New-York tribune., 1903-07-31
STORM ROUTS THE HEAT.
LINCOLN STATUE DOWN.
One Death-Lightniug Ties Up
Entire HuckIeberry System.


With rush and roar Of wind. volIeying crash
Of thunder. binding lightning flashes and a
downpour OF rain almost rivalling cloudburst
a storm broke over the city late yesterday
afternoon. driving away the nearly unsupport-
able heat and sitting atmosphere which up to-
that time had made ovens alike OF house and
office and caused one death and six prostra-
tons. Trees uproOted by the wind. and
three falling trunks in Prospect Park knocked
the statue Of Abraham Lincoln from it's ped
estaL Many fagpoles were shattered by light
ming. and bolt caused the tieup Of the entirs
Huckleberry system.
THE DEAD.
oN East TsT S19e a5ty o na ola & II Eq & s
while working at No l31 West Forty -thiFd-st.
PROSTRATIONS.
BAGG C. fo5ty-two years Old , cloth cutter Of No
room Of Rogers Peet & Co. Ne s2+ Broadway. ST.
ELLIS Thomas thiFtyhree years old Of No s2l West
F0TtyEsaeond-st: Roosevelt hospital
FORTUNA Campaniia forty-one years old. Of No. $50
FOrsyth-st; Gouyernsur Hospital
1EyENTHA1 al Sim simon forty-ays years Old porter 9e
Place; St. vincent's Hospital
sCHAEFFER Augustus years old, Of Eighty
tsS chTistopier-ss H St vincents Hospital
VENICE. Acheuo. forty years old Of No slJ East one
SIT West One-hundred- and -afty-sec0nd ST.: home
All day long. in cellar and garret tenement
house and apartment hotel, street. office. and
wherever work pastime led. man and beast
| suffered from pitiless and atmosphere
of strength sapping humidity. Heat and hui
midity. twin imps. penetrated roof of metal.
wall of brick. structures OF stone and steel. and
once in. were safe from dislodgement though
electric fans sent whirring breezes to the as
sauIt. Down came the heat from above; up 1t
went from the baked asphalt. from the iron
and stone of skyscrapers 1t radiated like ths
circle of a searchlight. 1t oppressed men. filed
them with languor. turned their blood to water
and their ambitions to hstless don't cares. I'M
placable undeterred. the heat grew more in
tense, the humidity more effective, as the hours
went by. and at noon the instruments at the
Weather Bureau registered 81 degrees. with %
degrees of humidity. At t o'clock they showed
80. This meant at least 94 on the furnaceliks
sidewalk stones.
At that time the sky became overcast and
ouinous clouds began banking. Swiftly the sun
was routed. and in an hour the leaden clouds
had given place to a black pail. low hanging
on all sides. Darker and darker it grew. until
humanity had to turn to gas and electricity, and
lights shone without flicker in the sultry
standstiIl Of nature. from windows Of home and
Office. shop and car.
The momentary IuII was broken by rumblings
and grumblings A breeze in a trice became
gale. expending its energy at the rate OF thirty
five miles an hour. With swish and whistle it
romped up and down. bearing binding dust
clouds aloft in its train.
Then the black cloud curtain rent by a
Jagged. zigzag flash OF lightning; there was n
ripping and tearing and splitting. as though
blocks Of houses were being dismantIed; dag
onal lines Of rain began pouring down. and one
of the severest and most spectacular storms OF
the season was in full panopIy.
Thunder crashed incessantly. peal merging
into peal; lightning flashed continuously. until
the city seemed girdled with lines OF burning
wire: the wind blew the rain ranks this way
and that, in slanting formation. and the cutters
became seething torrents. So heavy the
rainfall and the spume of it blown by the wind
that it appeared as if a fog blanket enshroUded
ALL and one looked through windows only to see
bIurrng mist through which darted almost
continuously streaks OF fire.
The wind uprooted the three large buttonwOod
trees near the Lincoln Statue in Prospect Park.
Brooklyn, and sent them crashing down ths
statue Of bronze. It was hurled from its ped
estal. and struck the ground with such force
that the right arm was broken of. The status
was dedicated on October 81. 1859. and was paid
for by popular subscription
Lightning struck the flagstaff on the home OF
Samuel Larriug No. 2S2 Van Brunt-st. Brook
damage was done in various sections OF Brook
lyn. where trees wers uprooted. telephone and
telegraph wires blown down. and a number OF
cellars flooded
Among the fagpoles struck by lightning was
the 4C,-foot one on top Of the Mutual Life In
surance CoRpanys building. at Nassau and Lib
erty SITS. Split into hundreds Of pieces. il fell
into the two streets just after q o'clock Hun
dreds OF people were scurryins along Fastening
honeward when the splinters fell, but no one
hurt
The haepoles on the Vendome Hotel. at Broad
way and ty-1rst-st and on Tffany's build
ing at Broadway and Fifteenth-st. were also
struck By lightning and smashed
An accident which directly due 70 the
torn, happened TO James Hoar. OF No. $50 West
I-ortv-secoad-st He crossing Thirty
so,,rth- ST near Broadway. when his hat was
bIov-n of Running after il at fun speed. HOar
was unable TO check his rush. and dashed
f,I into one OF Macy's windows. smashing the
heavy plate glass and cutting his own head
badly. Dr. Mills. Of the New-York Hospital an
swered ambulance call. and bandaged up
HOars cuts.
Az TEvvenfv-thIrd-st and Sfxfh-ava an to-