The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-12 00:00:00

SPORTING-THIS DAY.

CHELMSFORD RACES. THIS DAY.
CHELMSFORD HANDICAP.
Breechloader .~
Dorking
2
Flighty ........ ..
Five ran. Reining in torrents.

SEVERE THUNDERS7'ORII, RE..IIARK
ABLE ESCAPES.

.)
A severe (tFli onmd ter': ar
esphalsr se eld"orv2 air some parts of
these northern counties on Thursday last the sth
current. In some localities, as in the Banff district,
for example, the storm only gave expression to
itself in oceasional showers and distant murmurs.
In some other districts, however, it seems to have
been felt with peculiar force. A correspondent in
Forgue writes:—" On Thurday afternoon, between
five and six o'clock, we were visited by a thunder-
storm, accompanied by hail, or rather pieces of ice,
such as have not had a parallel in these quarters for
many years past. The thunder-cloud, which at first
appeared in the west, soon gained in magnitude, ac-
companied by a dull and lowering darkness, which
made the cattle moan in the fields. The dismal cloud
passed right over this district when it divided into
two equal parts, one taking a northerly and the
other a southerly direction. At this time the hail
was tearing up the ground, and the lightning
flashing from pole to pole, in all its forked and most
dangerous aspects. At the farm of Bogton, in pos-
session of Mr. Peter Forsyth, a cow and a ewe graz -
ing in the open fields were struck by the lightning
and killed on the spot. At the same time Messrs.
Forsyth, sen. and jun., along witk Mrs. Forsyth
and other members of the family, happening to be
standing outside in a line with the cow and ewe,
were all struck to the ground, but soon afterwards
recovered. The electric fluid next entered by the
top of the dwelling-house chimney, and on its en-
trance threw a stone at;eve a cwt. several yards
from the roof of the house. Taking a gambol through
the house, its first attack was on a metal pot hang-
ing on the fire, which it smashed all to atoms. It
next uplifted the wooden top of a bed, and after
driving it to splinters, made two windows share the
same fate; and strange to relate, a ben sitting with
chickens under her, the whole brood were killed
and the hen unhurt. The fluid, finally tearing the
papering of the room and breaking several dishes
upon a table that had been set for supper, took its
departure from the house by a back window, where
it struck a heap of stones, smashed them into pieces
like road metal, and at last sunk into the earth,'
leaving a hole several feet deep. After looking at
the havoc inside the dwelling-house, we cannot but
notice the Divine interposition in behalf of the ser-
vant girl, the only person inside at the time. She was
in the act of taking down the scissors from the win-
dow sill, when she was struck to the ground, and the
scissors she had in her hand driven through the win-
dow. The scissors were found several yards distant
from the house. At the same instant a large pave-
ment stone nigh to where she was standing was
broken into several fragments. We are happy to state
at the time of which we write (Saturday) the girl
is almost recovered." A correspondent in Glass says
" On Thursday night this district was visited by a
very severe thunderstorm, accompanied with hail,
which covered the ground to the depth of several
inches. A great deal of harm was done to the tur-
nip land, and where the fields were brae-set the
melting hail carried down considerable quantities of
the soil." The same thunderstorm, though, as we
have said, very slightly felt in Banff district, was
felt very severely about Gamrie, a few miles to the
east. A correspondent in that quarter says—" The
peals of thunder re-echoing among our lofty craigs
were truly terrible, and the flashes of forked light-
ning were very vivid. The storm, however, did
not last long; neither was it attended by any of
those unusually heavy outpourings of rain which
sometimes accompany a thunderstorm. It did not,
however, pass over us without leaving a disagree-
able memento of its visit. A valuable cow, belong-
ing to Mrs. Rankin at Middleton, was struck by
the electric fluid, and killed on the spot ; and seve-
ral large holes, the depth of which have not as yet
been ascertained, have been driven into the earth."
In the New Pitsligo district the storm was severe.
Our correspondent there says—" The peals of thun-
der were very loud, the lightning very vivid, and
the rain very heavy. The shower commenced about
3 o'clock p.m., and lasted three hours. During the
storm the electric fluid entered the dwelling-house
of Mr. J. Murry, crofter, Gonarbrae, and; after
knocking down Mrs. Murray and the servant girl,
it passed through the back wall of the dwelling-
house into the milk-cellar, where it destroyed seve-
ral dairy utensils. It then darted through the wall
of the milk-house into ,the cow byre, in which were
three cows, and passing one of them it killed the
second or middle one, a fine cow, and only a day or
two calved. The third cow like the first escaped
unscathed, and we are glad to say that Mrs. Mur-
ray and the girl, although much frightened when
thrown down, were in no way hurt."

The commercial advices from Australia by the
present mail are not satisfactory, business of all
kinds being in a state of great depression and some
very large failures having been announced. The
chief were those of Mr. William Rutledge, mer-
chant at Belfast, near Melbourne, for £90,000, and
Messrs. T. and C.B. Fisher of Sydney, for £260,000.
The stoppage of Mr. Rutledge is represented to
have been caused by a withdrawal of credit on
the part of a large firm to whom much of his
property is mortgaged. Among his uncovered debts
is a sum of £B,OOO for small deposits, lodged with
him by settlers in his district. Messrs. Fisher are
said to possess assets, valued at £310,000, and
expectations are consequently expressed that in
their case the creditors will eventually be paid in
full, with interest. They are the largest landed
proprietors and sheep farmers in the colony, and
their temporary difficulties are attributed to their
funds being locked up in real estate at a time when
a heavy fall has occurred in the price of sheep.
Their lands are stated to be of the best descriptdescription.At a meeting of creditors on the 9th of April it
was unanimously resolved to grant an extension of
time to the firm, and a committee of three was
appointed to assist in conducting the realisation of
their assets. The existing unsatisfactory state of
general business had been increased by an intima-
tion of an intention on the part of some leading
mercantile establishments to collect their capital
and withdraw from further transactions.

The dates from Adelaide, South Australia, are to
April by
was openedtlae 26.
The
Sir Colonial
olonomiaic
the preceding
ParliamentDiy,on
day. Trade continued extremely dull, and the mar-
Governor,
l n
Daly,
mar-
kets aro represented as being glutted with every
description of goods, while the agricultural interest
was also much depressed. At the annual meeting
of the Burra Burra Company en the 17th of April,
the directors stated that they expected to be able to
declare a dividend daring the present month, and
the shares were still quoted at £llO. Copper was
steady at £9O per ton; flour, £lO 15s. to .£ll 10s.
per ton. The banks bought bills on London at 60
days' sight :at par, and sold bills at 2 per cent.
premium. The shipments of wheat for England
had thus far been less this year than during the cor-
responding months of 1861, but it was thought that
they would soon be made more freely, as they were
full stocks on hand.
THE BRIGHTON MURDER.—FIood, who mur-
dered ono of his fellow-privates in the 18th Russel s, at
Brighton, on Sunday last, as fully reported in our Tuesday's
impression, has been committed for trial on the charge.

THE MURDER NEAR LAUNCESTON.—At the coro-

ner's inquest holden near Launceston, on the body of the
unfortunate man whose murder we announced yesterday, a
verdict of wilful murder was returned against Doidge, who
stands committed for trial on the charge.
THE MEETING OF CHARITY CHILDREN. The
annual meeting of the children of the charity schools of the
metropolis took place this afternoon at St. Paul's Cathedral.
On account of the stormy and unfavourable state of the
weather, the children, attended by their instructors and
that important functionary, the parish beadle, arrived in
covered van•. Thus the children were prevented enjoying
the usual gratification of displaying the different prizes they
had gained by their attention and industry. The scene
inside the Cathedral was ex.treinely imposing, and the
appearance of the children, ravaged around the vast amphi-
theatre under a banner bearing the names of their respective
parishes, produced a feeling of pride and gratification
amongst the whole of the vis'aer§t