Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-04-24
Evenlng. Aprll q. Iszo.


Cor, 81. Louis IlmeS-J0urnal.
New ORLEANS, April IL You
have doubtless ere this been informed
per telegram of the last sensation in
our city, namely, the great hail
storm which struck us about or near
six o'clock on Wednesday evening.
April l6, and, with our usual felicit-
Gus habit of excelling in good or
evil" occurrences-we always have
everything worse and more of it than
our neighbors, save in the matter of
fireworks alone do we yield the
palm to Chicago and that other
place 1--WE hail our hail storm as
pre-eminent among all exhibitions or
demonstrations of the kind.
The air had been heavy and op-
pressive all day, contrary to expecta-
tion and our hope that the shower of
the previous evening would cool the
atmosphere, and all afternoon the sun
beamed down with a power and per-
sistence worthy of more satisfactory
results, and from 4 to 5;30in the after.
noon we poor, half-stifed. perspiring
mOrtals who had not as yet dined, en-
deavored to satisfy the cravings of the
Inner man" and to solve at the same
time the problem of its execution
without provoking streams of moisture
to exude from every pore and words
of impotence to issue from every
parched and feverish lip. But this
was too grave an undertaking for the
proves Of such ordinary earth
dwellers" as we are registered to dare
expect any degree o~fsuccess. There
fore we arose from our half-tasted and
wholly unenjoyed meal with an excla-
nation against the sun, so broiling
hot; and glancing alott at the fiery
god" as he still tarried in the heavens
with the pertinacity Of the usual un-
welcome visitor, We, in a spirit of con-
tradietion or sarcasm unusual, indeed.
quite at variance with our generally
angelic disposition, proclaimed the
approach of rain. Never were words
50 quickly verified Never was pro-
pheSy so prophetic, for scarce had the
petulent, unthinking words been
uttered, when, with the bright sky
overhead, down came the slanting
drops which resolved themselves into
a right sharp shower" and before
we had time to more than wonder, the
hail storm had reached us. A few
drops Of rain and a little hail. and then
the storm broke over us in all its fury,
and for fully fifteen minutes the hail
fell like rain in quantity, and we could
only behold and wonder.
w have interviewed or to drop
the shop" witnessed many a hail
storm in our jOurneyings through this
terra hrma' for two or three score
years, yet never were u eyes blessed
with such a sight as greeted them at
this time. When the storm had sub
sided we stepped upon a little. gallery
upon which our bedroom opened in
a space about three feet wide and five
long we quickly gathered two large
buckets full of hail stones of all sizes
and shapes. W. could just as readily
have gathered a wash tub of the hail
stones, incredible as it may appear.
right on this same gallery. The leaves
aud small branches of the trees were
stripped off, and many panes Of win.
dow glass broken, and some of the
larger sizes Of the hail was found fy,
or six inches in the ground i'm
bedded by the force. Several of tn,
larger specimens which we picked nj
and which were shown us, were a
large as hen eggs, and several wer,
much larger. We found several tina
measured from three and a half t,
four and a half inches in circumfer
ence and from two and a half to thre
and q half long. Several ladie
measured them by the length of thei
fingers. We have kept one bucket al
night and it is still half full of tn
unmelted ice, and fifteen hours hay
elapsed, and in this warm climat,
too. Verify, this out Herod's" Hero
himself, in the way of a hail storm
We have as yet been unable to gathC
any facts as to the length, breadth q
direction this belt took, for belt W
suppose it to have been.