The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-15 00:00:00

On Thursday night a very heavy storm passed
over the metropolis from the south-east to the north-
west,
.which was accompanied with heavy thunder
and. lightning, but it was not nearly so severe or so
destructive as the storm of yesterday. The ther-
mometer in the shade yesterday morning varied
considerably, the mercury rising from 60 deg. to
66 deg. Fahrenheit in the space of a few hours,
while at noon, although the rain was falling heavily
the glass rose as high as 70 deg. The barometer
indexed 20.77, and the wind veered round to a•
westerly direction - About a quarter past 6 o'clock
p.m., the whole of Lendon and iss suburbs became
so darkened as to show that a fearful storm was
coming on. Immense clouds passed rapidly along
from the west towards the east. rapid succession
of flashes of forked lightning succeeded. In less
than two seconds afterwards peal after peal of
thunder followed, accompanied by heavy showers
of hail and rain. In the immediate neighbourhood
Farringdon-street and Holholsn-bridge, as well
..s on the Surrey side of the river, near the Thames,
the damage done is very great. 80 great was the
rush of water down the sewers that in several
places they overflowed, and the persons living near
had their baeernents filled with the sewage matter.
The lightning continued until needy midnight, but
with less violence. About halt-past 10 o'clock,
however, an occurrence took place at the Brick-
lane station of the Chartesel Gas Company, St.
Luke's, which caused some alarm. It appears that
the lightning struck one of the iron columns which
supported one side of a gasometer, or gas-holder,
situate on the right hand side of the yard. Owing
to the column having been thus struck the gas,
comprising many hundred thousand feet, became
ignited. Fortunately, the services of the firemen
were not required, for, owing to the admirable di-
rections given by Mr.' Upward, the superintendent
of the works, and the exertions of the men under
him, the flames were subdued in a, comparatively
short period. Fortunately no person was injured,
and no damage was done to any of the surrounding
property.,
On Thursday afternoon a storm of almost un-
equalled violence broke over the city of Lincoln
and the neighbourhood, and continued with una-
bated violence for 10 hours, A vivid flash of light-
ning illuminated the:horizon, and was instantly
followed by a crash of Thunder. Flash after flash
of lightning and peal after peal of thunder followed
each other incessantly for four hours, and during
the whole of this Vine the rain descended in tor-
rents. The water rushed dower from the steep
upon which a great portion of the city is built like
a mountain river, and in the lower part of the
town gathered •to such a depth as in numerous
cases to enter the houses of the inhabitants and
cause them considerable loss and inconvenience.
The storm, with one or two brief cessations, raged
with violence until three o'clock yesterday morn-
ning, when it moderated and the rain. ceased. It
returned"; hoWever, duling the afternoon, and con-
tinued in ere or less throughout the day. The
damage as yet cannot be accurately ascertained,
but ono thing is certain, the stauding and out-
lying crops of cereals have suffered irretrievably.
Farmers attending the market yesterday brought
woful reports of the damage done to the crops; and
other casualties attendant upon the storm. In
the marshy districts between Lincoln and Boston
the corn sheaves may he seen floating on the water,
which, viewed from the neighbouring bills, has the
appearance of an estuary. During the whole of
yesterday the traffic ou the various lines of railway
intersecting the county was much interrupted,
in
consequence of the damage done by the flood. - On
the Midland. Railway (Nottingham and Lincoln
branch), at Fisherton, near Southwell, a portion
of the line nearly a quarter of a mile in length was
entirely swept away by the torrent of water which
rushed down from the contiguous hills, and the
traffic had to be worked by a double service of
trains. The mail bags due at Lincoln at 5 a.m.
yesterday did not arrive until 11, and much alarm
was experienced in consequence of the telegraphic
communication being also interrupted. The main
line from Retford to Peterborough was blocked
during the whole of the day, the traffic being
worked by the Lincolnshire loop line without any
serious inconvenience to the public. Altogether
the storm exceeds in violence anything remem-
bered in Lincolnshire for many years past, and it
is to be feared the destruction of property is very
great.
An accident of a very serious character occurred
on the main line of the Grest Northern Railway,
about a mile south of Carlton station, between
Newark and Retford, at about 12 o'clock on Thurs-
day evening. The late heavy rains have had the
effect of flooding all the rivers and lowlands on
both sides of the Great Northern line, and a large
body of water having escaped ovesethe banks of the
Trent, which runs between Carlton and Newark,
formed for itself a passage across the railway at the
point above mentioned, and speedily raised the
rails and sleepers out of their position. A goods:
train and a passenger train passed over the place
bet ween 10 and 11 o'clock, when the water was
observed to be rising. A fish train from the north
arrived at the spot about half-past 12 o'clock, when
the driver suddenly found his engine siuking under
him ani diverging from the rails, carrying several
of the trucks with it, and throwing the rest upon a
heap. Both the engineman and stoker escaped by
jumping into the water, and suffered no injury,
but the contents of the waggons were scattered on
the line or thrown into the water. At this moment
a train was heard approaching in the opposite di-
rection, and before anything could be done to avert
the catastrophe this second pain dashed into the
flood, the rails rose and fell once or twice, and
then the engine capsized, taking several of the
passenger carriages with it and plunging them into
the water. The driver and fireman were pitched
over with the engine, and were immersed in the
flood, but were not in any way wounded. The in-
mates of the carriages were, however, thrown
into the utmost confusion, and the scene at this
moment was truly appalling. The night was
pitch dark, save when illuminated by flashes.
.of lightning. Thunder was pealing incessantly,
the water was rushing and roaring through the
bed of the line with great fury, and above all were
heard the screams of women and children, strug-
gling, like the male passengers, to extricate them s
selves from the carriages. Those of the passengers
who were entirely unhurt immediately hastened to
the assistance of their less fortunate companions.
This, however, was no easy task. The line was
covered with water, and on one side of it was a'
ditch, in which several persons were floundering,
some up to their waists and others up to their
necks. Two of the carriages were completely
smashed, and the people inside of them were
struggling and groaning fearfully. The tops of
these vehicles were ripped off as soon as possible,
and the passengers were drawn out one after
another andlaid or seated on the upright carriages.
Some of the passengers happened to have stimu-
lants in the shape of brandy and sherry with them,
which they promptly applied to, those in need of
them, among whom were two or three female pas-
sengers in a fainting state. A widow named
Robson was found with her two children immersed
in the water, the youngest of them, an infant in
arms, being with difficulty saved from drowning
by its mother, who bad to support it with one
arm while she held up the elder child with the
Other. By- the exertions of the enginemen, sto-
kers, and guards of the two trains, aided by such
of the passengers as were able to render assistance,
the flooded portiOn of the line was bridged over with
the fragments of the broken carriages, so as to form
a roadway to-the nearest dry land in the direction of
Carlton station. Messengers were despatcted up and
theraidanai to giiro warn.-
dovinthe liueinsearohoffiu

ng to approaching trains, in which latter respect '
they did good service, as but for the alarm, raised a
goods train would have run into the disabled pas-
senger train. It was about three hours before any
effective help could be rendered from the adjacent
tations, and in the meantime the passengers dis-
posed themselves as best .they could on the car-
riages. As soon as a fresh train arrived the two
passengers who were most injured—a person named
Wybarn, butler to a Mr. Prior, London, who had
sustained a compound fracture of his right leg, and
A commercial traveller named Lowe, who also had
his leg broken, and suffered some injury to the
spine—were removed to the inn at Carlton. The
„rest of the passengers were forwarde I to Retford,
where nine of them were taken to the Queen Inn,
adjoining the station, and the remainder pursuee
their respective journeys. Mr. Davies, surgeon, of
East • Retford, immediately attended upon the
wounded 'people at the inn, some of whom were
seriously injured beyond being severely bruised and
much shaken, and nearly all of them wore enabled
to proceed to their several destinations in the course
of yesterday (Friday). 'Among these was the Rev.
J. G. Hill, of St. Katherine's, Regent's-nark,
London, who spoke in the highest terms of the at-
tention paid to the passengers by the servants of
the railway company and the landlord and land-
lady of the Queen.
Throughout yesterday the utmost exertions were
made to put-the line in working condition. Mr,
Leith, the general superintendent, and Mr. Stur-
rock, the head of the locomotive department, were
in attendance from an early hour in the morning
superintending the repairs. Such was the force of
he current under the rails, however, that it was
found nectssary to leave openings at frequent inter-
vals for its passage, and it was considered doubtful
whether the officials would be able to get one pair
of rails into working order before th's morning.
At a late hour yesterday afternoon the pass mgers
still detained at Tuxford and Retford were going
on as well as could be desired. The Rev. A. Brook,
vicar of East Retford, in the 6ourse of the morning,
visited all the 'passengers left at the Queen Inn.
The through traffic between London and -the
north is at 'present being worked by the loop line
from Retford to Peterborough, but the flood is so
great between Retford and Clareborough that only
one line of rails can be worked, and it is feared that
this will not be available much longer if the heavy
rains should continue.
The Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line
is already blocked between Gainsborough and Clare-
borough from a similar cause, and that company are
working by the Saxilby branch of the Great North-
ern line.
About 7 o'clock on Thursday night a heavy thun-
derstorm, which came up suddenly from the south-
west, burst over Southampton, and raged with
tropical violence for nearly two hours. The lightning
was fearfully vivid and the thunder peals very loud,
while the rain fell in- torrents, flooding the roadways
and streets. At ,Woolston the front windows of a
house were broken to fragments by the electric
fluid, and a flagstaff on the adjoining ground was
splintered to pieces. A woman is said to • have
been killed by lightning at Shirley, but we under-
stand the fact that she died from disease of the
heart, probably accelerated by fright during the
storm. The heavens were brilliantly illuminated
with lightning the greater part of the night. Yes-
terday afternoon, about two o'clock, there was
another thunderstorm, but by no meant so violent
in its character as that of the previous night. The
rain fell heavily for about an hour.

LAW INTELLIGENCE, Avg. 14.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.-Aug. 14.

- - - -
IN RE THE SURREY GARDENS COMPANY (LIMITED.)
Mr. A. Jones, on behalf of a contributory, pre-
sented a petition for winding-up this company
under the Joint-Stock Companies Act, 1850.
The order having been made,
Mr. Jones observed that the matter would be
forthwith gazetted, and he applied for a day to be
named for the proof of debts.
His Honour inquired if the 28th of August would
do?
Mr. Jones said the matter was very simple, and,
and, as there were a number of actions pending, it
would be desirable to have as early a day as pos-
-Able. •
His Honour named the 22d August for the first
meeting for the proof of debts.
Mr. f. H. Carman will be the official liquidator.