The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-08-09
An ECCENTRIC BAIL or FIRE.
II wandered About n House I'm Thunder
storm and Scared the Boarders.

II Wandered About n House I'm Thunder
storm and Scared the Boarders'
NEW HAVEN, Aug. THE most ex-
traordinary lightning bail in all the rec
ords Of Nutmeg thunder-storms visited
| Mrs. George II. Ward. at her home AT
/ Point Pleasant. near Stony Greek, on me
| Sound, last week. II was about the nio-
| die OF the afternoon when big. pehy-
] ing. bluc-black Cloud sailed above the
| house. and began volieying the earth
with forked fhunderbolts. Some OF me
| electric projcctilcs appeared 10 eSpio"e
| lust above the roof trees OF the haihie'
| in a myriad dancing. dazzling. bright paiis
| Of fire. that drifted about the place ING
. clusters OF jackie lanterns: a
| At length. thunderboit came ooM"
near Mrs. Wards house, and instantly
was smashed into a thousand frag Mrhts.
| The largest fragment looking IKE Il
vast. parti-colored. glittering bubble
| struck the ground rebounded, ana noat-
| ed gracefully into the house. IL nla"o
sbe entire circuit OF the house, visiting
| one room after another. while the lahu-
| lady and her guests moved NOT 30 oa~ou
were they with awe and fright. Inc pan
moved along so Slowly that ono 'D"iu
easily have overtaken and gone along
WITH IL. sdii ''"'-f
the occurrence:
ut was lust about as big as a toy bal
! 1oo, and II came into the house
through an upstairs window, i imagine.
Then II must have carromed on the
chimney In the room up there, Tor IL
came down the chimney TO the floor oil
the kitchen, where all of us were sit
ting. and IL just rolled slowly across the
floor toward me. Oh, all Of us were too
IL. In =
sat there and watched IL. 1t was simply
awful TO see il creeping along the floor
but 1T sheercd off before II got quite 20
us. and then wandered along into the
front hail. almost passing the larlor
door. when II suddenly took flip, ana
rolled into the parior, all the time keep
Ing 10 the floor. 1t went twice around
the parlor. as II il were looking Tor
something but touched nobody, although
Mrs. Gaynor and her son were seated IN
The room. Then IL went strolling into
every other room downstairs but did no
harm at all TO any one or anything; ana
everybody was so startled that no one
made a move all the time II must
have been rolling about the house as
much as a minute. Finally, OF sudden,
ii scooted up the front stairs. and IL
probably went through all Of the rooms
in that part OF the house, and at last,
suppose. IL SllRDtu OAb vi WV
window again. At any rate, we saw
no more of it,
Later. Mrs Ward and her guests found
that a fragment OF the original projectile
had come down on the roof Of the dwell
ing for there was clear. round hOle
burned I'm the roof, and a corresponding
hole in the floor of a room directly unoer-
meath. The chimney had been badly
shaken. The upstairs room into which
a, Ill a~r4 AAt. fro "A
lively blaze was going when the landlady
and her guests arrived there. They
easily extinguished the flames. When
the fire-ball drifted into the kitchen, II
capered along between Mrs. Wards chair
and that of her daughter, but neither was
shocked by It. Said she:
ITO make matters worse, the whole house
at one time seemed as If it was flled
and ablaze with lightning, and we thought
then that the place was doomed. There
was one very curious thing about 1t.
Some of the lightning fluid must nave
hit picture-frame hanging on the parior
wall. for II was badly scorched and,
strange to tell, the lightning just fol-
lowed the gilt moulding all around the
room"
For a long time after the electric yisi-
tation, the whole dwelling was filled with
a strong odor Of sulphur, so that its occu-
pants remained out of doors for an hour
or more. 10 avoid breathing the sitting
fumes.
In the same strange electric tempest
a thunderboit was hurled straight at the
heart of Centreville, I'm Hamden town,
and II pared off the tall steeple OF the
Centrevile Episcopal chunri as neatly
as If a mighty aerolite had smitten 1t.
Thence II glanced down to the ground,
and slammed against the earth the horse
Of Lewis Joyce, of Mount Carmel, which
was hitched I'm a shed near by, killing II
in a twinkling. In slicing off the church
spire, the bolt fred the tower, and
few moments later the stump was in
flames. The people OF the neghborhood
had a great time saving the church from
destruction. Their hose vas not long
enough to send water against the blazing
steeple. and their ladders reached no
higher than the roof OF the church. but
they fought on faithfully and pluckiy.
They cssayed. unsuccessfully, TO pull down
the belfry. Finally. two hours after the
belt fell. New Haven sent out four hun
dred feet Of fire hose. and with that the
country people extnruished the flames.
Only the upper part Of the steeple was
destroyed.