The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-10-25
ESCAPED
HEAVY DAMAGE
IN BIG STORM

Polk ccunty had escaped any sori-
Gus damacc from the tropical storm
M to noon today \ wind velocity Of
"A miles whipped the citrus groves
violently but the FRUIT as ruc has
held Later on il is expected there
will be considerable splittin" duc to
/ the heavy rain that has accompanied
this West Indies disturbance Tho 10.
can rainfall from Saturday night
when the first showers set in up to .
o'clock this afternoon has been ap.
! proXimately inches TIL" rainfall
up TO p. m Sunday was iour-iirths
Of an inch. At the same hour Monday
the rainfall had been exactly inches
ard at 3 o'clock this AFTERNOON IN ad
/ dtiCnal two inches had falicn The
/ Lakeland weather c,uipmru, doc not
! include Il barometer SO no Chirial rec
/ ords have boon Cb'aiuable hut uu-
official Instruments have recorded Us
low as 20 80 this morning
1t was shortly before 3 O'Clock this
morning when the real force oi the
storm hit Lakeland. Up to that time
| there had been heavy rain hut very
! from the northcas; accompanied by a
driving rain that sought out every
| lcaky roof in the community. Then
the wind changed direction ircl The
east to the southeast. incrraain% in
force until IS miles an E.Gf Was
reached at daylight. one Of IN" tents
in the tent colony cf Mr.. and Mrs. G.
f.. Teoguardcn on East LiDnc street.
could not stand the wind pressure
and had to be abandoned during the
night but not before everything had
been removed to other tent homes.
| The streets are Uttered with small
tWigS while local grows show some
iruit ON the ground AZ noon the wind
was still blowing a gale but those
verSed in storm lore seemed to ;hink
hat the center OF the disturbance had
passed up the Gulf coast this morn.
ing. thus drawing in the air currents
from the southeast as the hurricane
progressed northward. Shortly before
$ O'Clock the municipal light anti pow
n lines suffered from the force of
The wind and both light and power
we're OFF for a short time until the
| rOuplc could be located and mendEd.
superintendent Johnson was fearful
hat there might be broken lines that
would be dangerous to traffic or pass
ng pedestrians so Il thorough survey
was made of the city but nothing was
located Before 10 o'clock the full
iervice was on again.
One OF the freakish results of the
torn was the breaking of a water
main at the corner of East Peachtree
street and North entu"ky avenue. A
large oak tree grows near the main at
his point, and the continued pressure
VI the wind against the tree kept
'Orcin9 its roots against the main un-
il the pipe burst and passersby this
morning were puzzled at seeing a
;trong stream OF water flowing as
rom a spring beneath the tree.
The Polk County Trust Company
las suffered the loss of transom
,bove the door, blown into the build
ng by the force Of the gale.
Apprehension was felt by those
Who had relatives and friends along
he coast. and DR.. W. o. Lemasters,
Rev. j. f. Bell and ]. w. Turner
eft for Clearwater this forenoon. hav-
ng been unable to get reassuring
word from their sons at Southern
College, the wirs being down between
clearwater and Tampa.
The Lakeland schools are disrupted.
but will be resumed tomorrow. IN
some of the younger grades only five
lr six pupils We're able to get To the
building, and all the grades in both
schools were dismissed al noon. 81
he Lake Wire building, temporary
'Oof of corrugated iron was blown oil
The space reserved for the skYligM
above the auditorium. the glass not
having arrived. The damage is
thought to be considerable. but has
not been estimated.
It was surprising to hear the fire
whistle blow in the midst of the
nights heaviest downpOlr There was
no fire. of course. the alarm having
been caused by the crossing of wires.
Lakeland's elevation is again dem
nstrated as Il big advantage, RumorS
If high waters in lower sections have
come in, but Lakeland's streets have
been passable through the heaviest
rain.
The local branch of the Peninsular
Telephone Company has done all pos
;ible olleep its lines open. but Man
lger Cook says service will not be
what it should be so long as the storm
s on. Some OF the toll lines between
lakeland and Tampa are out of com
mission, presumably by a fallen tree
or post, but others are working +
tween the two points. The lines b
tween Lakeland and Barlow are open
The chief difficulty arises from
dropping branches of trees and fallen
moss lying on the wires. One hundred
lines are grounded, and therefore
many subscribers cana not get Ger
trail, although central can get the