Star.
London, England, 1830-06-16 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Mr. Alexr. Alexander, of Newtownlimavady, has pot
chased a share of the Ponsonby estate in the county of
Derry, for £48,500. There are 96 freeholders on this

Mate.

LORD DUNCANNON.—The Kilkenny Jotnnal pub
hshes the following letter, received by Captain Bryan,
the High Sheriff of that county, from Lord Duncan-
non :—Bessborough, June 3, 1830.—My dear Sir—A,
I am still kept here by Lady Duncannon's continue!
indisposition, and as I am unwilling any longer te
delay the presentation of the county petition which
was entrusted to me, I have taken the liberty of forward.
ing it to my friend, Mr. Spring Rice, with a request that
he will present it for me to the House of Commons.
need not assure you, that it is a subject of great regret
to me to be under the necessity of absenting myself from
this and many other important subjects that have been
under the consideration of Parliament during the present
session. I remain, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
DUNCANNes.
TNUNDLR STORM.—Sunday, the 30th ult. a slime,
of hail, accompanied with terrific peals of thunder and
vivid flashes of lightning, fell out, about Auchintoul and
Foggieloan, in the parish of Marnoch, more destructive
In its nature than any thing of the kind remembered it
the oldest inhabitant in that district. The morning and
early part of the day was calm and sultry, and the cloud.
lowring, and shifting with great rapidity, till about three
o'clock, P.M. when the southern part of the hemispheie
assumed a threatening aspect, and about four o'clock
a slight rain commenced. A little after a most vivid
flash of lightning, of the forked kind, was seen, and was
almost instantly followed by a peal of thunder, which, for
loudness and terrific grandeur, has had no parallel in that
part of the country for many years. To the thunder in-
stantly succeeded a shower of hail, or rather ice, attended
with a loud noise resembling that of a distant cataract.—
The hail, or ice, bad the form of a double cone, very solid
twards the apex, and were of the greatest diameter—the
size, most unusual in this, or it is believed in any other
country--the generality measuring from four to four and a
half inches, and some of the largest above five inches in
circumference. Such was their elasticity and velocity of
descent, that they rebounded several feet from the ground
where they fell. This shower did not last above ten or fif-
teen minutes, yet the ground was covered in many places
fifteen inches deep ; and notwithstanding the warmth of
the day, the hail remained upwards of thirty hours undis-
solved, retaining also the original shape. This dreadful
shower was accompanied with many other flashes of dis-
tant thunder ; and the vivid glare of the fire, mingling
in wild confusion with the hail, rendered the scene at
once awful and appalling ! The extent of the damage
occasioned to the district where the storm fell out,
has not, as vet, been properly ascertained. At Auchin-
toul House alone, there have been upwards of two thou-
sand square feet of glass broken to atoms in the exten-
sive hot-houses, and many of the windows in the front
and sides of the mansion-house were shattered from the
rebounding of the hail ; and Mr. 'Morison's beautiful
garden also has been greatly injured. The trees
were stripped of their foliage and young branches,
and the cabbage pierced through, like as if with grape
shot, and all beaten down to the earth. By the destruc-
tion of the glass over the green-houses, the choice collec-
tion of valuable plants there have suffered greatly. In
the village of Foggieloan every skylight was broken in
pieces, and some tile-covering shattered at the same time.
Alexander Chalmers, Esq. of Cluny, lost the handsome
cupola of his new house, besides a range of glass in his
green-houses. Many birds were killed in their nests,
and the destruction of young trees in the neighbouring
plantations is most extensive. At the very time the
above destruction was going on, a tornado or whirl-
wind passed through the same district, and was at-
tended by a like rushing noise as that which accom-
panied the storm. This tornado was first observed
near the Mill of Auchintoul, proceeding in a westerly
direction, collecting and gathering up the pools of wa-
ter, and straw, hay, &c. as it passed along : and at a
place called \Vhitemuir, it nearly unroofed the whole te-
nement of offices ; the thatch was torn from the roofs and
carried to an immense height in the air, assuming as
lit ascended a regular spiral form ; and was distinctly
seen whirling in the air, at Banff and Portsoy, a dis-
tance of fifteen miles from the spot, and the gene-
rality of the mass, among which was a peat stack,
was ultimatt.ly deposited about the Braes of Crombie
and Ardmellie, a distance of several miles. The fall
of the peat staca was distinctly seen by a lady from
her carriage, and, Croin its very extraordinary appear-
ance, seemed at firA liee a numerous flock of crows at one
of their extra gambols. Many extravagant accounts of
this very remarkable stone are abroad ; and although all
the particulars of damage &L have not yet reached us,
the above, as far as they go, may be relied on, as they have
been handed by a respectable and ;ntelligent eye-witness.
and who has unfortunately been a sixere sufferer himself.
IThe same evening, the lightning struck a hedge, about two
miles from Banff, scattering the earth in every direction.
Next day our correspondent visited the spot, and found that
the electric fluid had struck the ground close to a beech
tree growing in the hedge by the road side, where it had
torn up a large quantity of earth, the greater part of which
was thrown into a ditch on the opposite side of the zaad.
a distance of upwards of forty feet. The lower parts of
the tree were stript of the bark, and the wood perfectly
carbonized. Several of the roots were cut off and carried
away, and the parts remaining were split into a teausand
fiibres. The hedge and Bras in the neighbourhood at.
peered scorched. A person in an adjacent house repre-
sented the peal of thunder as being awful in the extreme.
and insisted that the house and ground around were vio-
lently shaken, as if by an earthquake.—A berdcen Journal.
DROGIIEDA.—It is announced that a Gentleman with
strong claims on the representation of the county of the
town of Drogheda will offer himself to the independent
interest on the first vacancy.
Last night a conversation took place in the House of
Commons as to the protracted state of what is termed
" public business," namely, the orders of the day and
the notices of motions—the petitions, and other miscel-
laneous matter having frequently, for many weeks past,
occupied the honourable house till eight and nine o'clock,
..i
to the exclusion of the said orders and notices, which Sr
R. Peel styled " public business." He added, that, as
the session was so far advanced, he would not move a re-
solution on the subject, but suggest that it should be an
understanding for the remainder of the session, o that pub-
lic business should commence at half-past five clock, to
the exclusion of petitions, &c. This proposition was
loudly cheered. Mr. Brougham admitted the necessity
Isoaft fifty h
some regulation
in eaocnh
week, thesu subject,
cit,looask,
looked back, though thheeycohual
could
not see that much business had been done ; and observed
that, after the petitions and the discussions were ex-
hausted, it was scarcely possible to keep the mental or
physical body awake to cope with other matters. It was
eventually determined that on, and after, Thursday next,
patrehsealfatron half-past
fureer petitions, o'clock, ttihetioSnpse,aaknedrcalshlooulnd2nptuebrrulicpbt
the
nem" One member said they must meet at twelve o'clock.