The New York herald., 1874-07-25
THE COMETS DEPARTURE.

Phe Late Atmospheric Disturba n cess
Great Damage Caused i'm tho West
Tho Weather in Europe-The Comets
Influence Considered.
Now that the comet has taken It's departure and
Its future course must remain unknown to us, 1t
becomes matter Of interest to inquire how far its
appearance caused the unusua! frequency Of those
atmospheric disturbances which have been re.
Gently eKpere noed both In Europe and IN America
Electric storms have prevailed IN various portions
OF the couhtry, causing great loss Of life ana prop.
erry Meteors have been OBSERVED to al! and hail
stones OF enormous dimensions have u, terly de-
stroyed crops and even broken down the roofs Of
dwellings. A few weeks since Ironia, N, j., was
visited by storm Of wiad, Lightning and rain Of
such terrible iury that the collage was stripped
from the trees, poultry killed and few window. LEFT
untroken Later storm OF q similar character burst
over Bergen county, IN the same State by which
that section suffered considerable damage. The
lightning dashed in rapid, successive sheets Of
fame, the rain Tell In torrents, the wind blew al.
most a tornado, and hastones Tell Of such size
that not only glass but much less fragile material
sufYe ed. The tornado that on tue Fourth OF July
diyested 30 many Washington residences OF their
roofs blew with such fury as to sweep away
railroad bridges and to remove cars from the
tracks.
STORMS IN THE WEST.
Hall in immense quantities tell at Elkader. Iowa,
on the 9th inst Some of the stones measured six
inches round. The total loss of buildings blown
down and crops destroyed WAS estimated at
100000. Waterloo and GIibertsyille were also
severely damaged. On the same day seven boys
were struck by lightning at Indianapolis, one OF
whom was Instantly killed. Two sons oil clergy
man At PiainGeid Iowa, also lost their lives by the
snrne instrumentallty. At Dubuque on the II tn,
during storm, ball OF fire as large as q mans
head descended from the SKY into the street and
there exploded with o terrific report. All the
western part oi Kentucky was Illuminated on the
18th ana i0r nights previously with meteOrs. One
OF immense size Ie at Owensboro' and was seen at
distance OF dty miles while falling to the earth.
AT Winshan, Canadi. the sererest hailstorM
known for many years occurred on int 7th. the
crops through the country suffered to great ex-
tent. TIE same day terrific hurricane, accompa.
MED by rain. passed over Nepanee, ont. Much
damage was done to the town and vicinity. Sew.
eral buildings were unrOoIed trees were uprooted
and encuS leyelled to the ground.
On the other side OF tue Atlantic the weather In
England during the month OF June was remark
ape for severe rosts which had disa trous eject
CAUSING great injury TO proper and attended In
many eases with fatal results. On the 2sth nit.
EdinDurxh was visited with q thunder storm
which continued tnree hours, the lightning being
exceedingly vivid and the peas of thunder LOUD
and prOl0n!ed. torrents Ci rain lel during the
storm. at Perth there was heavy al o. hail.
the depth III some places being Ave or six inches
OF London was most severe The youae ioiiaas 'V Of
many piauts was destroyed, potatoes were black
ened in many fields anu gardens and the flowers OF
SUCH hardy plants as lilies anu lponles were
kiied. On two nights the Thermometer registered
"a degrees and sc degrees, with bitter northeast
wind. literally destroying all vegetation. The
q % es ssss Royal eecssT so4s
fts years, The rweed, 1t is said. has not been so
low since 1926 wabl coin Was 80 sioft o the stalk
IL was pulled py hand. The droughts have been so
hnq ,Nn
hnd tho cattle have suffered dlstresslngly, wnlle
tue TN ~easoHahle dryness has been relieved only
By destructive haiti storms. It IL reported that the
LVfth 0i Italy mas also suffered from severe hail
storms. some OF the Old churches and other pub
lc edihces have peen damaged during these tenn.
pests ana the stiee.s OF Milan were covered with
dead aud wOandea bigds dndng no escape from
the angry elements.
INrLUENcE or THE COMET.
II would be dtfNcuit To pass over these remark.
able meteoro oy.cai pien0nlsna without being dis.
posed to attribute their existence 70 the iDfueDce
o. the comet one OF the best maintained theories
concerning the nature Of comets is tnat they con.
s!st more or less OF electric ether. According
70 a recent writer on the SUBJECT the evf
the material OF the tails drst move toward
the $40 aaa u .aen repelled lroa! T. AS.
sumo the irath ol ths theory. andlwe have a
ana with an enormous volume in breadth ana
thesneSs rassnh5g t9wards the earth at the terrnc
asks this writer, that our own little stock OF cleo
triclty may be somewhat disturbed oy this visitor9
so disturbed 10 TACT that thc natural result
recently taken place And this again suggests
that comets may be natures supply trans OF elec-
triclty rushing around among the planets and
leaving with each renewed stock OF this element
that plays SO imp nrtant part In our terrestrial
economy; Now that our bril- liant visitor Is pass
ing rapidly away into unknown spheres and Is not
expected ever to reiurp. alarm as to hurricanes,
ssarthauakes I. & @ tornsd"cs thander lightning aud
tailed meteor appears Ia the sky.
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