The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-08-22
LIGHTNING !
: And. RAIN.
Combination Came as Gil
max to the WarmeSt
Summer Day.

l Inunuor anu ugnCnlnR are uOV anyways
pleasant, but no one In WilmingtonSobjs
ted 10 the appearance Of the combination,
and the showers 1t brought last night
Tho day was the warmest one Of the year.
but the elements Of the skies scattered the
excessive humidity and has since made
life delightfully."- pleasant.
The stormy change came about $50
O'Clock whom blast Of chill air swept over
the city. Then followed tho rain, which
had been presaRod by angry gray clouds
and the distant rumble Of thunder.
BY 10 o'clock one-fifth Of an inch rain
fall had been recorded, an unusual depth
as summer records show. II the down pour
had been continuous instead Of coming In
Intermittent gusts there would have been
some new figures for the weather wise.
While all this was going on the wind
was working itself up into an inconsistent
frenzy. At eight O'Clock 1t was blowing
from the south at the even rate OF eight
miles an hour, but ten minutes after Its
actions became erratic 1t changed first to
the southwest, then to the northwest then
to the north, and finally back again to
the northwest. Every time q change of
dlraction was made, the rate went higher,
until tho velocity Of thirty miles an hour
was reached.
Shutters were blown down and awnings
received abrupt tits In this boi,terou US
young gale.
But it was the heat that set yesterday
apart Us a record breEking day, Statistics
snow that the maximum temperature was
90 degrees whilo the minimum was W de-
grees. 10 make tho atmosphere just rs
willing and dcspiriting AS possible tho
humidity began early in the day ut Sc. but
was happily defeated by the storm. In
consequence OF the sitting heat policemen
and latter carriers suffered the most OF
any of the men seen on the streets Thoy
simply swe.ered, but men WIN worked in
iron foundries aud shops really had the
hardest task. In some Of the establish
ments men had to quit work. Thero were
no cases reported where considerable mum
bors quit work at one time, but individu.
ais would feel SO badly that they would
have to go home. No objection was offer
cd to this by tho employers, for they real
lied how warm it was In the shops and
know the mon were suffering.
Those who worked In offices felt the
heat severely and there was less work done
than for some tins. Business mon said
the heat was 50 intense they could not fix
their minds on business and work was
drag. II was put off rs long as possible
and then only that which was absolutely
necessary was done, There was general
lack Of energy everywhere. Everybody
looked for cool spot The man with the
flannel suit and white hat and shoes pa
rading along the shady side of the street
looked uncomfortable though he tried to
give people The impression that he was
the Ice mau and enjoyed that autocrars
immunity from the sun and its spiteful-
moss. The Precipitation that trickled down
his carmine- tiuted cheeks and lost itself
in the folds of his tie of thu latest ENG
lish square" pattern gave him away and
stamped him as an impostor.
The man who came back from his two
wee.s' vacation at the seashoro or among
the mountains fopdly hoping that the
worst OF the summer was over tore his hair
when he got off the train, and. deciding
Oresteslike, that tho Furies were after him,
sought secluded spot and exchanged his
woes for tho contents OF the cup that
cheers. In the restaurants and at tho pie
counters the individual who took hot COT
foo or cocoa for lunch was looked on with
suspicion, and the man who ordered soup
lost caste Iced tea iced watermelon,
iced every hing was the order Of the day,
and still 1t was warm. q
The wind storm was quito severe on tho
river. Tho steamer City OF Chester was
returning from Philadelphia and her pas.
son gers were given a slight scare. A lot |
of chairs on tho upper deck were blown to.
gether ou hemp and q ventilator blown
loose. A party of persons who came down
on the boat and expected to return to
Philadelphia by trolley, decided that they
would rcI urn homo by train. and did so.
The boards wero blown from the scat
folding about the steeple being erected on
Sacred Heart Church. Tho boards foil to
the pavement, but nobody was passing ct
tho time.
InPhiladelphi while many cases of sun
wcro reported tho only severe
damage caused by tho storm was to the
scenic railw at Chestnut Hill Park. Tho
flmsy structure was set on fro, and be-
fore the flames were exIinguishel half of
the railway was destroyed.
Tho freak OF the storm caused panic
among the pleasure seekers. When the
bolt struck, a car filled with boys was in
tunnel. They escaped without injury,
but wero frightened by tho crash
+. The total lossls about $40, 900. This rail-
way was an expensive affair. 1t cost $25.,
coo. The tnnnel alone cost $1,000 About
half of the entire structure was destroyed.
Tho flames spread rapidly, and the high
wind famed them into fiery furnace.
Over at New Castle the storm was UNI
severe. Lightning burned several
barns in New Jersey.
THE STORM ELSEWHERE
A severe thunderstorm broke over Bait
imore last night, flooding many streets
and choking number Of the storm sewers.
The storm was accompanied by vivid
lightning, which struck several times in
and about Baltimore, doing some damage.
Six greenhouses belonging to Messrs.
4 ischer g. Ekas, or Sinclair lane In the
rear of Baltimore Cometory, Twelfth dis
trict of Baltimore county, were partly de-
stroyod by fire during the storm.
The sloop Ellio, Capt. Alfred X. Rich
ardson, was badly injured. Captain Rich
ardsan was making his way to Baltimore
from Rock Creek and when off the Lhza-
rotto light the slocp was struck by the
storm, which suddenly veered around to
the southwest Captain Richardson lot go
the anchor, but 1t was Of no avail against
he strong wind and tho slOoD ran raDiulY |