Evening star., 1927-04-22
TWO ARE INJURED
IN SEVERE STORM
Fair Weather to Follow Rain.
Traffic ParaIyzed and
Trees Go Down.

A torrential downpour. accompanied
by hail. wind and lightning, struck
Washington yesterday evening, par
alyzing traffic blowing down trees and
causing several small fires. Two per-
sons We're slightly injured.
Traction and public utility facilities
were temporarily crippled, but, while
the violent electric storm caused de-
lay. it did not entail any heavy ma.
terial damage,
The aftermath of the storm this
morning consisted of a gentle rain, in
contrast to the slashing downpour of
Yesterday, and weather forecasters
predicted that 1t would clear up late
this afternoon and be fair tomorrow.
MeECury Takes Slump.
Coming cut of q sky grown ominouss
lv black within an hour, the rain be
gan at $50 o'clock and fell for nearly
two hours as the temperature went
down from the SS to the 70 degree
mark.
lightning. playing it's freakish
pranks, tore down n chimney at the
home of Mrs. Franc L. Sherry, 31O9
Thirty-fourth street, and flashed in
y third-story window, knocking down
and stunning her daughter. Mrs.
Louis s. Bradshaw. Mrs. BradshaW's s
shoe was torn from her foot, and she
sustained slight burns, but recovered
in a few hours The rest of the fam
lily were in a living room on the first
floor when the crash came. Bricks
and SCOT were thrown out from the
fireplace and the fender was tossed
across the room.
Rubber boots probably saved the life
Of ]. A. Storey. pharmacists mate.
third class, stationed at the navy
yard dispensary, who was taken TO
the Naval Hospital last night suffer
ing from burns sustained when he
was struck by lightning while attend
ing a birthday party at Friendly, Md,
q community near Fort Washington.
The house, owned by Edward Thorne,
was ignited by the lightning and the
upper part destroyed. Storey was
knocked unconscious and his legs tenn
porarily paralyzed Physicians stated
that his rubber boots probably pre-
vented the lightning from going
through his body.
Car Service Disrupted
Street car service was temporarily
disrupted A Takoma Park bound
Capital Traction Co. car was derailed
at Georgia avenue and Kennedy
street, blocking the Takoma Park
line and the Georgia avenue line Of
the Washington Railway & Electric
co. Emergency crews Of both lines
co-operated in replacing the car on
the rails. clearing the way III 81 min
utes.
4 r.t4 yAisa
culted and stalled in various sections.
Most of the tie-ups. however. were of
about 10 minutes duration, but serV-
ice was at a standstill for nearly an
hour on tbs r street, G street, Mount
Pleasant and Brightwood lines of the
w. r. & e. Co.
Loss Is Low.
Melvin E. Sharpe. assistant to the
president of the Potomac Electric
Power Co, stated that the storm had
caused less property damage than had
resulted from storms of similar intens-
ity in the history of the company.
Capital Traction Co. officials stated
that its financial loss was negligible.
Most of the material damage, public
utility men explained, was caused by
damaging switch boxes,
poles and wires. Emergency crews
worked overtime last night and this
morning repair men had practically
remedied the damage.
Lightning set fire to q curtain at
the home Of Mrs. l.. Paquin, 1905
Otis street, while the storm was at its
height. but f1remen eXtinguished the
blaze before it had had q chance to
do more than char the window frame.
Big Trees Fall.
Several big trees We're blown down
and limbs We're twisted from trees all
over the city, especially near the Blu
reau Of Standards. A big tree was
blown down in front of 1340 / street,
blocking the street and damaging two
parked automobiles. The Fire Depart
ment rescue squad chopped q way
clear for traffic and pulled the
branches from the imprisoned auto
mobiles.
An elm fell on a sedan occupied hy
Mrs. G. T. Trescot, IT'S Eighteenth
street and John Hussey, 2349 Ash
mead place, as it was parked on Penn
SylVania avenue in front of the White
House. The occupants escaped in
jury, although the roof of the car was
damaged. Almost at the same time a
tree crashed to earth i'll front of TIA
Eighteenth street, but a few yards
from Mrs. Trescot's residence.
A tree was nearly uprooted in front
Of the Japanese embassy at 1921 X
street and a tree at South Capitol and
Il streets fell victim to the wind.
Autos Are Stalled.
Scores of automobiles We're stalled in
the rain. Many of the drivers remained
in their machines until the storm sub
sided. Emergency crews from serv-
ice stations and garages We're called
to all sections of the city.
Several electric light poles We're
blown down and wind and rain caused
numerous washouts. Dirt covered the
sidewalk on Connecticut avenue at
Albemarle and Porter streets and a
bad hole appeared in the roadway on
Otis street east OF Eighteenth street
northeast. The Connecticut Avenue
Bridge resembled a canal at the peak
OF the storm rain sluicing through the
thoroughfare and making driving
perilOus.
The wind reached such velocity that
it blew the traffic semaphore from it's
post at Fourteenth street and Penn
sylvania avenue almost 100 feet down
the street before it was rescued by d
motorman who left his car and re-
moved it from the tracks