The Express.
London, England, 1868-05-30 00:00:00

SEVLRE THUNDERSTIMM.

NI:TMEEOUS ACCIDENTS AND LOSS OF LIFE.
Ycster..l.ty, al, utt nom), a violent thunderstorm,
arcomp.um,i by vivid and continuous flashes of lightning,
l•er-t oar, the metropolis and the suburbs, and, lasting as
it did to at least a couple of hour', caused conaiderable
ralnnrege ra property. The morning hail been hot and
iltry, and the imnis,:rattiona of the weather glass no doubt
tmreveatrail going to Epsom, for it 101.4 two
be•irmi bi fine a,:y min felt the glass pointed first to
,hango " then to "stormy." A little before 12
o'clock the sky. which had some time previously been
ovtreant, became adwuss saraldenly inky black, and the
clouds wire banked up in great masse',. '
dashes beet lightning changed the heatiness of
the clouds at short intervals to intense brightness, sod with
the flint m all of the thunder the rain descended with great
force, the first din:ras presaging by their unusual size the
storm wlmi :Ii followed. The rain soon descended in tor-
rents, acerarampaided by hasty claps of thunder and sheet
and forked lightning, and the storm did not cease till past
two ti a.luck. I t•, effect in time streets was very rentarknble,
and it in no e.::agg,ration to state that the traffic for some
time was sm..pem .1 through it. In a very short time, so
b ivy wan the rain, the gratings of the sewers became
',topped lip, and the roadways and footpaths were under
Water. At I '141,11.i. and 11alhain, where the storm was
t.ery sevi mrady felt, the occupants of all descriptions of
vebiz!es aI Intended going to the Downs to witness the
race fee I.a: 11AP preheated a sorry spectacle. All the
huge and srammall inns on the road were tilled with them,
many beim; ladies. Numbers of ladies who could only
get the protraction which the trees along the road
attorraled meat have been quite drenched; and
indeed thi; w.is mine than apparent front the fact that
ufrer the heavy lain had ceased the he ids of the horses
were immediately turned homewards. The lightning has
caused great damage to house property in the metropolis,
and ale,teil the telegraph wires to a remark able extent,
setting the bells in connection with the apparatus ringing
violently, and, to some extent, iliotrranging the wires.
serara.emni shnra'p were killed by the lightning at Streatham,
and n horse at Wandsworth. Two men were knocked
down by the electric fluid at Hammersmith sr d severely
injured, ale of whom yesterday afternoon was uncon-
Neuman. L vet night, at half.past six o'clock, a beautiful
fail.hoW PIA in the lo•AVelith _

Amongst the nth• r inci lents of the storm sent to us it
is stated that a man who brushes the clothes of the aisle
tors to E.,44/fn cons struck down by a flash of lightning, and
it was at one time fearsal that lie had been killed. He
was. however. tat, n away by the police, and restoratives
bating heen applied he recovered. A lady who gave the
I. me of It iy, living in Park. road, Peckham. was also
J....stmt.! in Ler carriage. In Rridge.street, Black friars,
man a p i tlited by a flash of lightning, and before
be could be picked up ho W.ts run over by an omnibus, hut
was not much injured. Clerkenwell police station and
court ware ROI far limier water that it was found necessary
to dig trenc! ea to let the surplus water off.
Fester -lay in .ining a terrific thutiderstorin broke over
Leighto❑ to led(-past S o'clock the weather was
calm awl ele.e. but with a cooling breeze from the mist.
At half p ,st s, however, atmospherical disturbance began,
.and about fifteen minutes later a dense black cloud came
.ipfrom the south• wept. The effect on the se Was Wine-
t'aing like that of a tropic al tornado, the calm water
being lashed into surf by the high wind that accompanied
the clot. I. When the wind struck the town it raised an
enormous quantity of dust, causing great annoyance to
the shopkeepers soil tradesmen who had their dem. and
windows open. At the same time the pall-like cloud
a...red the sky, awl in a surprisingly short space a dark-
ness settled down that neceasitated gas or candles in pri-
vate !maws prevented one seeing fifty or eighty yards out
ef doors. About nine o'clock the storm cloud burst in every
peculiar manner. A flash of lightning, a ■light rionbling,
then a single discharge like that id a great piece of ordnance.
The storm afterwards raged fora full hour. In many cases
the flash And thunder were almost ceueuv.ent:iinil literally
shook houses till the windows and doors rattled. The
globular form of the lightning was vividly apparent. In
the earliest cart of the storm the electric fluid struck
IVindleehain House, a large lyww* school, a onducted by
Mr. H. C. Meldin, on Furge-hill, at the top of Norfolk-
road. The building is detached, and has two chimney
■tacks en the western side. l'pon one of these
is a lightning conductor; but the fluid struck
the other stack is few feet off. It carried
away four lone aml heavy zinc fines from the top of the
stack, and tore off the slates in two plae:•s on the roof.
Deecendiii,g one of the tines, it tore out a register store
and displaced a mantelpiece in an upper room. It went
as far as the drawing-room grate, where it put the fender
on one aide and threw the lire•irons out On to the floor.
The clerks in the telegraph °thee at the lit ighten Railway
were eonipelleil to leave the place. Inspector Carpenter,
of the metropolitan police, ventured to enter the office,
hut was met by a flash of lightning passing from, one in-
strument to another. lie was partially stunned and tem-
porarily blinded, and did not recover for a considerable
time. Immediately the storm passed northward, and
while the detached cloud, were still following tile same
course a Lri,k under current of wind came down from the
same quarter, and continued till the afternoon. Last
evening the weather was again exceedingly sultry.

F1:11 .AY EVININC.
expl,sion, followed by at least two deaths, occurred
at a fog signal manufactory at lialtley, neatthis town. this
morning, in the l.d of a tremendous storm of thunder
sod lightning. Mr 1.111. , the proprietor of the manufac-
tory, saw that one of the sheds, in which a number of
girls were working, was in a bla/e. In an instant the
fog signal+ within began to explode in volleys,
keeping up a continuous furiiisde. As quickly as
possible font of the girls were got out of
•he shed frightfully burnt all over their bodice. Two
y .ung girls, scarcely beyond the age of childhood, were
burnt to death, the harries being charted all over. The
spot where the occurr. nee t,vok place being outlying,
assistance was not at hand at the moment, but it was
promptly rendered by the Rev. ranon I:over, of the
Training College. It appears that just prior to the esplce
sion the proprietor saw the lightning strike the ridge of
the roof.

TR EPi uw,au RAILMAV U.4.AMATIoN IN THE
Not 1H OF ENGLANl..—Meotiugs have been held at
Hastings, Canterbury, and .Margate at which resolutions
condemnatory of the proposed amalgamation of the rail-
ways serving those districts were adopted.

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commendation for your lain Killer. I hare used it in my
family several years, and find it all it claims to be. Fur
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price and us efficacious beyond any remedy within my
knowledge. We keep it as our chief family medicine, and
find its um in °Minify cues worth more than any doctor.
:tinny clergymen have spoken of it in the highest terms as
a family medieine.—Rev. W. B. JACOBIi late editor
r.lrcietieta Chronicle. To Perry Davis anti, grin, 17, South-
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I/ATLI