The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-06-23
rHE sToRm OF SUNDAY.
Much Damage and Inconvenience oa"'e"
fn Richmond.


fn Richmond.
The sun rising on Sunday morning. tipping
with its efficiency the spires and housetops
of Richmond. did not portend tho STORM 'n"'
followed The latter caused inconvenience;
DAMAGE and ANNOYANCE, and was perhaps OF
LONGER duration than any electrical suVI'
That has visited Richmond in recent years
THO storm came about o'clock, ana was pre-
coded by vivid flashes Of lightning and hcayy
peals of thunder. Another storm oIoNe OYER
The city about twenty minutes AFTER l,S P lcpqo-
cessor bad subsidized; Inc eiec.lle" or.sh ~
was binding. while crash after crash oL
heavens artillery lent terror to nervous
women and children. IT.
Perhaps the worst damage done was the
burning Of the dynamos at the po~er-nouSe
Of the Richmond Railway ana Electric CON-
panv. Two of these machines were burnt
out delaying the cars for several hours. ms
was very disadyantagOus and unfortunate In
asmuch as four dynamos were burnt out last
week. Before these storms there were nine
dynamos in use, but yesterday only three
could be run.
This was the same case Sunday afternoon
thereby inconvenlcnclng large crowd OF peO-
pie who had gone out TO the reservoir. There
they were. out in the rain. with no cars 10
carry them home. and many pretty summer
dresses and new suits were ruined in conse-
quence.
The dynamos cost about a 800 apiece but
the damage done will not amount TO that
figure. The repairing of them IS very tedi-
Gus piece of work. as all OF 1t has 20 be done
by hand, and consists of unwlndlng and re-
winding.
The Manchester electric cars also suffered
and were stopped for several hours. out lot,
tunately escaped any serious damage, hnu
people at Forest Hill Park had about me
same unpleasant experiences as the citizens
At tho reservoir.
The cause of the damage is the lightning,
which. running along the wires, goes into the
power-honses and burns the dynsnos and the
generators There is near each house what IS
known as lightning arresters, but from al ac-
counts these arresters failed to work, and an
expert electrician said yesterday that there
was a stupendous fortune for the man who
could invent an infallible lighting arrester.,
The telephones also suffered considerably
by the storm. for about seventy OF them had
TO be repaired yesterday. In some houses
the display about the wires near the phones
WAS beautiful yet terrifying, and many were
damaged TO such an extent that they could not
be used after the storm thus seriously incOn-
veniencing physicians, druggists, etc
The wires in the central office were also
damaged and corps of eight men were kept
busy all day yesterday repairing and arTang-
ms matters. Fortunately all damage done
could be repaired easily and last evening all
phones were in good condition.
The electric wires on the dynamo at Mur-
phys Hotel also received their share OF hght-
ming, and as a consequence gas had 10 De
used and people walked up stairs instead OF
using the elevator.
The wire of the fre-aarm and police tele-
graph suffered but little, and Superntendent
Thompson. with bis corps Of assistants, had
everything in excellent order by midday yes
terday
Besides on the wires the lightning played
small havoc in other parts OF the CITY IL
struck the Fourth Presbyterian church tearing
a portion of the chimney down anu damaging
the pastors study.
Mr. j. W. Brauers slaughter-house was
struck about o'clock. Only small damage
was done and luckily none Of the cattle were
injured
Just after the storm broke lightning struck
the rear chimney of the double frame houses
Nos. 25lS 1920 Venable street. There we're
about two feet Of brick knocked down. The
lightning then passed down the house, splln-
tering it near the ground and tearing OIL
considerable amount OF weather boarding:
A large amount of plaster was also Knocked
down hole was dug IN the front yard OF
the other tenement.
Lightning also struck in the middle Of Short
street between Pickett and Twenty-second
street A deep hole was dug, a portion OF
fence was knocked down, and mud spattered
in all directions
III n COlOTeU Clubhouse III odChNOi Wdlu
lightning came in on the telephone wires and
split a table. No one was hurt, though there
were several in the room.
The back of st. Paurs church was also
slightly damaged.
On Thirty first, between Marshall and
Clay streets, a tremendous ''washout' was
made 10y the storm. From the appearance OF
the hole yesterday it will take fully 800 loads
of dirt to repair the damage:
The sewer at the corner of Main and Madi-
son streets that has given so much trouble
within the last two years got IN some fine
work again on Sunday and the overflow
reached the easements of the houses at the
corner and damaged property.
The incandescent lights in several of the
mercantile houses refused to shine last eve
ming and TIE TMEs employees were forced
to use gas light in all the departments. The
TINES elevator was also stopped
Every ono concerned. as regards damage,
were busily at work yesterday. and il Rich
mond is not visited by another storm within
a week everything will be running smoothly.