, 1860-08-17

Losa OF Life and Great Distraction Of
Property

[Froa tho Philadelphia rlc4s OF Tuestsy.I
The long drought has at last been broken in
upon, but with violence which has not atoned
Tor the withsred crops aad the reign Of dust
aud heat A: noon the clouds seemed to dis
charge, Ct q single Summons, their accumulated
volumes of water, md the biz drops came down,
10! tue whole afternoon, in almost n1iatermlt-
ted fall.
The streets were like currents cf turbid foam.
The tide soon rosa over the curbs and flooded
the broad pavements. Pedestrians Looked from
th-lr dooss'eps upon the drifting leaves and
planEs. in doubt whether the Delaware and the
Schuy xii Fere rot mioRliag their waters and
seeking interconmunicatlo1 through the medi.
nu OF the city Streets 4 hiogle moments ex-
posture secur,d thorough soaking, and the
rain seemed to strike through tue stoutest gar
mtats Ike shower Of steel. chilling every
neF;e, aod tinting the cheeks with hectic
lush. hut these petty discom6tuIes palet
when the 1iliags Of destruction came over the
wires; Of BLASTED trees and shi1ered dwellings;
deG1ol'shed fences and swollen streams; lives
lost and limbs splintered.
In the morning, about eleven O'Clock, u fatal
accident happened on Filbers street. 4 lad
named James Scksou was struck On the head
by u p.sce Of scantiing blown from scatfo!d
erected On the new Market building, INJECTING
wound from which he died in about fifteen
minutes.
IL the afternoon. during The heavy rain, about
forty feet Of the battlemens er parapet wall, on
the west sid. If the Few Farmers Market, near
the line OF Narke: street, below Twelfth. fell to
tie ground with heavy cra>b. The wall was
green, ana rot sufficiently reasoned, and the
leaTy rain and immense mass Of rain falling
upon the roo, forced it out~ards. The base
m-nt Of the Franklin Market, On Tenth street,
between Market and Chestnut, occupied a =
restaurant aad d'n1pS saloon, Was ove1f ,sed ut
An early holr in til. aftrsnonn. The water Gu
Tenth street aud Marble street rose over the
pavement, aud ran lu perfect hood into the
basement st every openiuS. About O'Clock a
CHURCH on Nineteenth street was struck BY
lightning. and get on Ere. but was soon exsin.
nue WAS also slightly damaged, aad the tag
staa OF tue Ii Pierre uouss on Broad street,
was st3u; c10 shattered into thousand pieces,
and the fl = Itself torn ioto rio55cs. The buiid-
i:E, hawe7ey, was not mac. injured.
The culver: ca Crisls,a stree: cAved in in
several places as did a]ao the cuIvez& On Fourth
street ard South Third street.
The vivid al>hss ct lightning ard quick
rsttsloK peals of thunder, set med to be part1cu-
larry violent in the ~5stern portion af tha First
Ward, ia the neighb arhood Of the United States
Ar'enal. Some Ct the Residents Of that locality
terrific The h1usss for mile round fairly
tremeled as each successive bait descended,
aud the CONSERVATION Among the iuh4b!tAnts
was very great. Indeed, naas who previous
to :h's had declared tia: they 'wsre NOS afraid
Ct i2htcirS." ttooi appalled, at the mighty war
OF :Le elements. Several pcsp!e were struck
end rendered inscusibe, aud James Hughes,
II years old. WAS instantly killed.
On Thirteenth street, between Shippen and
FitzwIter, the cellars Of the houses on both
sides were orer1owed. thu wafer fill:ng Ill
the m'ddte OF the street, AID running over the
paremen.s. Much dansg ge rs d,bc-
During the afternoon, The Star Cotton Mill, at
Hope and Jtfe 'son streets, was obliged 10 aus.
pend operations, owin. 10 the rain water i >w-
ing IN Ter the boilers, aud pat,i1g oas the hres.
The press room Of the U1i y 4Strs was also
nouced 20 such an extent that they were oblik-
I'd to sl:rcsd operations. Tie steam tire en-
g'nss were em2'cJed through the night in
pumping out cellars and bzscu,eats.