Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-06-19
The Dark Day in Canada.

In some interesting and graphic re-
minisences of Montreal some sixty years
ago, MIR. J. H. DOrwin writes to Mon
treal paper as follows: "What was the
strangest occurrence Of that time, or
rather the strangest thing that ever hap
pened in the history of this country, was
what has always been known as the sphe-
nomenon of 1879 On the morning Of
Sunday, Nov 8, 1919, the sun rose upon
a cloudy sky, which assumed, as the light
grew upon it, strange greenish tint,
varying in places to an inky black
ness. After a short time the
whole sky became terribly dark, dense
black clouds filing the atmosphere. and
there followed a heavy shower of rain
which appeared to be something of the
nature of soapsuds, and was found to
have deposited, after settling, a substance
in all it's qualities resembling soap. Late
in the afternoon the sky cleared to its
natural aspect, and the next day was fine
and frosty. On the morning of Tuesday,
the 10th, heavy clouds again covered the
sky, and changed rapidly from a deep
green to a pitchy black, and the sun,
when occasionally seen through them,
was sometime of dark brown, or an I'M
earthly yellow color, and again OF bright
orange. and each blood red. The clouds
constantly deepened in color and density,
and later on a heavy vapor seemed to
descend to the earth, and the day became
almost as dark as night, the gloom in
creaslng and diminishing most itfully.
At noon lamps had to be burned in the
courthouse, the banks and public offices
OF the city. Everybody was more or less
alarmed, and many were the conjectures
as to the cause of the remarkable occur
renee The more sensible thought that
immense woods or prairies were on fire
somewhere to the west; others said that
a great volcano must have broken out in
the province; still others asserted that
our mountain was an extinct crater about
to resume operations and to make of the
city a second Pompeii; the superstitions
quoted an old Indian prophecy that one
day the island of Montreal was to be de-
stroyed by an earthquake, and some even
cried that the end Of the world had come.
About the middle of the afternoon great
body of clouds seemed to rush suddenly
over the city, and the darkness became
that of night. A pause and hush for a
moment or two succeeded, and then one
of the most glazing flashes of lightning
ever beheld famed over the country, ac-
companied by clap of thunder which
seemed to shake the city to its founda
lions. Another pause followed, and then
came light shower Of rain OF the same
soapy and sooty nature as that OF two
days before. After that it appeared to
grow brighter, but an hour later it was
as dark as ever Another rush of clouds
came, and another vivid flash of light
ming, which was seen to strike off the
spire of the old French parish church and
to play curiously about the large iron
cross at its summit before descending to
the ground. A moment later came the
climax of the day. Every bell in the city
suddenly rung out an alarm of fire, and
the affrighted citizens rushed out OF
their houses into the streets and
made their way in the gloom toward
the church, until Place d'Armes
was crowded with peoole, their nerves al
unstrung by the awful events of the day
gazing at, but scarcely daring to approach
the strange sight before them. The sky
J above and around them was as black