Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-07-17
Buildings Unroofed, Trees Upturned aud
other Damages Iniicted-Ihc Festive
Lightning Dances on Roofs aud
Trees-Ihe storm Elsewhere.

peal succeeded peal in so rapid success
sion that the very earth fairly Nlbr4ted.
The lightning was so vivid and so |
continuous that the air itself seem
ed of lvid hue. The crash of the |
thunder and the liquid fire which seemed |
to stream down the walls of every habita- |
ton were enough to cause even the most |
indomtabe spirit to quail: and to add to |
the seeming peril Ui The sit atiUn the most F..
solid structures swayed to and fro in the /
arms of the tempest in manner truly /
terrifying. The tornado continued Il little /
less than half an hour. and the main force /
was barely spent when the fire alarm was
sounded from Il mill whistle, and soon the .
ringing of the fire bells fell upon the
already tumultous air.
Fire in One OF the shepard n Morse Build
ings.
The alarm was found to nave its origin
in the breaking out of fire in the Shepard
* Morse Lumber COM any's building con-
tanning their boilers, shavings store room
and machine shop. The fire caught in tine
shavings room, and was due to Il back
draught from the chimney caused by the
heavy wind. The fire department re
sponded with their usual promptitudc
ana large number of effective streams
were soon playing upon the flames. OW
ing to the Cumbustlble nature of the con
tents of the building the flames had spread
rapidly and had gained considerable head
way. Inc lre companies fought mantulIN
against the flames. but ON account of the
well known difficulty OF eXtnGushing fire
in Il mass of sUaViugS it was not until /
o'clock that the fire was under control.
The loss Will he comparatively small, and
is fully covered by insurance.
other Damages by the storm.
To appreciate the intensity Of the tenn
pest and gain an idea OF the damages
which it caused one needed only to makea
tour of the city at its cessation. The streets
nevery direction were streWn with pieces
of broken limbs, broken shutters, demOish-
ed blinds and debris of every conceivable
nature. On nearly every street in the city
huge trees, varying from several inches to
one and even two feet in diameter, Were
blown down. In some cases they lay
across the street, efectually blocking
street and sidewalk i'll several instances
trees were blown upon houses and
in many cases the tops of large
trees were broken off and taken
across the street out of the way. a large
number of buildings were unroofed The
root of the freight house of the Grand Isle
Steamboat company was blown off and
landed upon the deck of a sloOp anchored
near by The American house barn was
also uncovered. The large sign which
taken bodily across the street and left
upon the park. A large number of chm
neys were blown down and one fell upon
BlOdgett u Co. s roof, breaking Il large
section of it i'll and causing torrents of
water to pour into the rooms below. A
showcase was blown against one of the
large windows in b. w. Carpenter & Co. 5
store, breaking out large section. These
are a few of the disasters from the wind
alone which were noticed in this immed-
ate vicinity.
The Storm on the Lake.
All sorts of rumors prevailed yesterday
afternoon in regard to number of boats
being seen upon the lake just before the
storm arose, and it was almost impossible
to establish their truth or talsity with any
satisfactory degree of certainty. 1t was
learned, however, that three men started
to cross the lake in an open boat nearly
two hours before the storm and unless
they escaped by a miracle they unduubt-
eddy found watery grave. a fisherman
named Edward Vidal was out in a sail boat
just south OF the breakWater His boat was
overturned by the wind, but he caught
hold of the boat and drifted ashore, escap-
ing without injury. Mr.. COnger OF the
firm OF Drew * COnger, supposed to have
been upon the lake, had not been heard
from at Il late hour but beyond that moth
ing could be learned. The government
boat house on Juniper island was blown
down and the two row boats in the house
drlfted into the lake. The fog bell on the
island was rung and the steamer Reindeer
went out from her wharf and picked the
boats up, carrying them back to the island
The Festive Lightning.
Atmospheric electricity seldom leaves st
many marks i'll this vicinity us was tn,
case during yesterdays storm. a carter
in the north part of the city received /
slight shock and sank to the ground in
sensible near his horse, by which he haC
been standing. He fully recovered aftel
about an hour. Mr. Clarks house JUS
south of Col. LeGrand b. Cannon's wa,
struck by lightning, but no damage was
done save the tearing off of some slate A
large tree on Winooski avenue near Col
lCge street was struck and the bark wa.
torn in shreds. A horse attached to
load of hay on Spear street was instantly
killed but the driver escaped, and Hiram
Merhew, who lives about two and hal
miles from this city, had a horse killed
He had been handling the animal ant
stepped away few feet, when the horS,
was Killed. The fire alarm system wa
found TO have been damaged in ten differ
ent places and the repairs of the system
were not completed until O'Clock las
night. Telegraph and telephone pole
and wires were blown down and telephOn
instruments were more or less damaged
Considering the number of places i
which the lightning struck the fact tina
no lives were lost from that cause
almost miracle.
The Storm in Neighboring yicinities.
Reports from South Burlington shoN
the ravages of the tornado to have been a
great, if not more so, than in this city
Albert COmstock's large barn was blow
down. large number of buildings wen
unroofed, and orchard and other tree
were upturned or broken down. At Quee
City Park a large number Of pines wei
blown down, one falling across \. !
Baileys store and damaging 1t quite e.
'ensvely. DR.. r., O. Smiths new cottal
moved several inches on its foundation
and other minor casualties occurred.
THE STORM ELSEWHERE.
A Bridge Blown Down and Other Dan
IaIa rIaIIrx