Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-15
Storms and Cool Air
Bring Heat Relief;
Deaths Reach 96
BY the Associated Pres.

u BY the Assoeiatsd Press
Violent storms in the East and
an expanding cool front in the
Midwest partially cracked the
seasons worst heat wave today
as the death toll for more than
:. a week of scorching temperatures
; reached SO this morning.
The fredericksburg storms left
a multimillion dollar trail of
wind and lightning damage
j across New England, Eastern New
York. New Jersey. Maryland,
Pennsylvania. Ohio and Southern
Michigan.
Winds of near hurricane
strength uprooted trees. peeled
! of roofs, snapped power and tele-
phone lines and blocked high
ways.
Five fatalities were recorded in
New England and one in New
York City.
In the Northeastern States the
worst property damage appeared
to be in New Jersey and upper
New York State.
500 Homes Damaged.
Harrest-hit spots evidently was
the village of Penn Van in the
Finger Lakes section of New
York State. Mayor Lewis A.
Gracey said winds of tornado
proportions caused damage to at
least 500 homes. He estimated
losses at SIS million and de-
clared a state of emergency in
the village.
Another heavily battered city
was Utica, N. Y. An estimated
1000 trees were felled and dam
ages were expected to reach
100000.
At least four deaths were re-
ported in Pennsylvania.
/ ALI four were killed in Central
Pennsylvania. A man and a
woman lost their lives near
Lewistown when the storm tore
the roof off a brick recreation
hall and broke of parts of a
church steeple in a nearby town.
100 Degrees in Kansas.
The mercury hit 100 degrees at
Fort Scott, Kans., before the
cooler air began moving into that
State. Temperatures of 100 de-
grees or higher were common
from Kansas, Oklahoma and
Northern Texas eastward to the
Atlantic.
Thousands Of baby chicks died
from the heat in Arkansas. The
Arkansas Poultry Federation said
the States poultry industry may
suffer its worst baby chick
shortage In history.
Volunteers responded to an
appeal to help save the lives Of
feeble minded patients at the
State Training School in Win
field, Kans. Some Monaghan
type patients became SUPER
sensitive to the heat becauseyof |
deficiency in a gland that acts |
as q sort Of tlnermostat iii theJ
body. They had to be packed.
ins ice or otherwise externally
cooled.
Eleven patients have died in |
Kansan mental institutions this
week.
Tropical Plants Wither.
Even tropical plants at i the
Missouri Botanical Garden In st.
louis. withered in the intense dry |
heat.
An automatic sprinkler sys- |
tenn went into action In sub |
urban st. Louis can factory
when the temperature reached
165 degrees in the firms attic.
Workers were drenched and the
Office was flooded.
Missouri had % fatalities, Ok /
lahon1a 18, Kansas Is, Illinois 8, I
Kentucky S, Colorado 4, New
Hampshire 2, Massachusetts, Q.
Other States with one each IN
cluded Iowa, Louisiana, Nebras-
ka, Tennessee, West Virginia
and Ohio.
These all-time high tempera-
lures were recorded: st. Louis
112, Springfield, Ill. ia, Column
bia, Mo. 113. Springfield, Mo.
113 and Tulsa, Okla. 112.
Upstate areas of New York
suffered severe storm damage. At
Penn Yam, in the Finger Lakes
region. the mayor declared
state of emergency and esti-
mated damage at So million.
The heat also touched off /