, 1880-04-25
THE STORM.


Freaks Of tho Lightning with Furn1
ture and Telephones.
| The storm era seems to have set IN will
unusual vigor during the last two days
| Night before last there was sort OF pre-
11de to the war Of the elements which wa!
to follow, and for prelude it made q mos
respectable showing. It came on shortly
after II o'clock, with thunder, lightning, ant
! hail accompaniment, and lasted prac
tically all night. Yesterday nom.
| ing dawned fair and pleasant, but
| the brightness Was Of short duration.
The sky was soon overcast with heavy,
| black clouds, and throughout the day there
was every indication Of more wet weather
ahead. The gathering deluge held of, how
ever, until early in the evening, when 1t was
ushered In about half-past BY intensely
vivid and frequent flashes Of lightning, sue
ceeded by thunder-peals that seemed to
shake up the universe, or at least that spot
III It,n It. set ,GSs Down o,-,sd on the. the map nap
the foods came, drenching everything
In their way, and driving people to chance
places Of shelter with the most surprising
rapidity. The flash and roar accompaniment
was kept up at Intervals all through the
storm, which, while Il only lasted for some
thing like an hour and half, did far more
damage than It's precursor of Friday, which
lasted about all night.
The lightning was close ct hand, and the
peals Of thunder which closely succeeded
a%est M1e a1gF f1fg yyd al %a aya2 tGa a @ eT @ A oS
O'Clock, Shortly after the storm set In, a bolt
struck the house No, 139 ForQuer street.
two-story and basement structure OF brick,
owned By James Dobney and occupied by
The roof aH' At right angles,. and in in
an instant tore its way down through the
interior. A section of the roof and the cell
ing Immediately below, about twelve feet
square, was torn to splinters. Entering the
played havoc With the furniture, jumping
from one piece to another, tearing each to
splinters, and making a deafenfng noise.
Finally. it reached good conductor in
the shape OF an iron sink bowl.
were so much soft paper, and in an
instant the flash was down the water and
waste-pfpes, which furnished It passably
good conductor to the ground. Mr.. Moch
%as ssgeIiy @ M a 1ad a nGi a9
received a severe shock, and was struck on
niture which the lightning sent flying in all
directions. The little fellow received a Sc
we're scalp wound, which Is not considered
dangerous. The damage to the house Is
estimated at $500, and to the furniture Of the
Moch family about 500.
A quarter Of an hour later, another bolt
struck the West Madfson-Street Station. A
portion OF the fluid ran down the lightning
conductor, but the rest jumped to the tele-
phone wires and entered the station. The
instrument just back Of Station-Kecper Ben
jamin's desk and seat was torn from its fas-
Jennings between the windows, and the in
strumcnt, together with the wires, was
melted SO as to be unfit for Use The wood
work back OF it was badly scorcfed and
chaIred. 3fF. Benjamin, one Of the veteran
stationkeept1s of the department, was i'll his
seat, not two feet away from the instrument,
and directly In front OF him were several
policemen and a prisoner who mad just neen
broughtsin. All miraculously escaped. How
the bolt found its way to the ground IS not
known. After leaving the instrument 1t does
not appear to have touched any OF the gas or
water pipes, and there was no wire left to
conduct It. Those present say that it flashed
out ten or twelve feet towards the
Stove, and although the stove bears
no marks, it and the pipe attached
NAV have furnished the means OF escape
During the storms Of the week about a dozen
Telephones in all parts Of the city have been
Knocked out by lightning, and people will do
we'll to keep away from these conveniences
during lightning Storm
In consequence Of the wires being burned
of in several places, the police telegraph
connection with the West Division was com
pletely broken up last night. The wires OF
the Fire-Alarm Telegraph were also badly
bunSled up, and two single lines were for a
time thrown out OF use The difficulty was
soon remedied, as far as practicable, BY put
ting IN .:grounders" at several places along
tho destroyed lines.