The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-08-01
THE STORM.
The Refreshing Shower Rather Pow
erfuI In Manifestation Of Force.


The soil tillsrs got all the wet they
wanted yesterday afternoon and in some
instances q trifie more when nature went
from one extreme to the other. After
vegetation had baked for a series OF weeks
and became brittle, there were half a dozen
hard transforms concentrated in one down
pour that broke crops down and deluged
things generally. In the city the rain
fall was more than the sewerage system
could accommodate, the streets took on
the appearances of waterways, the electric
cars left seething wakes behind them, and
the white posts looked like buoys. The
thunder was terrific enough and the light
ming brilliant enough to be in keeping
with the persistency of the rainfall.
James Hills house, at AZ State street,
was struck by the lightning and the Chin
ney demolished. The houss at 80 Laura
street was also struck, and the bolt went
into a china closet, doing more damage
than half a dozen servant girls could do
in a month. Two Of the East Providence
cars were struck, one on Taunton avenue
and the other at Riverside.
The most serious damage was at John f..
Smiths house on Station street, Auburn.
Lightning struck the roof and Travelled
round in the interior wrecking wall hang
ings, pictures and furniture and giving
Mr.. Smith a shock from which he did
not recover for nearly two hours.
In front OF the Auburn Baptist Church
the electricity tore up several square feet
OF a brick sidewalk and deposited the
debris on the tracks just in time to derail
an Elmwood electric.
Down River.
People who went down river had as
much fun out of the storm as anyone, pro-
vided they had reached the shelter OF
some clam house or pavilion before 1t
struck. IL they had to "run for 1t" 1T was
wet enough to be serious. Some
realized that and preferred to be carried by
their intended stopping place rather than
leave the shelter of the steam boat and
chase up the landing. 1t was also cheaper
to pay for an extra sail han to buy a din
ner ticket.
There was a very jolly party at Fields
Point. Colonel Atwell shut them all III
out of the storm and fed them so well
that women forgot to be nervous as the
thunder crashed and lightning flashed
outside the glass front, lighting up the
storm blackened surface of the river ano
revealing a procession OF squall-driver
small boats scudding for shelter.
After dinner some one said hat boats
never stopped at Fields Point unless
some would-be passenger stood on thu
end of the dock. No one cared to do
the drowning hero act until
young woman with flashing eyes and
watermelon pink waist, who said that sh'
so enjoyed nature In its stormy grandeur
padded out from the whitewashed shelte
and sprinted for the wharf, while other
were shamed into following, and the rail-
fell on the dust, the just and the unjust.
At Silver Spring there was anothe
crowd corralled in the dining rooms an
they did not mind, for the clans wer
good and the roof did not leak, and tn
same at Cranston's and at Crescent Park
Mr.. Boyden had quite a party on tn
grounds at the time who discovered tina
the Eastern Coney has a good many at
fractions that the storm does not inter
fere with.