Storm Thursday Evening Broke Just Before

Six O’clock and Did

Thousands of

Dollars Damage.

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CROPS IN VICINITY

VIRTUALLY WIPED OUT

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Phone Service Badly

Crippled. Hundreds of Window Lights Broken.-

Deer Killed.

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The heaviest hail storm in the history of the city struck New Ulm and vicinity just before six o’clock Thursday evening. The hail was preceded and followed by a heavy downpour of rain. The precipitation was so heavy at times that it was almost a deluge. The Minnesota and Cottonwood rivers raised perceptibly following the storm.

Thousands of dollars’ damage was done to the crops in Sigel, Cottonwood, Milford, Cortland, Lafayette, Bernadotte and Brighton town-ships. In some instances the loss was total. Corn and small grain was literally pounded into the earth. In New Ulm in the south part of the city, gardens, flowers and foliage were damaged considerably. Many of the gardeners were replanting Friday and Saturday. The hail was so heavy that it stripped the leaves from the trees, and the lawns following the storm, were literally covered with a bed of greenery. The following day the householders were busily engaged in raking the refuse from the lawns. Streets were also covered with a bed of greenery following the storm. The street cleaning department had considerable labor to clear the streets of this refuse.

Streets and Highways Washed.

Streets in New Ulm and highways leading into the city were washed considerably by the torrents of water that gushed down the hillsides. City Engineer F. D. Minium estimates that the damage to streets in New Ulm will reach $3,000. In many places the catch basins were filled with mud, sand and gravel and this entailed considerable labor to place them in workable condition. Minnesota street was full of water from curb to curb and the torrents ran into many of the basements. The Lang and Simmet barbershops had several feet of water in them soon after the storm started.

Roofs Damaged.

Many roofs, which were thought to be safe, proved to be sieves during the storm. The heavy hail stones pounded right through many composition roofs and let the water into the rooms below. Tin roofs were put out of commission at many homes and on business buildings. The stones literally pounded their way through.

August Hummel detected leaks in his business block during the storm and sent his son for tar and went out on the roof in the heaviest of the hail and plastered the tar on the leaks and temporarily abated the effect of the storm. The wind was so strong that he had difficulty in not being blown from the building.

The roofs on a number of other business blocks and garages were damaged to such an extent that they will have to be replaced.

In the residential section of the city many roofs showed the effects of the hail, and did not shed water. House-holders had considerable difficulty in keeping pans and other utensils under the streams that dripped through the roofs. Roof repairers will be busy for some time attending to the wants of the residence owners in New Ulm.

Hundreds of Windows Out.

At Hauenstein’s brewery between 400 and 500 windows were broken by the heavy hailstones. The roof on the bottle house was also damaged to such an extent that it will have to be replaced. Some fifty windows were crashed through at Turner hall, and many were broken at the court house and water ran into the basement. The High school building escaped with a few cracked panes, but at the Washington building a number were crashed in. A number of windows were broken at St. Mary’s church and at the Methodist church some of the art glass windows were also damaged and panes will have to be replaced.

Hundreds of windows in residences were broken or cracked and are gradually being replaced. There was a general rush for carpenters Friday morning to replace broken windows and repair roofs. Glass was rather scarce in New Ulm following the storm.

Heavy Lightning.

Heavy lightning accompanied the storm and struck a tree on South Minnesota street near the A. O. Olson home and several bolts struck near the Hauenstein brewery, doing considerable damage to telephone lines in that vicinity.

Telephone Lines Damaged.

The damage to telephone lines in New Ulm and vicinity was the most extensive caused by hail in the history of Manager L. A. Mills’ experience. The damage will reach into four figures and is just now about cleared up, after a week’s time. Just following the storm there were not to exceed five rural lines that were working. That is out of a total of 44. Many of the phones upon lines that were working were out of order. Some of the phones, which were working the following morning have since been out of order. The “trouble” in the rural districts exceeds anything in the history of the local company. Not many poles were down, but the storm did damage to cable lines in the city which contained leads to rural districts and this effected the rural service. Thirty-four poles were down in the rural districts from trees blowing across the lines or from guyes loosening or from other reasons.

Damage in City.

The damage in the city was mostly from water-soaked cables. The morning following the storm there were 281 phones not working out of a total of 1,450. There were 85 wires leading to residences that were broken by the hail. This is something unusual. A total of 134 cases of cable trouble was reported in the city, while there were 62 cases of miscellaneous trouble. Lightning put seven phones out of commission, these are contained in the miscellaneous number.

Rural Lines Out Monday.

The following rural lines were still out of commission Monday morning, although crews of “trouble shooters” had been working since Friday morning: Lines 1 and 28, Cottonwood; 29,Searles; 39, Cottonwood and Sigel; 41, Cottonwood and Cambria; 3,4,5 and 38, Sigel; 17 and 25, Milford; 21, St. George and West Newton; 24, Lafayette and Brighton; 10, Courtland; 26, Courtland and Nicollet, and 32,43 and 44, Courtland. Most of this trouble has been cleared up during the past week and it will be but a few days barring another storm, until the whole system will be in its usual excellent working order.

Working Under High Pressure.

Manager Mills, the “trouble shooters,” as well as the obliging chief operator and her assistants have been working under high pressure since the storm and it is a wonder that service has been as good as has been enjoyed.

Veritable Deluge.

The downpour at Schell’s was a veritable deluge. The water came down the wills to the Cottonwood river in streams, which carried sand and gravel before them. A sand and gravel pile several feet high was washed against Alfred Marti’s residence, and the water streamed through on the first floor. Three young deer from the number in the deer park were killed during the storm and the famous California gardens at the Marti home were ruined. The grape arbor was stripped and it is unlikely that there will be any grapes this year.

The beautiful flower garden and grape arbor at the Marti home was one of the show places of the city and it is a pity that the storm’s ravages were so severe. The ruin is almost complete in the flower garden.

Storm Heaviest.

It seems that the storm was the heaviest along the Cottonwood river and across the Minnesota in the vicinity of Redstone. Crops were ruined in this area and a number of farmers were so unfortunate that their crops are a total loss. A number were not disheartened by effects of the storm and the following morning were out in the fields planting corn. This will make a forage crop, and if the season is late may make a good corn crop.

Gardeners Replanting.

New Ulm gardeners were hard hit, but many of them were replanting the day following the storm. The hail and the heavy rain be at the small stuff into the ground. The hail was much heavier in the south part of the city than in the north end. This was easily discernible from the damage done. At the Pioneer nursery there was but little damage from hail, as the fall there was light. The greenhouses of the New Ulm Greenhouses were damaged considerably. More than 4,000 panes of glass were broken and many of the flowers and plants were ruined in the houses by reason of the hail. The loss is practically covered by insurance, which the greenhouses carried in a florist’s mutual company.

Filled With Hail.

On South Minnesota street Victor Bartl is constructing a filling station. The foundation was completed and the basement was filled with hail, nearly on a level with the surrounding ground. It is estimated that the hail was at least two inches on the level. Some of the stones were quite large, and were oval in shape. Some of them measured an inch by two inches in diameter. The fall was driven with a high wind and window ledges were battered and bruised to a considerable extent on the north side of buildings.

Heavy Fall of Water.

According to Alex. L. Henle, local weather observer, the rainfall was 4.15 inches. All the low places in the rural districts were flooded and water collected there during and following the storm, remained for several days. In many places the fields were washed considerably by the torrents seeking the lower places. Some damage to the beet crop resulted from the hail.

Highway No. 15 Washed.

Highway No. 15, leading from New Ulm to Winthrop and which is of new construction, was badly washed between New Ulm and Klossner. In the hills across the Minnesota river from New Ulm there are places, where two cars were unable to pass following the storm. The loss on this highway is considerable.

The street committee of the city council Friday evening drove over the city and viewed the damage to streets. It is the intention to add more catch basins, where needed, and also add gutters along some of the side streets, where the water flow in heavy storms is greatest. This will in a measure alleviate the present condition.

Hundreds of Chickens.

Hundreds of small chickens and turkeys became the prey of the hail and heavy downpour. Fanciers in New Ulm as well as those in the rural districts suffered heavy losses.

The storm assumed cyclonic proportions in Sigel township. The well house on the Jos. Prokosch farm home was blown from its foundation and demolished and a number of trees were blown down, At the Geo. Zeig farm the barn was moved from its foundation as was the barn on the Mrs. Paul Falk farm.

Trees were also blown down and branches broken on both these farms as well as others near Clear lake. The storm seemed to reach its greatest height in the rural districts near this body of water. The crops were totally damaged in that vicinity. Sigel township was the hardest struck of any township, as all that portion that lies north of the Little Cottonwood river, was in the path of the hail.

The storm area in the vicinity of New Ulm included portions of Milford township, as well as that portion of Sigel township mentioned above, parts of Cottonwood township and extended into Courtland, Lafayette, Brighton and Bernadotte townships in Nicollet county. Crops were damaged by hail in each of these townships. Some total losses were suffered, while in other cases the losses were partial.The crops on the old Heymann farm are a total loss and the hail devastated an area northward as far as the Nic. Reinhart farm in Courtland township.

Difficult to Estimate.

It is most difficult to estimate the crop loss but from data secured from different sources, it is safe to say that this loss was not under $150,000. Adjusters are busily engaged in making adjustments of the losses at this time.

Some of the farmers, who had losses and carried hail insurance, follow: Chas. Ries, Nic. Sondag, Henry Mueller, Geo. Gieseke, John Karpen, Frank Wendinger, Fred Jutz, Otto Neidecker, Jos. Prokosch, Roman Kral, Louis Manderfeld, Henry Larson, Nic. Reinhart, F. D. Schultz, Herbert Ganske, And. J. Domeier, Louis Guggisberg, Emil Liebisch, Henry Gobel, Wm. Manderfeld, F. H. Seifert, Mike Kuehn, Roman H. Berg, Henry Holm, Fred Guggisberg, Geo. Portner, Frank X. Schneider,John W. Hillesheim, Robert J. Berg, Marten Brothers, Joseph Wech, Frank Hoffman, Ferdinand Peterson, Otto J. Wiltscheck, Frank Wenninger, W. Witty, Nick Thill, Robert Seifert, Otto Manderfeld, Albert Hinderman, Elmer Falk, Ed. Guth, Anton B. Meidl, Geo. J. Zeig, Jos. Grau, Hubert Portner, W. J. Kuehn, H. Knees and John Kuehn. The above is not a complete list, as it is impossible to secure such a list. The names included are those, secured from local insurance companies, who placed hail policies upon crops in this vicinity. Hail insurance was written by other concerns to cover losses in this vicinity also, but it is impossible to secure a list of these losses.

Storm Period.

Thursday morning a heavy rain storm visited Rochester and vicinity. The rainfall was a regular deluge and the Zumbro river rose to such a height that Mayo park was flooded and a number of the residences in the lower part of the city were surrounded by water. The power and light plant was put out of commission for a time, and thousands of dollars’ loss resulted from the storm. Another storm, more severe than the former, struck Rochester that evening.

The storm which visited New Ulm went to wards Albert Lea. That city was visited with a heavy rainfall, accompanied by wind, which caused damage to crops. The storm struck Albert Lea about nine o’clock.

Hayfield Tornado.

A tornado struck Hayfeld, in Dodge county, Saturday and wrecked the main part of the village, as well as doing considerable damage to the residential section. Every building on one side of Main street is a total wreck, and not a building on the other side escaped unscathed. Myster & Bekens’ general store and the Nels Alreck store were destroyed at a loss of approximately $25,000 each. Half of the Hauken & Frederickson confectionery store was blown away, and the new 875.000 Trinity Lutheran church was damaged to the extent of about $25,000.

Main street is strewn with broken glass and timbers, while many of the brick buildings have been shifted on their foundations.

Thirty persons in the Alreck store rushed to the back of the building as the front crashed in, one clerk narrowly missing being struck on the head by a falling timber. Fourteen men in the Aarhus pool hall rushed for the basement when the twister approached. Lloyd Van Riper dashed for the stairs with the rest, but when a falling cue rack blocked his progress he dove beneath a pool table. A section of the side wall fell on the table, but Van Riper was unharmed. The Rev. B. O. Johnson, pastor of Trinity Lutheran church, saw the tornado coming and started running down the street to get away from it. However, he ran directly into the path of the twister and upon seeing his predicament, took refuge behind the church wall. A flying board struck him on the head, but he was only slightly scratched. Tile and glass from the church roof clattered all about him, but none of it reached his place of refuge.

Phone Operator Escapes.

Mrs. Walter Klan, telephone opera-tor, left her switchboard and ran to the cellar just as the storm hit. The bay window in the front of the phone exchange building blew in and the glass was scattered over the switch-board. Ole Lunde hid in his coal shed, which collapsed over his head. He suffered a deep scalp wound. A.C. Olson, railroad employee, was carried a block and a half through the air and set down without a scratch. A team of horses was crushed to death between the upper story of a candy store and the Farmers’ State bank, but the driver escaped unhurt.

Dr. O. I. Refsdal, Hayfield physician, stood in his office, and saw the tornado carry away his sign. Seven persons in the Victor H. Sunwall home rushed to the cellar. When the storm abated they found the house had been carried away. Crops in a strip of country one mile wide and five miles long, south of St. James, were devastated by hail, which fell in that territory. The oats were beaten into the ground, and it is thought will be a total loss in most of the district. The corn was dam-aged, but will revive, if weather conditions are favorable.

Brown County Journal,

June 19, 1925

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