The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-18 00:00:00

BIRTHS IN THE WEEK.

Males ...
Females ...

Total ...

... 771
... 694

...1,465

*ln this number ar© included 47 by Scarlatina, 47
by Typhus Fever, 201 by Diarrhoea, and 15 by Cholera,

SEVERE THUNDER STORMS
(From the Inverness Courier.)
Exactly this day six years—on the 12th of
August, 1946—we recorded one of the most terrific
thunder storms experienced in this district for at least
half a century ; and to-day we have to chronicle a
storm perhaps equally severe. On Thursday even-
ing last very heavy rains f, 11 in Strathglass, accom-
panied for some hours with incessant peals of thun-
der, and frequent and particularly vivid flashes of
ligntning. Oa Friday several loud peals broke
over the town; but were followed by only slight
showers. The northern side of the Cromarty Firth
was on that day visited by a storm which will be re-
membered for many a day. In the morning some
lengthened peals were heard at a distance, which gra-
dually lessened till about one o'clock, when the storm
was right over Alness, where for nearly two hours the
clouds discharged their contents with terrific fury.
The sky was so heavily overcast that it was almost
as if the sun had_,,set. Rain and hail fell in such
torrents tha; every road appeared like the channel
of a burn. Happily no accident occurred, except
the destruction of a large ash tree at Millcraig,
which was rent to pieces. A man sitting under a
neighbouring tree for shelter felt the shock. The
electric fluid on entering the ground, caused such a
convulsion, that it shook a cottage situated close to
the tree, disarranged part of the furniture, and the
occupant, an old woman, was thrown to the ground
either by fright or by the shock.
On Saturday, shortly after noon, Inverness was
visited with a storm of thunder unparalleled since
that of August, 1846. For two long hours the
flashes of forked and sheet lightning were followed
almost instantaneously by long-continued peals of
thunder. Rain fell in torrents for nearly
half-an-hour, and darkened the heavens so as
make the scene really terrifying. We have heard of
several_ cases of indisposition occurring from fright.
The thunder was so frequent that scarcely two minutes
west side of the river, il intervened between each successive peal. The rain
I speedily
the greatest
straoerneegtrlsy:
and forcing rinst
Seudffrapid currents in many of the streets,
loweritsrooms
way
w 'eTirdag'r a
vae theal, whi o h is de-
posited
into several houses, flooded the
much. The inhabitants living on the
r which is badly drained, were
int Tie whichatttehnedy to They uttered to all visitors
nddbemy ntahteorpyarotifestwhehomseadnunteyr
The Castle Comtaissiproper drainage of the streets.
threeactoe
necessity that necessity exists
of Bridge-street, in
County c au send on to
oSatuthre-
day the rain carried
at least a couple of eartloads pathway
Probably as much more conveyed into addition to
the cellars of
at the head
some damage
ty by the storm, w was
done to proper
the Commercial Hotel. Although
e are glad t
The • to
lightning
'Jamey of a house in A A
struck the chi Academy-street,
t,--
that we have heard of no deaths.
by Mr. D. Maclennan, solicetoe
occupied
sleeping apartment, setting fire to
Win-
dows, it entered a
. . o en ered a
and afterwards smashing the glass in two of the ri
before any great amount of da-
mage extioguiehed be
a portion of the bedclothes. Fortunately, the fire
admission by the
house near the Shore, finding
all aho th
it burst then wl.t
mage was done. The electric fluid als t
chimney, descending which, chest
of
fire-place, and darting across the room, y 1 a
The
•
drawers, and left the apartment by the window—a few
of the panes of lass in which were breken
electric fluid simgultaneously entered another apart-
ment in the house, by the same means, and bursting
the side of the wall, it burnt and blackened a clock on
the opposite side of the room, set fire ton chair, and
also made its exit by a window. It may be remarked
that in both of these instances the terror of the occu-
pants for thunder possibly proved the preservation of
huddled togethers
in a sin
some of them—the people living in the house becom-
ing so frightened that they had all previously assem-
bleduntilr room, in
rimn
inwatiocoh. they
height, lightning
dark remained
On Saturday the Black Isle was visited with a
similar storm,f accompanied with torrents of rain,
Nv,,,helioethk I,aasttewdhior three hours ; between twelve and one
.:-..h hour the storm was at its greatest
muirton, _ ning struck the offices on the farm of
and also burnt slates, sintl:2.l: Belmaduthy, and tore off a number of
checked the mill ; but happily the heavy
to part of thneg thnn to atoms; it afterwards set fire
great was the strenefore any damage was done. se
melted the irongt‘h* rain
of the lightning that it actu-
allywhich were attached to the
drain cover,
there
a piece of rope attached
thereto. Fortunately re was no person on the
premises at the time.