The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-07-10 00:00:00

THUNDER-STORM IN THE MG WANDS.

The long tract of dry weather, which may be said to have con.
tinued from seed time, there having been since only some partial
showers, about the end of last month, has at length been inter-
rupted. The heat still continues excessive. The thermometer has
for some time been above HO in the shade, and during the past Week
has sometimes been even so high as 116, with a northern exposure.
Tuesday Wait Very sultry, the clouds seemed highly charged with
electricity. diatint thunder was heard from the,south, a few drops
of rain fell, and expectation was on tiptoe; but another day passed
over without the much wished-for moisture. On ‘Vednesday fore.
noon thunder was heard in the distance in a northerly direction ;
during the day it approached nearer, and about six o'clock in the
afternoon a skirt of the cloud passed ever this place; there were
several loud clap% of thunder, and vivid flashes of lightning, and
the rain fell in such torrents, that in a few minutes streams were
running down the streets, which inundated low-lying houses, and I
ploughed up the roads where there was any declivity. The rain
! did not last long, and did not extend far to the west. The eland
passed towards the east, and we regret to learn that considerable
damage was caused by the lightning in the neighbourhood of
Nairn; we subjoin a letter, giving some interesting particulars.
At Moyball the thunder reverberated by the surrounding hills was
tremendous ; it was there accompanied by showers of rain, hail,
snow. and ice. which caused much devastation, breaking all the'
windows in the mansion, and, cutting the stems of the corn and
potatoes, destroyed the crops. Yesterday and to-day distant thun-
der was again heard ; it traverses the country, distributing the rain
in its comae. Harvest will be very early, and it is hoped that there
will be abundance for the food of man ; but, as we formerly stated,
hay and straw will be scarce.
Extract of a letter from Nairn, dated yesterday :—" About three
o'clock yesterday we had one of the most terrific thunder-storms
ever remembered. The lightning struck the house at Newton, en-
tered by the roof, and did great mischief. In the sitting parlour it
hurled down some of the pictures, forced open a desk, and smashed
the glass of a hook case and window ; one of the chairs in a corner
of the room was burnt to a cinder. In a bed-room opposite, a great
part of the ceiling was broken down, and the boxing torn in
splinters ! the other side of the room blackened, and the tables and
chairs were turned Pussy Curvy. In the kitchen a servant girl's
gown was burnt on her back, and a woman, who was sitting by the
fire, was scorched by the lightning. The whole house was filled
with smoke, and the inmates were nearly suncated ; the gardener,
who was entering the house with vegetables, was thrown down ;
but though there were nineteen persons in the house at the time,
with the above exceptions, providentially no person was touched.
There were a number of cattle killed in the neighbourhood, but I
have heard of no loss of human life."—lnveences Journal.

On Sunday last, a man of the name of Samuel Cromp-
ton went to bathe in a marl pit. near Chowbent, in Atherton, ac-
companied by a boy named Ralph liolme. The boy could swim a
little, but the deceased could not. Crompton unfortunately step-
ped out of his depth, ant! immediately sunk, mid in the endeavour
to save his self he laid !told of the boy, who with some difficulty ex-
triCated himself from his grasp. Before assistance could obtained
the vital spark had fLd. Verdict of Coroner's Jury•- Aleid :ntal
Death.