The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-03 00:00:00

HAIL STORMS IN SWITZERLAND.

The Geneva Correspondent of The Times writes under
date August 25 :

"Wednesday's hailstorm, the occurrence of which I
mentioned in my despatch of that day, has occasioned
much greater damage in this canton and in Savoy
than the first accounts led me to suppose. The phe-
nomena that attended it were both singular and im-
pressive.
"Between three and four o'clock in the morning a
thunderstorm of extraordinary violence, coming from
the region of the Jura, burst over the valley of
the Leman, having its centre, apparently, imme-
diately above Geneva. For the space of more
than an hour the thunder and lightning were in-
cessant. The lightning was of a bright red colour,
the flashes following each other so rapidly that
there was no visible solution of their continuity.
All this time there was no downfall. Then,
about 4.30, two great columns of hail, unaccompanied
by rain, were projected from the clouds. One seemed
to come from the west, by the Fort de l'Ecluse, the
other from the north-west, by the Col de In Faucille.
In three minutes the hail was followed by a heavy
downpour of rain, which continued several hours ; hut
in those three minutes incalculable damage had been
done. None of the hailstones were smaller than hazel
nuts, while many were as big as pigeon's eggs. So
thickly did they fAll that the fields, in many places,
were as white as in midwinter; and in the afternoon,
after twelve hours' rain and sunshine, they lay on
the ground in heaps. Even this morning they were
not all gone. The vines and fruit trees which were
struck by the storm are utterly ruined ; the
ground was strewn in all directions with bunches of
grapes, pears, apples, and plums, and a grape, if
ever so lightly touched by a hail-stone, ii spoiled.
After a few days' exposure to the sun it begins to
decay, and is of no use foil/line-making. Many of the
peasants are in despair, for they were counting on
the vintage, which was of splendid promise, to make
good to them the losses they have incurred by the
long drought. There was no wind, and the hail fortu-
nately fell straight; otherwise the damage would have
been much greater. Skylights were broken, roofs
damaged, and conservatories and other glass houses
almost destroyed; but side windows for the most part
are untouched. The birds, as may be supposed, were
great sufferers. At Collanges. on the other side of the
lake, 600 dead and mutilated swallows, chaffinches,
and sparrows were picked up in the Place de l'Eglise,
under three plane trees, in the branches of which they
had sought refuge from the storm. Bellerive, also, on
the other side of the lake, was still more unfortunate;
it was both devastated by the hail anl struck by
lightning. Many fine trees were burst asunder, and
the pieces thrown to a aistance of fifty paces.
On Saturday last an equally destructive storm
visited the district of Morges, also on the lake; and
on Sunday a pillar of hail, as it is here the custom to
designate a hailstorm, committed great havoc in the
valley of Broie, canton Vaud. The tobacco plants
were nearly all destroyed, and Granges alone (a small
commune of only 800 inhabitants) sustained damage
to the extent of 40,000 f.
But calamitous as these storms have been, they are
surpassed by that of July, 1875, when hardly a whole
pane of glass was left in the canton of Geneva; trees
were stripped of their foliage, and calves killed while
grazing in the fields; or the one that befel a few weeks
ago in Aargau, when the hail literally ploughed up
the ground, smashing ungathered potatoes as if they
had been pounded in a mortar. A gentleman who
has passed a long life in the canton assures the that
the hailstorms of July, 1875, and that of last Wednes-
day are ths most destructive that have occur el
within his recollection, and Isis recollection goes back
half a century."