The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-07-24
Paul Bartsoh Struck by
Lightning and In
stantly Killed.
MARKED BY CROSS
Eight Companions Shocked
Incidents and Features
of Tempest

Tn the course of the fierce electrical
storm which preceded the heavy shower
Of Saturday afternoon, Paul Bartscn,
nineteen years old, of No. so Carleton
avenue, was struck and instantly killed
by a bolt of lightning. He was with
crowd of ball players on the old vacant
Reservoir lot at Summit, Central ana
Manhattan avenues. Eight other players
were prostrated by the shock, but tney
soon recovered
Two amateur baseball nines the Linz
woods and the Rosedales. and their re-
spective friends had gathered on the lot
in anticipation of match game between
the two mines. The game had been de-
layed by the threatened shower but young
Bartsch and men of both teams were
practising in the field
Bartsch was near second base and IN
the act of catching a thrown ball when
he was struck by the bolt. Just few
moments before there had been flash
from an ominous looking cloud almost di-
rectly overhead, followed by crash OF
thunder that sounded near cracking
sound was heard by the spectators and
glaneing aloft in the Sirection of Sum-
nit avenue, they saw that a telegraph
pole had been struck and partially splin-
tered This pole was almost on line
west from the spot upon which young
Bartsch was standing.
Suddenly there was another flash. It
seemed to rift the clouds almost directly
overhead. Is 1t blinded the eyes of the
players and spectators. 1t seemed to fol-
low the ball thrown by young Bartsch.
He fell instantly. Several other players
- +1,a,, lr,,aos rrrev r,,,iolxlx reeainAd
- - faa+
''1v.. 5...a.44 49,. .,,o,,ors and
,.sta.1s 60 ,,'r,,aa ~
So ~, ,.,sus ,,sa1ass frn iav
,.4', az r;ott
s,o,,,s<, ,aar',,,sr 1;,,s ooross ana
r,assaa d1,sn he ,io,,+ side and cut his
-;ev,,+ gr,oa ,1ao,,a,. +,,a,, lynifa could have
done me bodv was removed "a his late
home He vas a son af Fsdxrard Rarfseh.
Of No 25l Central avenue.
The eight men frustrated were:-John
schuider. of Griffith street: Matthew
Barr. of Tonnele avenue: Edward Brown,
of Lake street: James Schlev. of Man
haitian avenue: Carl Deavey. George
Smith. oscar Brent and Peter Burns, of
summit ayenue.
Bailstones the size IA marble were a
feature of the storm in lower Jersey city
for at least ten minutes. They were as
white as snow. and they melted very
ouicklv. The like has NOT been seen in
this city in many wears
while the storm was raging furious1v in
lower Jersey cftv Greenvil1e residents
ESCAPED with but light shower The
rain ceased falling in GreenviIie in about
FIVE minutes. In Bavonne the roads were
dusty NOT a drop fell there.
The bergen and LAFAYETTE districts suf-
fered little damage from the heavy down
1,o,,, If rain or tba lightninp The water
-,ina IN +t,a s5ed of IZerin Rroe, procerv
s+ora ~ +,o T,,rction ,,,os s+r,,ck hv
s,,.,, s4 80 far i,to +re
go, AZ
-, 20 -.
<susseeii. p 80 uq ~. T,eer,,a
'liqs - 'to4i -. -.
%s.o u-.9' -
VI eiie ieu-
ralroiliiah Sra"io'u' oi lne Moii' oin-
cry street station, reported ehal an eiee-
tric llght wire mad Deen down DOWN Oh
storm avenue ana nad Iaileh on d NUN
Der OF telephone wires OF the Huosoil
Telephone co. The break was repaired
before any damage resulted.
Signal boxes at Glenwood and West
Side avenues Bergen and Fairmount
avenue ana at summit avenue and the