The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-09-17
oURious hail STORMS.
Hundreds OF Bird~ KILLED and Much
Property Destroyed Near Geneva.

Geneva Letter to the London Times.
Wednesdays hail storm, the occurrence Of
which, mentioned Ia my dispaieh Of that
day, has occbsiosed much greassr damage IL
this canton end in Savoy ,hsn the first &c.
counts led mo 70 suppose, The phenomena
that attended it we're both singular and i'm
pressive Between and o'clock 10 the
morning thunder storm Of extraordinary
violence, coming from the region of the Juta,
burst over thevslley Of the Lsman, having
is centre, apparently, immediately
above Geneva. For the space of
more THAI ~ hour the thunder aud
| lightning were inceHant. The lightning
wes of bright red color the flashes follows
| cd each other 50 rapidly that there was DO
visible solutlOn Of their continuity, All ibis
| time there WAS no down fall Then about
| 4SO two gr6at columns OF hail, uOacconpa-
nied by rain, were pr,j 7cted from the clouds.
| One seemed 10 come from tho west, by the
| Fort dc pEclue, the other from tho north
| west, by the Col do Ia Fauoille. In three
minutes the hsil was followed by heavy
| dowl-pour Of rain which clniinusd several
| hOuIs, bus in Ihoss thre0 minutes ineslcula-
bic jumsgs bad been done.
None OF the hail stones we're smaller than
hRz / nuts while many wars a. big 81 pigeon
oggs. So thlckly did they fall tbst
the halds in many places we're As
white ss in mid wi1ter, and IN the
afternoon, after twelve hours rain ard
sunshine, they lay on tho ground in heaps.
Even this morning they were not oil gone
*, nd frrt TIM nyht
by the storm nre utterly ruined. rbs gtoutd
was strewn in all directions with punches Of
grapes, pears. apples and plums, snt grape,
If ever SO eighty touched by q hall stone,
ia spoiled. After flw days exposure TO the
sun il begins to decay, and Is Of no use for
wine making Many Of tho peasants are in
deapar, for they were counting on the VIM
tegc, which was OF Sple0did promise, To
make good to them the Losses they have in
eurrod by the long drouLh. There vi" no
wind, aud the bail fortunately foil stfsgbs;
cthrrwiae the damage would have boon much
greater. Skylighta were broken, roofs dam
aged and conserva cries and other glas
houses almost destroyed; but side vindowa,
for the most par are untouched.
Tho birds IA may be supposed we're great
sufferers, At Colauges, on tho other side Of
tho lave, GOO dead and mullaied swallows,
ch,iilnchos and sparrOws were picked up in
the Place 7 Eglise under three plane trees.
in tho branches of which they bad sought
refuge from tho storm. Bsllerive also on the
other side OF tho lake WAS stiu moro unforIu.
nate; it was both devastated by the hail and
struck by lightning Many fac trees were
burt ssundsr, and the pieces thrown to a
distance Of afty PAGES. On Saturday last AT
equally destructive storm visited the district
of Merses. also on the lake, and on Sun
dsy pillar Of hail. as 1t is here lhe
cus.om 70 designate hail storm,
committed great havoc in the
Valley of Broie canton Vaud, The tobacco
plants we're nearly oil dc - ged, and Oranges
Alono IA email commune vi only 800 inhabi-
tants) sustained damage 10 the extent OF 40
000f. But calamitouG as these storms have
been, they are surpassed by that Of July,
/ 1875, when hardly whole pane of glIss wAt
left in the canton of GeneYe, trees were
r stripped of their foliage, and calves killed
while grsEing in the aslds, or the one tha
! foil fow weeks ago in Aargau. when the
/ hail literally plowed up the ground, smash
. iug ungatherod potatoes as though they haC
l been pounded in mortar. A gentleman
who has passed long life IN the canton MS
: iures me that the bsil ste ms of July, 1876
4 and tina! of last Wednesday were the mos
destructive that have occurred within hi.
recollection, and his recollection goes bscl
+ half century.