The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 26, 1902, Page 4

SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 1902, FIERCE WIND AND RAIN STORM SWEEPS CITY AND STATE AND LEAVES SOME PLAIN EVIDENCES OF ITS WRATH DANGERS NARROWLY AVERTED High Wind Leaves Marks of Disaster | and Great Loss. The Steamer Donahue | Drifts Toward the | Golden Gate. ‘ Big Ship Drags An-| chor and Nearly Goes | On Alcatraz. TERRIFIC gale swept over this | * yesterday morning. With | savage velocity the wind whis- | tled ough the streets and i around the tops of the high terror to the gs, strikin hearts « h, and causing | al damage In nearly every section | n. It commenced to blow about | . and steadily increased in force | about 3 'whi as blowing a southeast gale and had a ed a veloc- ity of forty-e miles an Several | s outl were | rees hour, se were mere stems in | aph wires | window the blown over or Jured hores, wi Wagon was torn it switched over it not been for the a trians, who thelr own fq have occurre The gale was not without its humorous cidents. One man wearing a_broad- rimmed sombrero furnished belated citi zens standing in sheltered nooks around Third and Market streets consid arable fun. He was trying to cross Third street, when the wind iifted the sombrero from his head and hurled it upward into space. It soared until it reached the highest point of the new buflding going up on Market street. just above Kearny. The owner of the hat watched its flight with breathless interest. Between the ef- fort it cost him to keep his feet and figure out at the same time the possible landing place of his sombrero the pedestrian was in a sorry plight. The hat circled com- pletely around the iron girders and frame work of the new building as if it were a bird, and the distracted owner battled with the elements as best he could in a vain effort to reach the Geary-street side of the building. When he finally suc- ceeded in fighting his way around the corper the hat had made another eircie of the building and was on the Market- street side. Much laughter was provoked by this incident. The hat was finally car- ried away by the gale. Women and men who attempted to carry umbrellas across the windy corners on Market street fared very badly. Some were turped inside out and the “holders of others were either thrown down on the slippery pavements or dragged along like ships under sail. School Children Orderly. The roof of the Bernal Heights school- house was almost completely torn off by the wind. Miss M. E. Keating, the prin- uprooted and | | | Fences. end Roofs Destroyed | ke o 3] sy fose Aveme e 2270 STRELT. I SCENES SHOWING SOME OF THE DAMAGE WROUGHT BY THE S TORM IN THIS CITY. | . 4 and the teach ccellent servic: rom the T a panic. roof eof blown Sev- the off, thers y every section of cornice on the roof of a hot t street fell with a cra s "and '+ re laid flat. conductor’ on the Suté met with a peculiar 1 as leavinz_his Sutter and Polk Al trip report at enger who brella cc the ome un- way -the cond ered from his head umbrella rod. WIND BLOWS DOWN HOUSES. ear was o’ by the steel and Plants and Trees Uprooted. One of the most disastrous collapses of the day occurred .n San Jose near Twenty-fourth street, when a three story flat in course of erection was car- rica from {ts foundation and totally wrecked. The demolished building looked the remnants of a wrecked vessel Iying in a heap. upon the shore. The house was belng erected by owner, H. Feige, of 1068 Capp street. the The Dbest of material was used in the construc- | tion, but a great error was made in not guarding against possible gales, which may at any time burst forth with fury at this season of the year, The windows in the front part of the house had not been ut in, though the back end was closed. Le consequence was that the winds blew in from the front, and finding no outlet, lifted the structure~from the foundation. Sees Tower Swerve. J. McCaffery, who resides at 553 Jersey street, was working near the house and was preparing to go to the roof when he neticed the tower waver and swerve. TLen of a sudden the building collapsed. McCaffery attributes the collapse to the concentration of the wind between the floors. H. Feige, the owner and builder, was at the scene of destruction and regarded the wreck with equanimity. “At about 8:30 o'clock,” said 6 Feige, “‘owing 1o the gale, we braced the build- ing from the outside, but the front was not closed in. The wind got in through the open windows and lifted the roef off. The floors were bridged, but there were no cross partitions to brace the bullding, thcugh I had temporary braces. When completed the building would have cost between 36000 and §7000. A good deal of I loss may not amount to more than 2500, John P. Horgan, Inspector of Buildings for the Board of Public Works, t time he in: four days terfal bujlders, ago. “was first > ‘should. have e Dre on of boarding up the buil cel) out the wind, Gives Cause for Disaster. ‘One cause of disasters of this d is that I They had to lay the 1l tory -dweiling g built by J. enson of also gave of the e, all but . the foundation, was ¢ wreeked. )} The timber, how. ot s0 damaged but what it the future construction of > loss to Contractor Mc- will not be very heavy. mas Mullins of Twenty-third and nt streets is a sufferer through the astating wind which swooped over the Mullins wa work on_ a threc- on Vicksburg MecInnis for rm: dev cit. at story house on Twe third and Carotina strects when the top floor was blown down. In this, as In. the other cases, | there were several remarkable escapes avenue, | from injury. rees and Palms Uprooted. The handsome trees and palms which adorn the front and side of D. Keil's residence on Mission street, near Twenty- second, were raised from the.ground and huritd over the fences. The Chess, Checker and Whist Club, 2206 Fillmore ‘street, of which G. P. Wood ward is president, narrowly escaped be- ing a bad wreck. The glass skylight was demolished and for a while it was feared the whole of the roof would be carried away. The accident in no way interferea with the arrangements which had becn made at the club for the chess tourna- ment last evening. Fences, street jamp globes, roofs ana windows were battered and shattered ana scattered in varlous sections of the Mis- sion and scores of turned inside-out um- breilas made a peculiar ornament of the streets. Timbers that had been deposited alongside houses in course of building were swept away for many yards ana hats vanished around corners and over housetops in a game of fantastic chase. When the gale wad at its height in the Mission district people sought refuge in stores, and for a whilg there was every- where in_ the neighborhood a feeling of alarm. The news of the collapse of the San Jose street structure brought hun- dreds to the scene and the greatest ex- citement prevailed until it was ascer- tained that all of the men who had been ;votklng on the building were accounted or. ¢ A large section of. the fence around the Golden Gate Woolen Mills on Bryant street, between Nineteenth and Twen- tieth, was blown down early in the morn- ing. A Not the least of the property disaster in the ‘bullders come to ng floors pr » ting partitions they remove the | vorary b and then fail to put them back. 1 have frequently pointed out to bulld- that they gught to keep on th untii the ber may be of use, and if so, my | y-third and | | which arrived on Monda [in notifying the Mission was the demolition of a barn at the corner of Fourteenth and Mission streets. Several persons were standing close to the structure at the time the gale #truck and forced it from the foundation, but fortunately ai aped injury. blown down at the corner of Twenty-second and Valen- cia streets, which is in proximity to the Horace nn Grammar School. On Seventeenth avenue the roof of a house, which is partly completed, was carried away. STORM-TOSSED HARBOR Wind and Waves Create Excitement on the Water Front. A terrific southeaster swept the bay ves- * morning and kept busy all hands rd the numerous vessels anchored in the harbor. Most of these dragged their anchors more or less, one of them had a narrow escape from shipwreck on Al- catraz, and the French bark Max again distinguished herself. The ferry systems were disorganized for a few hours, and there was excitement in plenty, but the total damage wrought by the storm was merely nominal. The reason for this i 1ot so much that the storm lacked in | violence ax that it had been expected and every possible precaution had been taken ave everyihing snug when the ele- 3 broke lcoge, Frenchr bark General Neumayer, | narrowly es: on Alcatraz Island. teep beach, but is not tained any material ciped going ashore She did touch the si thought to have st injury. When the blow was at its flercest she began to drag her anchor. A second hook waz let go, but failed to hold and the | bark was rapidly drifting to destruection when two Red Stack tugs got hold of her and towed her to a safer anchorage. She was within twenty feet of the beach when the tugs gained control of her. Soldiers crowded down to the water's edge in full expectation. of seeing the big _merchant- man diled up on the island. The timely arrival of the tugs was the resuit of the prompt action of the Meirchants' Exchange the tug company of the Frenchman's danger. The army tug Sio- cum and the revenue cutter Golden Gate also went to the Neumayer's assistance, but their services were not required. The bark Carondelet, alongside Berry- street wharf, broke her lines and was drifting out into the harbor when taken Ecla of by a tug. The navy hospital ship Solace and the Fish Commission hoat Albatross got mixed up during the storm. The Solace dragged with Hoth anchors out and bore down on the Albatross. She cleared (he “fish” boal but picked up an Albatross anchor and both vessels were badly tangled up when the Albatross xmlp ed her anchors and fled to shelter ler her steam. The Solace also got up steam and hauling up her own anchors and those of the Albatross found a secure anchorage. off the Alameda shore. The steam launch was torn adrift from the Solace's boat boom early in the day. It was picked up at Sausalito by the tug Reliance. f The ferry-boat J. M. Donahue broke her rudder chain about 9:30 as she was leav~ ing this side. She managed to get a line fast on the Washington-street whart, where she remained tied up until the storm abated, when she was berthed for repairsiat Washington street. The Ukiah will run in the place of the Donahue. The Tiburon ard Sausalito ferries re- mained tied up from 9:30 until 1:45. - The narrow-gauge boats did not run be- s 11), without hesitation jumped into pecgin g e’.“mspd along the Pactfic| . "o rescue the older boy. After bat | coast. The weather bureau on the 10D | {jing with the waters he succeeded tween 10:15 a. m. and 2:15 p. m., and the | harbor route boat Garden City missed her 11 o’clock trip from this side. The Pride of the River, which left Val- lejo at 7 a. m., arrived here five hours | late, having been compelled on account ! of the storm to tie up at Point Pinole. | The navy tug Active had a rough trip | from Clay street to Goat Island. She shipped some . big seas, which carried | overboard a lot of lumber, two clothes chests, a big can of milk and a number | of miscellaneous stores. She was obliged | to heave to while her awning was un- shipped, the wind having taken charge | of the canvas and wrought considerable damage to the supporting stanchions. The bar lightship No. 70 was separated from her buoy about § a. m. and camae into vort for shelter. The waves destroyed the Brannan street | sewer at its exit under Fremont street wharf and the wind smashed in two thick plateglass windows on the roof of the ferry depot. The French bark Max went adrift frg{n her moorings at the Fulton Iron Wo: and coilided with the steamship Prent! damaging the latter's bow. MIGHTY SEAS AT THE CLIFF. Waves Run Mountains High and Dash Over the Seal Rocks. Thousands of peqple visited the CIliff House and the beach yesterday to watch the disturbed ocean and view any possible destruction that might have occurred as a result of the storm. Fortunately no damage resulted of any great moment in this vicinity. A number of windows on the south side of the Cliff- House were blown out in the morning by the force of the gale, and some of the cottages along the beach suffered minor injuries from the wind. The waves were mountains high all day. dashing clear over .the seal rocks and sending spume and spray as high as the second floor of the Cliff House. In the offing a number of ships appeared at in- tervals, but none of them attempted the passage to the bay. The Golden Gate in the morning was a seething mass of tur- bulent water, but grew auleter (n the aft- : Some small craft $macks passed through. Ry The electric cars to the beach werg ¢rowded with passengers, who piled even to the roofs in order to secure transport- ation to the tumbling ocean. To .add to the difficulties of handling the traffic the wind buried the tracks under a foot of gand, and wrecking cars had to be sent out to uncover them. Only one track could be cleared, and it was necessary for the outward bound cars to walt at Bigh- teenth avenue until the. returning cars had passed the switch. On the steam cars the conditions were somewhat more comfortable, but tireir ity taxed to thé limit all day, Lo WaS COLLISION DURING SQUALL. Cable and an Electric Car Bump Into Each Other. 2 Yesterday afternoon, during a ‘dren. rain and wind squall, shortly .b-erfl'a'""a o'clock, a motorman of .the Post street line of electric cars and a‘gripiman of the Jackson street line of the cable system tried the experiment of crossing the in- tersection of Montgomery. and Clay streets at the same time, but made a sig-- nal failure. Car No. 458 bf the Jackson street line was moving under good head- | Each man in charge tried to forge ahead, | let the other e¢ar ‘pass, but at the inter- jiumped off. She fell, but was not injured. WRECKAGE | IN GALES PATHWAY From Many Towns '| Come Reports of | Minor Damages. ' |'Wind Creates Havoc on the Tiburon and ! | Sausalito Fronts. | Washouts Stop Rail- road Traffic North of San Rafael. Special Dispatch to The Call | AN RAFAEL, Feb. %5.—Marin Coun- ty was visited to-day by the most severe rain and wind storm that has occurred here in years. Re- ports from all parts of the county tell of destruction to crops and property, while along the water front at Tiburon and Sausalito much havoc re- sulted to large boats and small craft. Many dwellings were more or less dam- aged, trees were uprooted and fences torn dcwn. Washouts occurred along the North Pacific Coast and the California Northwestern rallroads, and during a | portion of the day paessengers for San Francisco via Tiburon were compelled to return to this city. No trains were run- ning at any time to-day between here ana Santa Rosa, owing to washouts on the California Northwestern, while the narrow-gauge did not attempt to run cars over its track between this city and San Quetin. . Passengers on the business men's train leaving this city at 7:4% this morning on the broad-gauge arrived at the Tiburon ferry slip on time, but the Donahue got under way late and had a hard time reaching the other side. The water being rough in Raccoon Straits, she drifted fa out toward the heads. She had a grea many women passengers and there was almost a panic on board several times during her long trip over. On the run the Donahue broke & and laid up. This stopped all traffic on the broad gauge until late this afternoon, when the Ukiah was put on the run. The Amador and Sausalito, from Sausa- lito, had rough trips. The Sausalito, wit Captain. McKenzile, formerly of the Sa Rafael, attempted to make the first | | and, after running out a considerable d tance, stopped. It was feared she would have to returm, but e finally finished her trip to San Francisco. | | . The county road between Kent and Mulhearn is washed out for nearly a haif mile, while in many other sections long stretches were damaged. The stage road between this city and Bolinas has suffered ' way in a westerly direction and car No. | greatly. The mail reached here late 11 of the electric Hne was going north. | day Telephonic communication with mar portions of the county is cut off, wh the local lfnes in this vielnity are dax aged. The rainfall for the last hours has been more than believing that he could cross in time to section the electric car struek the cable | car forward and badly smashed all the wood work, but not with sufficlent jand for the storm nearly seve force to push the cable car off | the total for the season 3 in the track. Fortunately there were ne | year's entire rainfall was 3¢ in: passengers on the side of the cable car that was struck. On the opposite side of the dummy was an elderly lady, who place. Child Saves a Life. Arthur Wells and Ralph young boys who reside in San Rafael a narrow escape from drownin; 1 a creek swollen by the rains. The forme: fell into the stream and was almost ex- hausted when his companion, who had jumped in to the rescue, grabbed him by the coat and swam out of danger. Young Wells was watching the rushing waters undermine a barn, and by some mishap lost his foating and fell in. He could not swim, and, owing -to the velocity of t current, was belng carried swifily dow stream to certain death. Peterson, an ex- pert swimmer for his age (he is not ¥ Peters: The damaged car was shoved down the track and obstructed traffic on the Jack- son street line until it was Hauled to the care house for repairs. — WORST STORM OF THE YEAR. Tamalpais Weather Bureau. Professor A. G. McAdie, of the Weather Bureau, stated last night that the storm vesterday morning was the worst of the of Mount Tamalpals recorded the velocity of the wind at sixty miles an_hour. The mountain station was completely flooded by the heavy rain which accompanied the wind. Storm signals were flying yesterday morning at every station on the Pacific coast from Polnt Loma to Cape Flattery. The storm was unusually severe and the warning of its coming short. Telegraph wires are down and no returns have been received from many portions of the State. Those heard from report that the storm was general. At 10 a. m. yesterday the wind was blowing about forty miles an hour in this city. The rainfall was .42 of an inch. At 2 a. m. southeast storm signals were or- dered- out along the coast, from one, end of the State to the other. Off Cape Mat- tery the pressure was down to 29.00, which is the lowest on record for many months. A ‘peculiarity of the storm was that for a distance of nearly 50 miles the pressure was jqiot far from the 29 mark. The barometer in San Francisco fell rapidly after 1 o'clock vesterday morning. The lowest pressure reached was 29.50 at 10:15 a. m. The lowest pressure reached in the great Galveston storm was 2848, anu the highest wind eighty-four miles. The highest wind yesterday was 48 miles. The lowest barometer record for San Fran- cisco is 2010, and occurred February 2, 1891. The highest wind in that storm was fifty miles, just recorded before the cups were blown away. The following are the seasonal rainfalls to date, as compared with those of same date last season, and rainfail in last twenty-four hours: Stations— reaching Wells and eaught him just as was sinking the second time. By grest fort he succeeded in reaching the with the almost unconscious lad. T boys landed many yards from whe mishap occurred. PETALUMA, Feb. 2%5.—The present storm has caused the highest overflo Petaluma in twenty years. Traffic lower part of town is conducted Continued on Page Eight. ank tw ing up the net when the boat w and became entangled in its Though an excellent swimmer, near to drowning. But for_the assistance of Captain Harry Jo Edward Casey, a hotel drummer. were coming up the bay In a launch, brothers would have undoubtedly ished. Julius was first pulled aboard. It with great difficulty and extreme per themselves.that these on the launch the reached Basto, just as he was abou gone. The fishermen were taken to the fisherman’s wharf, revived and then se to their homes. STORM DELAYS SOLDIERS. Government 'I‘;g;- Cannot Transport Incoming Troops to the Presidio. Two battalions of the Tweaty-ninth In- fantry arrived at the Oakland mole yes- terday morning em route to the Presidio where they are to be on duty pending the the This Last | their departure for the Philippines. The s ason. season. | 'waters of the bay were so rough, how Red Bias 5 b3 ever, that the Government tugs did not Sacramento . o2 dare venture to transport the troopd San Francisco .84 across the bay. Arrangements wer Fresno .67 finally made by the quartermaster to fi Independence nish the men with food and shelter San Luis Obispo. Los Anzeles . San Diego . LOW LANDS ARE FLOODED. The Storm in South San Francisco =nd San Mateo County. The storm made itself felt in South San Francisco and also in San Mateo county: The land between Qcean View and Mills. brae was covered with several inches of water, and looked like a lake. Between Burlingame and Baden a number of tele. ba accomplished safely. There are reported 4 Oakland until transportation ecould to be five cases of measles th men of the command. The Twenty-second Infantry, which re- turned Monday night on the transports Rosecrans and Hancock, could not be landed yesterday on account of the roush weather, but will probably get inte cam at the Presidio to-day. among Quieted by the Teachers. graph poles were blown down, and many'| The high wind blew several hun fences were laid low. In some e high wi board fences were lifted and cartioy o N80 | square feet of roofing from the B several hundred feet, as if they haq pieces of paper. Intending passengers waiting at San Mateo for the northbound flyer from Monterey were detained for one hour. It was impossible to ascertain where the train was, as the wires south of that sta. tion were down. The delay was by the storm. > caused —_—— FISHING SMACK IS CAPSIZED. Two Italian Fishermen Narrowly gs- Drowned. School. The building was soon fic with rain and the paplls were dismiss by the principal. The skylights on Hawthorne ‘and Cleveland schools ar chimney on the Irving School were bl off by the gale. The school children v in their classrooms at the time the started to demolish the bulldings. b presence of mind df the teache: valled and good order was mair The damage to the buildings will t paired at once, away been . Cut by Flying Glass. W. J. Nicholson, reporter of t preme Court, was seriously injure terday morning by a plece of gla: flew from a window blown in by the ferc . A long gash extending clear through to the bone was made in his hip. A physician was summoned and after the wound had been dressed Nicholson Wwas removed to his home. cape Being An accident oceurred during the yesterday to two Italian fishermen, ;:m": and Basto Faranite, who were coming down the bay with only a jib flying, When between Lombard-street wharf and Alca- traz Island the gale capsized their smack, throwing them into the swir] waters. Basto was In the middle of the boat coil: B