The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-11 00:00:00

The Thunderstorm.

The thunderstorms to which reference was made in The
Sun of yesterday have been attended with a number of ac-
cidents. Between 11 and 12 o'clock a woman named Wil-
liamson, whose husband is in the employ of Messrs. Reckitt
and Suns, while standing out at the window of her house
in Pease-street, Hull, was struck by the lightning, which
had the effect of paralysing the optic nerves so as to pro-
duce blindness. Dr. Usher was immediately sent for, but
his efforts were vain so far as the recovery of eyesight is
concerned. Somewhat earlier in the day, on the Lincoln-
shire side of the river, at Barton-on-the-Humber, the houso
of Mr. D. Legard, in Junction-square, was struck by the
lightning, which passed through the wall into the house,
and smashed some of the furniture and paintings, broke
chimney ornaments, a pier-glass, tore down paper and
plastering from the wall, and then passed through the ad-
joining house and struck Mrs. Hopwood, wife of Mr. Hen-
wood, shoemaker, of High-street, who at the time was
standing in the room talking with her married daughter
Mrs. Siddons. Mrs. Henwood was struck on the left side,
and the electric fluid passed down on that side and seri-
ously injured her leg. At Sheffield tho electric fluid struck
the house No. 17, Scotland-street, occupied by Mr.
Alfred Morton, and considerable damage was done.
It appears to have entered at the gable end, near the
roof ; and, after displacing one of the bricks, made a pas-
sage into a bedroom, tearing and destroying the wall for se-
veral Met. It appears to have been conducted by the bell-
wire into an adjoining bedroom, where it smashed a baro-
meter to pieces, and damaged other articles of furniture.
The lightning then passed into the room below, and, after
tearing and damaging the paper, made its exit by the win-
dow of a back room. In this apartment Mrs. Morton, who
was lying on a sofa, was thrown on the floor with great
violence, and was much shaken in consequence. An escape
was made by the window, in which ten panes of glassware
smashed. Some damage was also done to the adjoining
building. In the neighbourhood of Stocksbridge the storm
was severely felt. About 12 o'clock an old man named
Middleton, a joiner, who was passing along the road, was
struck by the lightning and thrown down, severely injur-
ing him, and for a time depriving him of sight. At Brack-
enmoor, in the same neighbourhood, the lightning entered
a house by the chimney, and in its course destroyed a por-
tion of the walls and damaged several articles of furniture.
A woman, Mrs. Shaw, who was standing at a table between.
the hearth and the door, was thrown down and injured so
severely that her life was despaired of, At Birmingham at
10 minutes past 2 o'clock a shocking death from the effects
of the lightning occurred to Mrs. Duggan, the landlady of
the Beehive beer-house, Digbeth. At about the above time
Mrs. Duggan went upstairs to the attic for the purpose of
making the beds. She had not been there long when Mr.
Duggan, her husband, who was downstairs, was alarmed by
a loud crash, as if from the attic. He rushed upstairs and
found his way into the front bedroom, which was filled with
smoke. There was also a strong smell of something burn-
ing. lie at once called for a gasfitter, -whom he employed
in the house, who ran upstairs into the attic, which was the
room over the bedroom. Upon opening the door and get-
ting into the room he saw Mrs. Duggan lying in the middle
of the floor. The upperpart of her dress was in flames, more
particularly about the neck, where the flesh appeared to be
completely scorched. The woodwork of the floor of the
room was riven to splinters, and a large oak beam in the
flooring was also shattered. Mrs. Duggan was not quite
dead, but made some signs of recognising the parties near
her. Mr. Cox, surgeon, Digbeth, was sent for, but his ser-
vices were of no avail, as she expired a short time after his
arrival. The body presented a shocking appearance, the
bosom, chest, and neck being very much burnt. The light-
ning would appear to have struck the chimney of the
house, and passed through the ceiling, and on its -way
struck Mrs. Duggan on the head with the above fatal re-
sult. We are sorry to state that Mrs. Duggsn leave a
family of six children, most of whom, however, are grown:
but ex-
tended The storm was not confined to Birmingham,ar
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i On
Sunday afternoon
thunderstorm, and in Great Colmore-street a chimney was
struck by lightning and fell on to the roof of an adjoining
house. There was very little damage done. During the
storm, as a young woman named Caroline Everett, a ser-
vant residing at Hands worth, was in a train on the Great
Western Railway, the lightning struck the carriage and
rendered her insensible. She was taken to the Queen's
Hospital and attended to by Mr. Thompson, the house sur-
geon. Although she remained insensible her death was
not anticipated.

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