The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-06-14
KILLED AT PRAYER.
Two Churches Struck by Light
ming in Spain.
AN ANCIENT CATHEDRAL DAMAGED

Zen Persons Killed in Ono Church
While Kiye Perish I'm Another,
Thirty-eight Others Injurcd-A
Terrible Spectacle-Churches the
Only Places Injured by the Ter
rifle Storms.
MADRID, June 14.-Terriiic thunder
1 storms prevailed in various parts of
Spain, and heavy loss of life and injury
by lightning is reported. The electricity
appeared to pick out the churches as the
objects on which to show its power, and
unfortunately it did SO while the serv.
ices were in progress. At Melias, in the
province of orense, the parish church
was crowded with worshippers attend
ing mass when the storm burst. Though
the peals Of thunder were very loud and
the flashes of lightning extremely vivid,
not much attention was paid to the
storm at first. Suddenly most terrific
crash of thunder, followed almost i'm
medtately by flash of lightning that
was binding in its intensity, caused the
worshippers to spring to their feet in
fear.
WHAt tnc Lt2nt ltevealcu.
Women shrieked in terror, and little
children clutched their parents in an
agony OF terror. For two OF three sec
onds after the flash it was impossible to
see anything, the transition from sud-
den brightness to extreme darkness rem
dering the people practically blind The
utmost confusion prevailed. Finally,
when order was restored, the congrega-
ton We're Mortified to find that ten of
their mum Der had been struck by light
ming and instantly killed, and that
twenty-eight Others had been seriously
injured.
When this became generally known
the, people were panic stricken and
rushed from the church in the pelting
storm. Many of them, men, women and
children, sought refuge in the open
spaces IN the vicinity of the church,
rearing to enter house, and there they
remained, drenched to the skin, until
the Storm passed over.
An almost similar scene occurred at
Mucientes, in the province of Valladolid,
The church in that village was also
strnck BY lightning. Five of tho wor-
shippers were killed and ten were in
At Burgos, capital of the province of
that name, considerable damage was
done TO the famous old cathedral by the
lightning. The Burgos cathedral is one
of the Oldest buildings in Spain, having
been founded in 1921 and finished in
1857. The lightning displaced portion
g OF one of the walls and did other
damage. Nobody in the cathedral was
hurt.
Scene of the Disaster.
Burgos is one of Spains most famous
cities, and was the ancient capitals Of
the kingdom of CASTLE, and the resi-
dence place Of the Spanish counts and
kings. 1t contains about 10000 inhab-
itants. 1t is situated nearly 5000 feet
above the level of the sea, and is
famous in Spanish history as the birth
place of the Cid, whose castle stood a
few miles distant from its gates. There
are many churches and converts in the
city, the most prominent of which is the
magnificent cathedral, which, according
to the above dispatch, has just been
damaged by lightning. This cathedral
fs-eAe of the finest in Spain. 1t con-
teins numerous splendid documents,
and several paintings. and statues by
masters. In its vaults are buried many
of the royal house of CASTLE.