New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-05
SHOCKED BY LIGHTNING.
A HEAVY THUNDERSTORM DAMAGES
CAMP TOWNSEND.

LIEUTENANT WILSON. OF THE ENGINEERS. IN
JURED-sC ARBoRoUGH's RAILROAD STATION
AND PosToFFICE DESTROYED OTHER
wEsTCHEsTER PLACES VISITED
Camp Townsend can get up a pretty good
thunderstorm on occasion, but the one that
passed over camp on Wednesday night has not
its parallel in camp history. and 1t Will probably
linger in the minds of the engineers until thev
see one more terrible in Porto Rico, when 1t VIII
be used az unit of measure in gaugng the
fury of the tropical storm. The day had been
pleasantly cool and cloudy. and, while a thun-
derstorm in the night was a possibility. no one
thought it would be severe. 1t began with NUT
terings of thunder In the distance. which were
not particularly noticed But about IL o'clock II
broke in all its fury. 1t was terrible In its In
tensity. but grandly beautiful. The lightning
was almost incessant and the thunder uninter-
rupted One could count five slowly through
the duration of the ordinary flashes, and some
of the longer ones as much as ten was counted
Once fifteen was counted. but that time there
was a short break of just a fraction Of sec
ond between two flashes. With the thunder 1t
was impossible TO count more than three before
the hills and valleys were reverberating with
another report. Sleep was impossible, and every
one in camp awake.
! A bolt of lightning struck one Of twin trees
| just behind the tent Of Chaplain j. Warner
Fobes. Electric wires pass from the tree into
the chaplans tent. for he and Surgeons Walter
/ D. Webb and Charles l. Proben. whose tents are
in the same row. have electric lights Along
these wires the lightning passed into the chap
lain's tent 1t went down the pole In the rear
/ Of the tent, cracking 1t and breaking mirror
to pieces, and in some way II reached the front
pole which 1t served in the same manner. break
ing another mirror that hung at the entrance to
the tent Chaplain Fobes had been standing In
the middle of the tent floor between the two
poles just a few moments before. and had just
wrapped a woollen blanket about him and
sought rest on his cot. The bolt stunned him
for few moments, but its effects soon passed
. off. The woollen blanket had probably insulated
him somewhat from the electricity.
From Chaplain Fobes's tent the lightning
passed into Surgeon Walter D. Web5's tent.
| DR. Webb, however, not In camp at the
! time He had gone to the city. and, having
missed the early night train, did not get to camp
until the storm over He was glad enough
| afterward that he had not been In time to catch
the first train. There were evidences enough
that the lightning had been in his tent when he
got there. The fuses in the electric lamp had
been burned out and there hole in the
bottom Of the globe.
| Surgeon Proben was In his tent. however.
when the electricity got there. 1t came down
the rear pole broke mirror hanging on it.
crack ID the wooden handle of a strop
hanging under the mirror shattered a table
standing near the pole, and evidently passed
out along the floor for splin'ers were turned up
in some of the boards. He felt the shock
severely and when he tried to move he found
the lower half of his body paralyzed. and it
was five minutes before he could get up
HAD TO SEND FOR A SURGEON.
Meanwhile Lieutenant H. c. Wilson's tent in
the line officers row was struck. He and Lieu
tenant William G.. Mitchell were standing talk
ing together when Lieutenant Wilson fell over.
Nothing was disturbed in the tent. and Lieu
tenant Mitchell did not feel the shock at all.
But Lieutenant Wilson had received enough for
a surgeons attention. and Major Louis L. Sea-
man was promptly ON hand. He found Lieu
tenant Wilson suffering from the shock. with
his right side partially paralyzed. he was
longer in coming out of it than Surgeon Proben
had been, and remained in quarters on ms cot
all day yesterday. For a time he could not
see out OF his right eye. bui the sight Is COM
ing back. and he Is so much improved that he
will probably be around again today almost
as well as if lightning had Eever come his way.
There were a lot Of rather humorous tricks
the lightning played, although they dld not
seem at all funny at the time; FIRST Lleuten-
j. u.
walking through the street when ne was
knocked down. and found himself sitting in the
mud One Of the guard reiiefs was making the
rounds Of the camp when the guns were
knocked out Of the hands OF most Of them, and
there were a lot OF reports about individuals
having been knocked down by the lightning.
The Storm which began about ii O'CLOCK.
lasted two hours and large quantity or water
fell in that time But yesterday was hot and
muggy with another thunderstorm. httie one
after dinner.
USED A PUSHCART AS POsTOFFlcE.
There was a terrific electric storm In the sing
Sing part OF Westchester County early yester-
day The rain fell In torrents. the roar OF the
thunder sounded IKE the firing OF & ols guns ana
the flashes Of lighting were blindlng.
At the height Of the storm the Scarborough
station Of the Hudson River Railroad was struck
bv Ie htning and burned to the ground IN the
building ives also the Scarborough poston1ce.
Theodore Neide OF Sing Sing. is the postmaster
and station agent The station was FOR the ac-
commodation of the wealthy residents ol ne
neighborhood including William and John D.
Rockefeler; c. c. Clarke. first ce-presldeni Oh
the Hudson River Railroad: Mrs. Elliott r Snep-
ard W. w Law and the Webb family. Inc
huildlng was neat frame structure and was
almost new, having been entirely renovated u
short time ago o.oe,oo ,.os
The ordinary mail matter In the postohce was
also destroyed. but no registered letters OF
money were burned as Postmaster Nelde taxes
IN. valuable property 10 his home every nlght
for safe keeping The damage VIII amount 10
The residents Of Scarborough yesterday re-
ceived their mail from pushcart POSTMASTER
Neda opened his Office in the cart. which ne
used to receive his mail from the trains. ana
the people went UP to the vehicle for their
letters. ill.,.
There were q number Of trees hit by the Nght-
ming In Sing Sing and destroyed but no further
damage was caused
The country home of William Ebling. the New
York brewer at Shell Island. Port Chester. was
struck by lightning in the storm The members
OF the family were aroused from sleep by TER
rife report but not hurt They FOUND that
the bolt had knocked down the chimney ana
Gaiaaged tie roCf. but otherwise the building was