The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1882-06-28
Thunderbolts B ON bardinR
Earth!

and that the perils of human existence are
amazingly increased within the recollec-
tion of even the youngest of our readers.
1t is less than score years since the
meteoric stones began to drop in suffi-
cient frequency to dispel the popular dis
belief therein. And not siBce the great
storm Of failing stars, which occurred
we believe in 1910, has there been SO
great prevalence of electrical distur>
bance. Comets and Shooting stars"
and Aurora Borealis, ana other astrono-
mical phenomena have awak ened remark,
and curiosity, not unmingled with un-
ea.iness, for twelve months past.
or late, the press has had 'Continu-
ed' chapter of electric casualties; not
less than so barns and houses having
been burned during the year in North
Carolina alone; while the number Of
deaths mas been surprisingly large. BY
the by, we note in the NewbeIne Nut
wharf recently. and that a man in Tren-
Ton, Jones Co., while carrying lamp
received shock which destroyed the
lamp, but did not njure him. The oil
of course ignlted, but was soon extin
suished. Camden county has had live
ly week. The Curoltnian Of Elizabeth
City says:
During a storm Friday evening the
lightning struck a house near Mrs
terebes's; a young colored man named
Calvin Granny stepped in out of the rain
v hen a severe shock was felt which pal
out the light, ard when the inmate. e
lit the lamp it was found that the man
was dead and the baby in the cradle Sc
verely shocked. The mans shirt was on
fire During the same storm the barn OF
Sylvester Forbes, near Shiloh, was burn
Ell hy lightning, destroying contents.
The house Of Timan Midget at Ship
Yard, was also struck.
A thunderbolt in Georgia destroyed a
locomotive house and several engines.
Another bolt tore in pieces the beautiful
Confederate monument at Columbia, 5.
g., a sad loss The same day, no less
than 30 oil derricks were struck in Penn
sylvania,
The incident Of fire balls arising
through the floor of Guys cottage at
Rockingham was being put in type when
the wires flashed the details of the ter
rife tornado at Grinnell, Iowa, where
large balls Of electricity flew in every di-
rection, burning and destroying dozens
of poor creatures, who doubtless imagin-
ed the very old dell himself at their
heels for their rapid flight created a
current and drew the volatile globes in
pursuit of them, and as soon as one came
in contact with their bodies produced an
explosion that rended limb from limbi
The accounts Of the tornado are shock.
ing, indeed The deaths foot up more
than 200. Many ladies were carried for
half mile A drove Of thirty cows were
caught up and dropping 800 feet, killing
them all. The storm-cloud came down
to the very ground like long black
rope. In many places, bitches were cut
to the depth Of three feet, in the hard
earth as if the cloud had been dragging
a plow point. The Editor of a paper.
who travelled over the scene Of the dis
aster in Iowa writes
Over 500 families have had their
homes totally destroyed, and there are
now at least !, 800 persons homeless and
in want.
The loss IN property will exceed So
900, @. @, and may reach S., 600. 600. In
the town of Grinnell alone over $4OO,-
600 in property was destroyed, on none
of which was there a cent of insurance,
as in the case Of fires. 1t will take at
least $500, 900 to put the people there
beyond need and distress. Many people
were bereft Of their houses, and not a
splinter as large as finger, not shred
furniture remained, and hundreds have
no clothing except what they had on.
Little children with both parents killed
were left 10y themselves manned and
wounded Every condition of woe cx>
lists that most tenderiy appeals to the
pity of the human heart, wounds inflicted
by the debris that filled the air like
chaos, by the electric balls OF file that
SCENE q to traverse every inch OF space,
md that exploded with tearfui fatal ef-
iects. Will many of ,hem defy all skill
and nursing, even "ith the tcndercsl
care. The fury OF the storm. winch
clearly of electric origin, and which IN
deed may be described as having beer
electricity itself may be understood from
the sta ement that at various places il
took up in Its great sprlals or iunneh
houses Thousand feet into the air, aro
took up and carried large droses oi cat
10 through the air for thous,T OF teel
and dashed them down dead in heaps
Many thousands OF cattie, horses, hogs
and other animals now lie in the trach
of the tornado, and are already rottlns
AMI adding TO the horror the ioul ane
prevadin. odots of putrefaction. Tn
horrors of the storm, the uhsreakabl'
cruehies it inflicted, and the PIT less "o'
of lis ccming N tie night when the deal
were not known and the wounded coui'
not be found; the sad state iii which /
has left hundreds of families before pros
porous, may not be described IN words.