THE RAINFALL IN 1896—DOANE. 283 
water, and the rain falling on the 19th flowed off rapidly. Long 
Lake was raised 20 inches by the heavy storm ot the 19th in 
about 24 hours. The water level was 25 inches above the spill- 
way of the dam, while at Lower Chain Lake it overflowed the 
screen chambers and ran over the floor of the old gate house. 
Drains and culverts were destroyed, roads washed out and 
bridges carried away. Jubilee Road was excavated by the rush 
of water for a length of 100 yards, the road metal being carried 
away for a width of half the roadway and a depth of 6 ft. 
Heavy stones were deposited at the foot of the hill, while the 
lighter material went to sea. The main trunk sewer on the 
common was not only full to overflowing, but a torrent of water 
followed its course on the surface, sweeping through the gardens 
and down South Park Street, until it found an outlet at South 
Street. 
The Meteorological Agent at Truro reports about 30 hours 
rain on the 18th and 19th October, the greatest on record with 
regard to duration. At Yarmouth and Syduey the rain fall was 
light. 
September 10th-13th, Sydney reports no rain; Yarmouth 
and Truro comparatively light rains. July 31st, moderate rain- 
fall at Sydney, Truro and Yarmouth. 
Comparing the Halifax records by months we tind :— 
July, 1896, 8.729 ins.—next—July, 1884, 8.294 ins. 
Sept., 1896, 12.092 “ fe Sept. 1876, 6.094 “ 
Oct.,; 1896, 15.089 * a Oct, 187d; 99S Lee 
Mr. E. H. Keating, City Engineer, says in making his report 
on a design for the Halifax sewer system :— 
“The heaviest rainfall in a short time, of which I have any 
information, occurred on the 19th June, 1872, when 0.183 of an 
inch fell in half an hour.” 
He also reports a rainfall of 4.406 inches in 18 hours on the 
10th October, 1875. 
Our sewer system was designed to discharge a rainfall of 
0.38 ins. per hour, together with the house sewage when running 
5 
