The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-05 00:00:00

THUNDER STORM.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.
(From our Evening Edition of Last Night.)
About seven o'clock yesterday morning, a fire broke
out in the steeple of old Streatham church, situated at
the corner of Tooting Common-lane, on the High Cro3-
don-road. From inquiries made on the spot it appears
that the alarm was raised by one of the police, who
states that shortly after the storm commenced lie (Its.

tinctly saw the lightning strike the steeple, and for an
instant the whole of the steeple and tower presented a
most extraordinary appearance. Soon after this he per-
ceived that the steeple was on fire, and before he had
time to give the alarm the flames illuminated the coun-
try around. At this period the storm was at its height.
Messengers were despatched to London for the as-
sistance of the fire-engines, but the intelligence did not
reach the ears of the brigade till half-past eight o'clock.
The engines belonging to the Waterloo road and Sauth-
wark-bridge-road stations were instantly despatched to
the spot, but by the time they reached the fire the steeple
was wholly destroyed, and the flames were descending
into the belfry of the tower, and also into the body of
the church. The firemen, obtaining a good supply of
water, got the engines into immediate operation and
conveyed the hose on to the roof, and after very great
exertion succeeded in saving the tower and the rest of

the sacred edifice. The fire was wholly subdued by
nine o'clock, and all danger was at an end. The dc•
struction of the steeple is stated to cause a loss of 5001.
The church is insured in the Union Fire-office to the
amount of 3,0001.

The storm did considerable damage in the eastern
part of the town. A great portion of the clock tower
of Spitalfields Church has received so much injury from
being struck by the lightning that it is stated it will
have to be pulled down and rebuilt. The bells could
not be set in motion yests:rday owing to the damage
they have sustained, beside which a portion of
the roof of the belfry has been greatly injured.
Crowds were collected around the church during the
day, and numbers of persons who intended visiting
church for Divine service, on 'roaring what had hap-
pened, returned home, being afraid to enter. Although
the church was open as usual, the congregation did not
exceed more than fif'ty persons. The roof of the house
of Mr. Jacquard, scalemaker, at the corner of kVood-
street, near the church, also received damage.
The storm appears to have been pretty general. A
Brighton correspondent, under yesterday's date, says,
" Between seven and eight o'clock this morning we
were visited with a violent storm of lightning, hail, and
rain, and this afternoon we bad a snow-storm of short
duration."

A Windsor correspondent also says a violent thunder-
storm passed over , Windsor at a quarter before seven
o'clock, accompanied by a heavy full of hail and snow.
During the height of the thunder-storm yester-
diy morning, a very respectably-dressed man, named
Jones, was struck down by the lightning, in Meet-
street, but happily received no injury. Shortly
after seven o'clock a poor woman, named Andrews,
while crossing the fields at the back of Kennington-com-
mon, was struck by the electric fluid, by which her
bonnet and cloak were much burnt, but she providen.
Bally escaped without any injury. Abut the same
time a fine youth, aged 12 years, named 11twlinson, was
knocked down by the lightning near the Surrey The-
atre ; his hair and jacket were touch scorched, but he
fortunately received no other injury.

SHOCKING ACCIDENTS ON THE
LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY.

BRIGHTON, JAN. 3. —At an early hour yesterday (Sa-
turday) morning information was brought into the town by
the market-gardeners that a lamentable accident had taken
plate on the works of the London and Brighton Railway,
by which the lives cf three persons were sacrificed. On
inquiry we gathered the following particulars: —At Hay.
ward's Heath, :sear Cuckfield, a driftway had been made
through a large mound of earth, and an arch composed of
wood had been temporarily constructed, sufficiently high to
allow the engine to pass through. Oa Friday afternoon
the engineer and stoker were about to pass through the
archway with a train of empty waggons, but owing to the
breaking up of the frost the earth had sunk and a portion
of the woodwork with it, so as to offer an obstruction to
tho progress of the engine, and unfortunately the ob-
struction was not seen by the engineer, and the tender
which preceded the engine came violently in contact with
it, and the consequence was the tender was forced off
the line, dragging the engine after it, and almost in-
stantly it removed Another portion of the woodwork, when
an immense quantity of superincumbent earth folded in
upon the engine, burying the engineer and the stoker,
and stopping the engine. Several pc: sons were present
ready to render assistance, and we regret to add that one
man wc. s suffocated by the steam in his attempt to get the
other two unfortunate men from the earth. We under-
stand that a considerable time elapsed before the bodies of
tlie engineer and stoker were got out, when they were
both dead.

A second accident of a more serious nature was re-
ported to have taken place a few miles beyond Hayward's
Heath, by which several lives arc said to have been sa-
crificed. The report states that seventeen men were
buried by a fall of earth, and that, when a person came
from the neighbourhood where the accident happened,
six bodies had been dug out. ‘Ve have no means of au-
thenticating the latter particulars, but we believe there is
no doubt of the truth of the first accident. It is even said
that a third accideat has t..ken place further up the road.
Since the commencement of the works on this line the
railroad has furnished the Sussex County Hospital with
between 300 and 400 accidents, and we believe that about
seventy or eighty lives have been lust, exclusively of the
accidents above mentioned.

TILE WEATHER IN CORNWALL.-During
the past week this county has been visited by heavy falls
of snow, so much so as to render travelling impossible in
some places where it has drifted ; the frost has also been
very severe, and strong north-east winds prevailing. Such
inclement weather for the proverbially mild temperature of
Penzance and west Cornwall generally bas not been known
for many years. The London and northern mails have
been silt or 1404 hours behind time. A considerable
quantity of wild fowl has been shot in the neighbourhood
of Marazion, Penzance, and sold very cheap—wild
ducks, 2s. per brace; teal, Is. ditto; and snipes, 2d. and
3d. each. To-day (Thursday) the wind has veered round,
snow entirely gone, and all vestige of the late severe
weather disappeared—the sun shining, with quite a fine
summer ternperatute.