800 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AORICULTTmE 



east of the station, da;iniaging the roof of one of the buildings. The roof 

 of the elevator shaft was also twisted from its position by the wind, 

 without being carried away. The actual property loss at that point was 

 about $5,000, but the factory was forced to close and the loss incident 

 to the suspension of operations will be several times the amount already 

 named. The tin roof of the building occupied by the Peter Lamp Iron 

 Company, in the center of the business district, was torn away, causing 

 a loss of about $1,000. Two large plate-glass windows in the New Put- 

 nam building, valued at $400, were demolished; and in various portions 

 of the city smaller windows were blown in, chimneys were thrown down 

 and roofs were damaged to some extent. Farm houses and outbuildings 

 were damaged or destroyed at numerous places throughout the surround- 

 ing country; and, in some instances, stock was killed. The total dam- 

 age in this locality is estimated to be about $30,000. On account of the 

 sheltering bluffs to the southward, no serious loss occurred in the cities 

 of Rock Island and Moline, 111. Telegraph and telephone wires were 

 prostrated in all directions, however, and it was late in the forenoon of 

 the 24th before communication with outside points could be resumed. 



Miss Lulu Ellison was killed near Erie, 111., a small town about 25 

 miles northeast of Davenport, when the house in which she was asleep 

 collapsed. Mr. Harry Brown, of Davenport, was struck by flying boards 

 and injured, though not seriously. 



APRIL. 



With the exception of the five days from the 7th to the 11th, inclusive, 

 when precipitation was almost continuous, April was a pleasant month, 

 and favorable for farm operations. The period of precipitation was re- 

 markable not only for its long duration, which in many localities was 

 unprecedented, but for one of the heaviest snowstorms on record in the 

 west central and northwestern counties on the 9th and 10th. Some snow 

 fell in nearly all parts of the State during the storm, but the amounts 

 were small over the eastern and southern counties. In the area of the 

 heavy snowfall considerable dam.age was caused to trees, and in Sioux 

 City, where more than 20 inches fell, street car service had to be sus- 

 pended for 36 hours, and telephone and lighting service were badly de- 

 moralized. Some of the snow remained on the ground for four days. 

 Another remarkable feature of the month was the tornado which passed 

 over Douglass Township in Madison County on the evening of the 2d 



Notwithstanding the fact that there were many cold nights, the aver- 

 age temperature for the month was 1.7° above the normal. Freezing 

 temjperatures occurred in all parts of the State on one or more nights, 

 and were unseasonably low between the 26th and 28th. The 30th was 

 generally the warmest day, when the maximum temperatures were 80° 

 or higher. 



There was an average of 0.46 inch more than the normal precipitation 

 and the most of it came from the 7th to the 11th, inclusive, but scattered 

 showers occurred from the 2d to the 4th and from the 18th to the 24tli 

 inclusive. 



