The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-24
ELEMENTS ON A RAMPAGE
4 REG ULAR TROPICAL I'll UNDER
 STORM IN NEW HAVEN.

In Two Weeks Foot of Rain Has Fallen
 in the City-Catholic Chapel in Ham,
 den Struck-Telephone Cable Burned
 out-A Bolt Struck in Mill River-swed-
 ish Lutheran Church steeple Damaged.
 The heavy storm yesterday afternoon was one of the severest of the season and was accompanied by unusually sharp lightning and heavy thunder claps, which startled even those not usually affected by thunder. One crash had barely subsided before another re- verberated across the heavens and seemed to shake the very earth. Each thunder-clap seemed to shake down more rain, and was followed by a del- uge even heavier, if possible, than that which preceded it. Dazzling flashes continually darted through the air, and the electrical display was beautiful.
 The air was so heavily charged with electricity that the running of the troll ley cars was for short time much im- peded. As each lightning flash cleared the heavens the cars would stop and the lightning arresters beneath the cars would snap so that the reports were heard for some distance and greatly alarmed those sitting in the cars.
 Cars on the various lines were delay ed. and those on the Lake Saltonstall division of the New Haven Street Rail- way company's line were delayed for more than an hour.
 Despite the severity of the storm, no very serious damage in New Haven or it's immediate vicinity was reported last night. Some time during the storm a bolt of lightning struck a telephone wire and ran into the telephone wire cable laid underneath the ground at the corner of Grove and Prospect streets. The cable was burned out and the fire was communicated to an arma- ture box on top of a pole at the corner. The box blazed up and the pole was soon on fire. A still alarm was sent in to No. 2's engine house and the chemi- cal engine responded, subduing the flames.
 The residents of that part of the city near the State street bridge across Mill river saw, just before one of the heav- fest clap of thunder during the storm, bolt of lightning, which shot through the air with a binding brilliancy, strike about in the middle of Mill river just
 back of Shusters machine shop. The sight was a most unusual one. During the storm a young man of the name of Bemis, and 8 friend, were cap sized from a small sailboat near the mouth of the harbor. The overturned
 boat was floating out toward the sound and its late occupants were making he roic efforts to keep above water, when they were rescued by MT. Marion, who happened to be out in a large cat boat. The overturned sailboat was taken in tow and it and its capsized
 occupants were taken to City Point.
 Before the rain yesterday afternoon 11.70 inches of rain had fallen in New
 Haven during the past two weeks, and
 the amount of rainfall yesterday after
 noon was probably sufficient to bring the sum total of rainfall to date during the fortnight to fully and probably more
 than a foot.
 About o'clock, during the severest
 part of the storm, the Swedish Luther
 an church steeple on St. John street, opposite Hughes place, was struck. The steeple was badly shattered, but did
 not catch fire. The yard of Attorney
 David Strouse. adjoining the church, was filled with debris from the damag- ed steeple.
 The Catholic chapel on Dixwell ave-
 nue in Hamden was struck and nearly demolished. The bolt came down the steeple, and entering the church burst open the front of the church A work man who was at work on repairs in the assembly room was struck by a piece
 of broken wood and was slightly but
 not seriously injured.
 The rains of Thursday caused dam-
 age estimated at S2,000 to the high ways in the town of Branford. A washout occurred on the railroad
 tracks near Plantsville, and trains were stalled for a short time until the work train was summoned and re- | paired the break.
 The Branford river was much swol- len and carried the Mill Plain bridge on
 East Main street, in Branford, from it's | abutments.
 | The foundry floor of the Branford | lock works was flooded to the depth of
 two feet owing to the small stream
 which flows through the yard overflow ing it's banks. All the roads are wash
 ed and some are in such a dangerous
 condition that a large force of men were at once put wotrk making re- l paiBs.
 | Struck Band Stand at Savin Rock. During the fierce and vivid lightning yesterday afternoon the band stand at Railroad ernNe near, the alactric fnlln-