The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-07-28
THE RUTLAND DAILY GLOBE,
A STORM OF sHEETED ICE.
A SWITZERLAND CITY WRECKED.
NEW YoRK. July 81.

New York July 81.
A correspondent at Geneva gives an ac-
count this morning of the terrible storm
which broke over that city NJ midnight of
Wednesday, the 9TH inst. About eight
o'clock few heavy drops { ram began
to fall, and at the same timA the whole
circumference of the horizon began to be
fitfully illuminated by flashes of sheet
lightning. But there was no thunder.
Once only during the entire night was
there any, one terrific clap of thunder, and
that was when the storm was Just over.
The lightning gradually increased in in
tensiiy, and lost its character of fitfulness.
1t became indeed actually and without ex-
agseration, continuous. The entire atmos-
phere seemed to be an element of flame,
and all this time there was not the slightest
movement of air in the streets. AT about
IL o'clock small objects lying on roofs
of houses were caught up and whired
around as by cyclone, and still there was
no movement of air in the streets below.
At II idnight the tempest came. 1t came
mainly from the Jura range, and
from the southwest, travelling in
that direction toward the basin of
Lake Leman. But as II neared the lake it
seemed to spread out into fan-likc form,
with front sufficiently wide to embrace
the entire city. 1t did not last much longer
than 10 minutes. At the end of it the city
of Geneva was wrecked as no army of be-
siegers cound have wrecked it IN the same
space of time. The storm came in the
shape of an almost compact mass of sheet
of ice, driven horizontally before the tenn
pests blast. In the first instant every gas
lamp in the streets save here and there one
spared by reesan of some protecting roof,
was smashed to atoms and extinguished.
But the city was not in darkness, for
masses of coagulated hail reflected the blue
light of the lightning in CHASTITY and ON
tories and residences were forced from
their fastenings, besides having all the
glass shivered, and bedrooms, staircases
and saloons were thus thrown open to the
storm, and in a minute or two half filled
with masses of ice, far beyond the mme-
date power Of the Inhabitants to re.
move, for the storm was marked by this
peculiarly, that hail stones, or ice
fragments rather, compacied themselves
| into one solid mass as soon as they fell
On the slope of the left bank of the river
Arve in the suburb of the city, the tiles OF
many houses were absolutely beaten tC
powder, and stout partitions OF wooden
plank were pierced by holes such as might
have been made by a musket ball. Three
persons were killed by the tall of a farm
house in the immediate vicinity OF the city
Vast quantities of small birds have beer
picked up, having been killed by the storm
and the bodies of several foxes have beer
found. Geneva is surrounded by pleasure
gardens and vineyards and market gardens
and these have been destroyed as if {
charge Of cavalry had passed over them, tC
the ruin aud despair of the poor and indus
trious peasants, who have invested the per
severng labor of years in the soil, ant
whose all is now taken from them as eff
fectualy as if it had been sunk to the bot
tom of the sea.