The Meteor Caught in the Gale
A local vessel breaks loose during a severe windstorm and drifts toward the bridge.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Meteor was blown from her moorings in the storm last night and was found this morning tied to one of the piers of the bridge. Her rowboat was lost and has not been recovered. John Shafer was at Walla Walla yesterday. He says the storm down there was a terror, so dark the lamps had to be lighted. Trees, awnings and signs were blown down and fruit blown off.
“He says the storm down there was a terror, so dark the lamps had to be lighted.”
The Columbia River has always been a force to reckon with in Kennewick. While modern dam systems have tamed the seasonal flooding and extreme variability that once threatened river traffic, the sudden, violent summer storms that knock out power and clear store shelves still echo the 'terror' of the gale described in 1905.
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