply company wrecked; five panes
gone from west end of gable Of new
Hayes Lucas lumbre shed; eleven
lights broken at Eagles Hall; thirty
] nine panes broken on west side OF
Raad's garage; twelve large glass
splintered in Kerstein Bros, tire
shop: dozens of panes smashed in
/ high school building and other doz-
ems i'm the ward buildings; seventy
two holes in the fine memorial win
dow in the south side of the Metho-
dist church and about that number
in the memorial window in the west
side of the new German Baptist
church; twenty panes broken in the
postoffice building.
The above seems like a large ar
ray of damage. yet all of it rs not
the worst havoc. The normal school
buildings suffered heavily. Over two
hundred panes of glass were smash
i ed in the several buildings. Sky
flights at the normal were badly
wrecked. There is scarcely whole
pane of glass left in the west side
iof the Training school. Estimates
of the loss at the normal runs to So
900.
Perhaps the greatest damage SO
far reported is that done by hail at
the Renner green house on Third
street N. e. There are four units In
the blass structures there and it TAX
es eleven thousand square feet oi
glass to furnish such buildings. The
hail completely wrecked the glass
roofs and much of the sides of the
green house causin ga $1,000 loss on
glass and $4,000 on stock. Bushels
of off broken glass are scattered In
among the thousands Of plants and
1t will take infinite patience to gath.