1
mtoutb Journal
Semi- Weekly
Semi - Weekly
FOUR PAGES
FOUR PAGES
VOLUME XXVI11
PLA1TSMOUT1I, XEBUASKA, MONDAY, JUNE 2!, 1908
NUMJtKIt 27
abe
Platte
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la
Plattsmouth Again Suffers Consider
able Loss, But Comparatively
Small to Other Floods.
The Burlington Shops Sustains But Little Loss;
Only From Mud Running in Upon Floors.
s
1
hir.
f wu;i rKo wntpr that fell Satur
1! ill IV iiiv
day evening was much greater than
has fallen at any one time in many
years, the total property loss is not
one-third of what it was a year ago,
and the damage done sidewalks not
' nearly . so great. The Burlington
shops escaped with very little dam
agynot to exceed three or four
hu ldred dollars. Our people feel re
joi ced that, with the immense down
pour for nearly two hours, they es
caped so fortunately
cap
A terrific rainstorm, accompanied by
much electricity, visited this city, and
in fact, the entire eastern end of the
state last Saturday night, the effect be
ing a flood not nearly as severe as the
great flood of last July. Owincr to the
lesson taught by the previous floods our
people were better prepared for the visi
tation with the consequence that the
i nonetary loss is a great deal smaller
than before, but is still so heavy as to
make the amount lost by two of our
merchants the heaviest of the kind in
the city's history.
The storm came after an evening of
unusual sultriness with a falling baro
meter and high percentage of humidity.
Those familar with atmospheric con
ditions were not surprised at the storm,
as conditions were ideal for just such an
occurrence. In theforepartof theeven-iro-
heavv black clouds banked up in
the west, northwest and north, and ap
prehensions of a tornado kept many of
the more timid in easy reach of caves
and cellars, but the fears were ground
less as the wind at no time attained a
high volocity. The heavy rainfall was
preceeded by a shower which did not
however relieve the sultriness of the
evening and was only heavy enough to
lay the dust. The big rainstorm began
at 8:15 and for an hour and three
quarters the water descended literally
in torrents. During this period travel
was virtually suspended, the water
coming down in sheets that effectually
precluded any idea of moving about and
of such volume that it was difficult to
aven see distinctly any distance. Ad
ded to this the electrical effects were
tremendous and awe-inspiring, the
heavens being literally a blinding glare,
' the sheet-lightning playing constantly
over all parts of the firmament and the
clouds being streaked and riven with
bolts of forked lightning, while the
thunder kept up a. constant succession
of crashes like the roar of a park of
artillery. The storm from every stand
point was spectacular and grand. To
add to the effect a large fire on the
Iowa lttoms northeast of the city,
broke out and at the storm's height the
heavens in that quarter were illuminated
by the blaze which must have been a
large one as it burned for half an hour
or longer. A rumor reached Main street
that the fire was in the northeast end
of the city and created considerable
excitement, but nothing could be done
by those on the street as they were
penned up in the stores by the raging
waters, and could not have reached
the fire had they had to.
As has been the case in numerous
times past, the sewers again failed to
carry the water and some three-quarters
of an hour after the rainfall began;
they clogged up and began overflowing,
the result being a rush of the waters
down Chicago and Washington avenues
to Main street. The failure of the
sewers during this storm is accounted
for in a great measure from the fact
that the back water from the Missouri
is standing in the mouth of the sewer
to a deoth of several feet reducing the
size of the discharge opening. This .is
but one contributing cause of the
disaster, the main cause being simply
too' much water.
" As the storm continued a realization
came to those on Main street that they
were facing another flood, and every
one began preparing for it. Those
merchants who had been suffering
from previous flooded cellars began
moving what they could to places
where chances favored keeping them
dry, and all possible arrangements were
made to keep the waters from enter
ing the buildings. In most cases these
efforts were in vain, as the irresistible
rush of the waters swept away tem
porary barriers like so much chaff, and
invaded the utmost recesses of build
ings. As has been the case hereto
fore, the great bulk of the water from
Chicago avenue swept with tremendous
energy down the old creek bed, cross
ing Sixth street at the intersection of
Pearl and hurling their full weight
against the one-story, brick store build
ings of Messrs. Hall and Knapp, tear
ing out the foundations and in the case
of Mr. Knapp's building wrecking the
front of it and causing the front end
of the floor to fall into the excava
tion underneath. The loss to these
buildings is very heavy, Mr. Hall esti
mating his loss at $500, while that of
Mr. Knapp is at least twice as much.
With characteristic Plattsmouth pluck,
these gentlemen will replace their
structures, but it is not probable they
will do so until the lowering of Sixth
street is completed. The gas company
which occupied the JHall building suf
fered a small loss to their material, but
the contents of the Knapp buildings
suffered merely a nominal loss.
The firms occupying rooms on the
west side of Sixth street from Pearl to
Main generally escaped without much
loss. The retaining wall expected back
cf the buildings occupied by Messrs.
Hall and Zuckweiler & Lutz did its
work well and no loss was suffered . by
them. J. E. Tuey suffered a nominal
loss by waterjn his cellar as did F. G.
Fricke & Co. M. Hild did not lose by
tbe water.
Across Sixth street and on the south
side of Main, the damage consisted
principally of flooded cellars and in
most instances was nominal. E. A.
Wurl suffered a small loss to stock
stored in the cellar of the Boeck build
ing, his principal damage being expense
occasion in draining the cellar and clean
ing up. The Doveys suffered a loss
from flooded cellar and their stable be
ing rendered untenable. The mules in
the stable were taken out without much
trouble. The loss to goods in their cel
lar as well as that of A. W. White was
small. Kunsmann & Ramge suffered
no damage whatever. John Bauer had
the cellar of his building flooded and
suffered some damage to goods by
water.
Across Fifth street the waters filled
the cellars but actual damage was little
as few of the firms in that block had
their goods stored in the cellar. The
Journal suffered from belting and pul
leys being submerged, but aside from
the inconvenience and annoyance the
loss was relatively small. H. M. Soen
nichsen lost several cords of wood, but
practically no loss to his grocery stock
was had. Wm. Holly fortunately had
none of his stock in the cellar and had
only nominal loss.
Across Fourth street J. E. McDaniels
suffered some loss by stock in his cellar
becoming upset and flooded, but gener
ally, conditions in this block were good.
In the case of the Journal and Mr. Mc
Daniels the loss was occasioned by the
pavement being torn up and the granite
blocks piled in the middle of the street,
diverting the water onto the sidewalk
and forcing it into the front doors of
the rooms.
The loss in the block across Third
more
street was practically nominal and was
occasioned mostly by cleaning up the
mud and silt deposited.
The overflow from the Washington
avenue sewer came down Vine street
and Sixth following as in the case of
the other avenue the old creek bed.
This caused the cellars on the West
side of Sixth front, Vine to Main to be
come flooded, the principal sufferers be
ing the Hotel Riley which had the base
ment and engine room flooded and the
Plattsmouth Telephone Company which
also suffered from overflow into the
basement. The feed barn of Sam Smith
was made untenable but actual damage
was small.
On the east side of Sixth, damage
was not extensive, although a great
deal of water poured down Vine street
and the alley to Fifth. The dyke back
of the buildings on this block proved a
splendid protection and the cellars and
basements escaped loss. The First Na
tional Bank had several inches of water
over the floor but no extended damage
resulted.
Across Fifth street the offices of the
Plattsmouth Gas Company were flooded
but actual damage was slight. Others
in this block escaped injury as was the
case in the blocks on this side of the
street to the Burlington station where
the water was blocked up by the tracks
and forced into the depot. The damage
here was small and mostly expense oc
casioned by cleaning up.
The Greatest Losers
After damaging the property of
Messrs. Hall and Knapp, as outlined
above the waters, entered the base
ments along the next two blocks on the
south side of Main street, doing their
greatest damage to the Morgan and
Westcott buildings, the wall between
them giving away and precipitating the
stock of each firm which was in the
front end of the stores into the base
ment. Owing to the condition of the
stock it was difficult to form an esti
mate of the loss of these firms. The
sight of the collapse of the wall was a
thrilling one. Tnose who were watch
ing the progress of the storm from
across the street describe the scene as
most unexpected. From that point it
looked as if the floor raised up and then
suddenly collapsed, the jingle of break
ing glass being heard for a long dis
tance. In the Westcott building at the
time the wall gave way there were a
number of customers as well as the
employes, but all escaped safely. The
same conditions to a modified degree
obtained in the room of the Kraft Cloth
ing Company, the building which is
owned by Mrs. Gertrude Morgan, being
damaged as much as the Westcott block
was.
Aside from these losses the principal
damage from the Chicago avenue sewer
was in flooding cellars, and in most
cases it is nominal. Where the storm
did a great deal of damage on the south
side of Pearl street a year ago, this
year there was practically none at all,
the firms reporting comparatively little
abater and only small accumulations of
mud. On the north side of Pearl street
considerable excitement was occasioned
at the livery barn of C. L. Martin by
fears of loss, the horses' being removed
to the barn of M. E. Manspeaker for
safety. The water did not rise to a
great height in the barn, however.
At the Burlington' Shops. '-'
At the shops the loss was small, the
amount of rain on this watershed being
apparently much less than on the other
basins. There was water and mud in
nearly all the shops, but compared with
other storms, it amounted to little.
Master Mechanic Helps was highly
gratified at the escape of the company
and it was stated that the loss will be
only a few hundred dollars, being merely
expense of cleaning up. All depart
ments are running today as usual. Con
siderable trash and debris was piled on
the tracks between the depot and the
elevator south a distance of several
hundred yards, but no actual damage
occurred.
Residence property along the several
avenues suffered but little, the water
not .seeming to rise as high as on for
mer occasions. On Chicago avenue
A. Hawrick and J. W. Kinser suffered
the most, yet their loss together is not
heavy. The cellar of Mrs. S. M. Chap
man was flooded, but she does not con
sider her loss at much, the house being
spared.
On Washington avenue the water
overflowed from about Turner Hall to
Vine street, inundating several places,
but occasioning little loss. The water
rose to the steps of Mr. F. G. Egenber
ger's fine residence at the corner of
Vine and Seventh streets, but failed to
do any material damage. The residence
of John Bauer on Vine, between Sixth
and Seventh streets, suffered some
from the water, as did several other
residences, but as elsewhere, the actual
loss was small. At Mr. F. G. Fricke's
residence on the corner of Sixth and
Vine, the water rose to the doorsteps
but did not enter the house, it being
higher, however, than ever before.
Contractor Woodworth's Loss.
One of the most serious sufferers
from the storm was Contractor Wood
worth. In the unfinished condition that
Main street was in, the storm came at
a most inopportune time. The two
blocks of paving which had been com
pleted presented an inviting prospect
to the rushing waters and they speedily
undermined the blocks carrying the
sand foundation out and causing the
blocks to settle in irregular holes and
patches. The work will likely have to
be done over again, entailing (quite an
expense. That portion of the pavement
between Fourth and Fifth street which
was torn up did not seem to suffer so
much as expected. As soon as the
work can be resumed it is the intention
of the contractor to hurry it to com
pletion. Had it not been for the under
mining of the completed portion of the
work, the wisdom of changing the pave
ment was apparent, the new portion
carrying off the water with ease.
Damage to streets and walks in all
parts of the city was the natural result
of so violent rain, but it did not amount
to a great deal in the total. . Quite a
section of the brick walks between
Fouth and Fifth streets on the south
side of Main, was washed out, but will
be replaced with very little work.
Wooden walks in different parts of the
city were moved a little from their
fouddations, but most of them are al
ready in place. So far as heard from
no bridges were lost.
Taken all around the storm was not
so disastrous as first thought, and with
in a very few days the effects will be
cleaned up and Plattsmouth will be it
self again.
Incidents of the Slorm.
Lightning struck the residence of
John Schulof on Wintersteen Hill, but
aside from shocking the members of
the family, did no damage. The light
ning seemed unusually severe and de
structive, as fires are reported from
Omaha, Murray and adjacent points
over the east end of the state.
While endeavoring to quiet a horse
which was tied at the corner of Fifth
and Main streets during the storm,
Henry Stendyke was struck on the head
by the animal and severely jolted up.
The animal was frightened, and as
Henry took hold of it to move it, it
jerked its head to one side and struck
him with great force. While painful
the injury was not serious.
At a number of points on the street,
obstructions prevailed and caused the
waters to be diverted from their courses.
In each case the result was a series of
waves that mounted high into the air.
It was these waves that did the greater
part of the damage on Main street.
Where the cross-currents met at Main
and Sixth streets, and Main and Fifth
streets, a regular wall of water resulted
which broke over the walks with con
siderable force. It was quite a sight to
witness.
The fire which occasioned so much
uneasiness during the torm was a barn
on the old Jack Reed place in Mills
county, la. Lightning struck the barn
and it, with contents, was burned to the
ground. As the buildings are surround
ed by water it was impossible to do
anything toward quenching the flames
and they burned themselves out. The
news of the barn burning was brought
to this city by Joe Smith, who came
over this morning. He also reports
that the house of Solomon Rose, just
below the bridge, was struck by light
ning, but aside from shocking the occu
pants no damage was done. At Glen
wood, Mr. Bogart's house was also
struck, but no one is reported injured .
The Kraft Clothing Company began
work yesterday morning, transferring
their stock from the Morgan building
to the room in the Coates block, for
merly occupied by the Coates Dry Goods
Co. It is stated that this charge will
be permanent, and business will be
continued by this enterprising firm
without interruption.
The pavement which had been torn
up on South Sixth street by the Gas
company was undermined by the waters,
and it will be necessary to have the
work of replacing it done over. This
will not take long, however, and it will
be done by July 4th, certain.
Considerable difficulty is occasioned
estimating the loss to the hardware
stock of John Bauer. Owing to the pe
culiar nature of the stock it is liable to
much loss by water' and until it has
been thoroughly overhauled the exact
amount of loss cannot be ascertained.
The boys who rescued the horses from
Martin's barn had an exciting experi
ence, as the animals were badly scared
and were hard to handle. Fred Wynn,
Clifford Forbes, Roy Barkis and C.Funk
did the job and waded through a good
deal of water doing so.
The horses from Wm. Wehrbein's
barn were taken up on the hill near the
Methodist church and tied up for safety
during the storm. While it turned out
that this was not necessary it was
thought the part of w,isdom to take all
possible precautions. At this barn was
witnessed a devotion of a pet bulldog
for her pups. She was bedded in a
stall in the rear of the building and
when the water came in she took one
of the pups and swam out with it in
her mouth, returning for the others but
too late, the water having reached them
before she coula get back.
J. M. Leyda and Jas. Rebal were two
good citizens who came down town in
the height of the storm when the alarm
was sounded and they report a hard
fight against the strong current at
Sixth and Vine 'streets. They success
fully navigated the street, however.
Louis Egenberger did not suffer much
loss from water in his cellar, but quite
a bit of feed and salt in his barn was
wet up and will be lost. He is optimis
tic, however, and says July 4th will get
all his attention, despite this.
The back wall of F. G. Fricke's cellar
gave way before the rush of the waters
and he suffered some loss to oil and
other merchandise stored in his cellar
on that account.
M. Fanger,, as a precautionary meas
ure, removed part of the floor of his
storeroom, so that water might run
from it into his cellar.. As it turned
out, no loss ensued but the move was a
wise one."
Nobody wants to think that a hard
rain at this time will dampen the en
thusiasm of our people for a big cele
bration of the Fourth of July. The
Journal is delighted to note the optim
ism whicn prevails in this respect.
Everyone has turned his attention to
booming the celebration and the small
minor losses are not permitted to inter
fere with the big time. That is as it
should be. Whoop it up, and show our
visitorsjjthat Plattsmouth is the liveliest
town in the state.
District Court.
A brief session of the district court
was held by Judge Travis this morning,
and a number of minor matters were
disposed of. In the case of Whelan vs
City of Plattsmouth the defendant was
given leave to plead to plaintiff's peti
tion by Thursday morning.
Herold vs Coates. Demurrer of de
fendant argued, submitted and over
ruled. Defendant excepts. Leave
given defendant to answer by August 1.
Lee vs Hall, defendant has leave to
answer by July 15th.
Upton vs Upton. Sale confirmed and
referees ordered to mr.ke deed. Referees-
allowed $50.00 fees and $2.12
costs.
Laughlin vs Laughlin. Order to show
cause by Friday, July 3.
Churchill vs Thomason. Sale con
firmed and deed ordered.
State exrel Pickett vsGering. Motion
to make petition more definite and
specific taken under advisement until
Thursday morning.
Higgins vs Worley. Default of de
fendant entered. Decree ; in favor of
plaintiff.
Wunderlich vs Stoll. Case settled and
dismissed.
Interrupted by the Storm
A most delightful children's birthday
party was interrupted by the storm
Saturday evening the party being given
for Marvel Hale, four years old, by his
parents Mr. and Mrs. O. G. Hale at
their home in South park. The party
met at the Hale home at six o'clock,
there being some thirty-five little tots
present, all being under five years of
age, and for a brief time evertything
was the children's, the advent of the
heavy rain ended the merry-making.
V. V. Leonard, the photographer, took
a number of picturers of the gathering.
Burlington Main Line Crippled.
Reports from the country west of the
city indicate that the rainfall in that
section was something terrific. Be
tween Cedar Creek and Louisville the
Burlington suffered a big loss, the
terrific rainfall taking out the main
line, washing the rails and ties entirely
off the dump. All day yesterday men
worked trying to restore the line, Supt.
Bignall giving the matter his super
vision and using the engine of his
special train in work train service.
THE LOG ROLLING
AT ELHWOOD
An Immense Crowd Present
Plattsmouth City Band
Wins First Prize.
The annual log rolling and picnic un
der the auspices of the Modern Wood
men of Cass county, was one of the
grandest events in the history of the
county. This is the universal senti
ment of all who attended from this
city. The attendance was immense,
and not an incident occurred to mar the
pleasure of anyone. All report one
grand round of pleasure from the time
of leaving home until the great rain set
in the evening, which was quite as ex
tensive in Elmwood, as it was in Platts
mouth, and it is said that fully as much
water fell. The special train departed
on the return trip from Elmwood about
half-past ten o'clock and did not reach
here until nearly two in the morning.
The track was considerably washed in
places, and between Weeping Water
and Nehawka the train was delayed
some time in consequence of washouts.
There were five bands present Elm
wood, Eagle, Union, Murdock and
Plattsmouth to contest for a prize of
$35.00 cash, and the Plattsmouth City
Band returned with victory perched up
on their banners. Following is a report
from a special correspondent from Elm
wood: "At nine a. m.,the Elm wood hand
met the train from Lincoln and escorted
the delegates, including Col. W. J.
Bryan and the Eagle band, from the
depot to the park. Later a special train
of eight coaches arrived over the Mis
souri Pacific from Plattsmouth bearing
several hundred visitors, including the
Plattsmouth, Union and Weeping Water
bands. John Gerry Stark of the Ameri
can Exchange bank of Elmwood, va.
master of ceremonies. A male quartet
rendered a selection. Elder L. A. Chap
man of the Christian church led the vast
audience in the Ixrd's prayer, when Mr.
Bryan was presented by Ralph E. John
son, supreme organizer of theM. W.A.
Mr. Bryan spoke for an hour in a happy
vein upon the subject of "Fraternity. "
At the close of his address he immedi
ately took the train for Lincoln. It is
estimated that from three to five thous
and people listened to one of tbe best
fraternal addresses ever delivered here.
The afternoon was devoted to Wood
man drills, band concerts, a ball game
and sports for prizes. The game of
ball for a purse of $35 was played by
Elmwood and Weeping Water, Elm
wood winning bv a score of 5 to 0. The
band contest was won by PlaUsmouth's
band. The Woodman camp of Wabash
was given a beautiful banner for the
largest per cent of members in attend
ance. No accidents occurred to mar the
pleasures of the day.
The above is a pretty fair account of
the event, with the single exception
that it failed to give th? P'attsmouth
drill team credit of carrying off the
first prize in the drill contest, and they
were opposed by one of the crack
drill teams of Lincoln, too. Hurrah for
Captain Ramsey and his boys.
Departs This Morning. .
Mrs. J. F. Lotz, of Lockport, Illinois,
Mrs. Stinson Hanna, of Chicago, and
Mr. John Ramsey, of Grinnell, Iowa,
who have been here for several days
visiting Miss Martha Rupley and Mrs.
J. W. Grassman, grand-daughters of
Mrs. Lotz, departed for Grinnell, the
home of Mrs. Ramsey, this morning.
Here Mrs. Lotz and Mrs. Hanna will
visit several days before proceeding to
their homes. They are brothers and'
sisters and were returning from a visit-to'
a sister in Kansas they had not seen
for thirty years. Mr. Abe Rupley who
had also been here to enjoy a visit with
them, ' departed 'for Union last night
to resume his work at the hard
ware store of Roy Upton. It was in
deed a most enjoyable and happy re
union. Off For More Pictures.
Yesterday G. R. Olson, of the Olson
Photograph company, received a tele
gram from Austin, Minn., summonsing
himto that point. The message wa?
from the proprietor of Gentry Ero. 's
Trained Animal Circus, who desired Mr.
Olson to take some views of their show.
From Austin Mr. Olson will go to Clin
ton, Minn., to take some views of the
tornado that visited that place Satur
day evening. Mr. Olson is kept on the
jump, but not aDy more so than are the
dozen ladies and gentlemen in the studio
turning out thousands of views daily,
which are sent out all over the United
States and foreign land3.
Mark White is looking after business
in the city today, driving up from the
farm near Rock Bluffs.