The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-07-21
LIGHTNING PLAYS HAVOC.
Damage Done in New York, New
Jersey and Connecticut.
OMBARDED BY THUNDERBOLTS.


Winds, Heavy Rainfall, Disastrous
Bolts From the Sky and Enormous
HaiIstones-One of the Most Remark
able Electric Storms Ever Experienced.
New YORK C1rY (Special).-New York and
vicinity were visited by one of the most re-
markable and widely devastating electric
storms that was ever experienced. 1t was
preceded by the peculiar effects which are
usually the precursor Of cyclones, and gave
much uneasiness in those places which have
had experience with the funnel-shaped
cloud and it's following Of destruction. 1t
was accompanied by heavy rain and In
places enormous hailstones fell. Light
ming fell right and left. 1t knocked the
top off the big 1agpole beside Grants tomb
and shattered several other poles In differ.
emit parts Of the city.
At about 8 o'clock D. m. the clouds which
had been hanging over the city seemed to
be gathering to a head, n sweltering
New Workers looked expectantly up at
them for q cooling rain. 1t came soon
after 4 o'clock, accompanied by thunder
and lightning and beginning with a ter
rife crash. which made people IN the
streets scatter for shelter in considerable
alarm. The lightning struck in q number
Of places. 2
The seven story malt house tower OF Eb-
ling,s brewery, at St. AIMS avenue and
l56th sareet, wa struck while Mr.. Ebling,
the proprietor of the brewery, and a party
Of friends were in a detached building.
They were startled by the terrific crash,
which was almost Immediately followed by
another, and all jumped from their chairs.
Mr.. Ebling say q dense cloud of smoke COM
Ing out Of the malt house tower, and also
from the windows OF the fifth and sixth
floors, He turned in an alarm, and Engine
Company No. Al responded. A force OF
policemen from the Morrisania station also
answered the summons. While the fire.
men were attaching the hose, and getting
their engines in place the cloud Of smoke
lifted, and they saw there was no fire. An
investigation was made, but no trace OF
where the electric current entered could be
found. Five panes Of glass on the west side OF
the tower, near the top, had been shattered.
Affty-four-foot pole on the roof OF the
eight-story Curtis Building was split for
one-half its length by a bolt Of lightning.
The superintendent Of the Curtis Building
was sitting in the window Of his Office
watching the storm when the pole was
struck. He saw a shower Of splinters and
chips fall to the Stone street sidewalk, and
saw the people looking toward the roof OF
his building. He said he also :alt the
shock. The superintendent hurri.! 20 the
roof and found that the copper bali ana q
foot or two Of iron rod holding me ball
above the tip of the pole had disappeared.
Tenafly, N. j., suffered more from the
storm than any other place neal New York.
The storm amounted almost to a cyclonet In
its first fury, and then it was followed by
q downfall Of hailstones Of large size.
eggs. The storm appeared to meet direct
ly over the village, and in a moment 1t,
became almost as dark as night. There
was an outburst Of lightning and thunder
which was terrifying. People fed to their
cellars for safety. Within q few
moments things were in a frightful
state. Roofs we're blown of, trees uproot-
ed and wires Of all kinds blown down. The
wind lasted perhaps a minute and a half.
The air was filled with flying objects.
Sticks and limbs OF trees were carried along
In the air and dashed against houses. From
one end Of the village to the other, in q
strip about two miles broad, there was
hardly a pane Of glass left whole on the
north and west sides Of buildings. Hail
stones picked up half an hour later
measured an inch and a half in
diameter. Late at night the Ice had
not all melted. The hail was fol-
lowed by a downpour Of rain that flooded
everything and caused much damage owing
to the ruined condition OF windows. The
big window-shade factory owned by E.
Richter was one Of the places to suffer.
Every pane Of glass In the northwest front
of the big building was driven in by the
wind and hail. The windows IN one side
OF the Presbyterian Church were crushed
in, and the church flooded with water.
Lightning also struck the church. The
wind up-rooted trees In all directions, and
Washington avenue Is completely blocked
by the fallen trees.
The storm visited Long Island City,
where the lightning was particularly active
and struck in many places. When the
storm centred over Long Island City the
lightning struck the fagpole which sur
mounts the County Court House, and the
jail was also hit. The bolt splintered the
hagpole and ente red the building, causing
much excitement. When the bolt struck
the Court House the women in the jail were
already almost hysterical, and one
prisoner tainted.
All through Connecticut great damage
was done by the storm, and In ~Torrington
the cellars of the houses in all the principal
streets were flooded and about $4,000 worth
of property destroyed. In Cheshire the
storm assumed almost cyclonic fury. Trees
were u%prooted, fences leveled, roofs lifted
from several barns and immense damage
was done to crops from hailstones. In
Waterbury the rain storm was one Of the
that has visited the city for years.
Tho ctorn waa oounpad RI q limttad araR