New-York tribune., 1908-07-24
FREAK STORM HITSCITY
WORKS HAVOC IN JERSEY.
Coast Suept by Worst Gale an
Fifth Years-Wires DOsCn.

An unusually severe thunderstorm which was
expected to bring relief from the hot wave,
came up suddenly yesterday afternoon, the
lightning causing much damage to f1agpoles in
and around New York and killing boy who
was walking to his home in Jersey City. A
fairly heavy rain which began at p. m. con-
tnued throughout the afternoon, but did not
bring any great relief from heat and humidity.
There was little no breeze, and before p m.
thirteen prostrations had been reported.
Information received here early this morning
indicates that the Jersey shore south Of Asbury
Park visited yesterday afternoon by the
worst storm in that section in fifty years. The
storm was most severe in section about fifty
miles square. Wires are down and only the
barest details are obtainable Two lives are
known to have been lost, at Forked River
and another at Barnegat. In both cases the
victims
Twelve houses were struck by Lightning at
Tuckerton. Toms River. Pleasantvile. Barne-
gat CITY, Forked River, Island Heights and Fair
town are among the places cut off through the
breaking down of all the wires both telegraph
and telephone. Even the lifesavers' wire along
the coast is down The railroad wires also
down.
While the storm hovered over Manhattan a
bolt of lightning struck the f1agpole the Ger
mania Bank Building at No. 100 Bowery, shat
tering it. Fragments fell 10 The street. but
luckily, no one was struck by them. The bolt
according to Sidney Walsh. the engineer of the
building, down through the building.
grounding near the furnace of.the boiler room.
A few minutes after the pole the Gernlana
Bank Building had been hit. lightning struck
the fagpole of the National Casket Company's
building at No. 4S Great Jones street, splitting
it into four sections. The copper ball. ten inches
in diameter, which was on the top Of the pole.
was hurled to the street. Several persons were
passing in a group and narrowly escaped being
struck A section of the pole was hurled across
the Third avenue elevated tracks. Splinters
from the pole were found on the roofs of houses
two hundred feet away from the building.
ELEVATOR MANS NARROW ESCAPE.
John Herbert, an elevator operator, in the
employ of the National Casket Company, just
escaped death when the lightning down the
control cable and the steel grders of the ele
vator shaft The elevator was descending when
the bolt hit the fagpole. Herbert had just re-
moved his hand from the cable when the
lightning down it. causing the car to stop.
The list Of prostrations follows:
D: taken to Hudson Street Hospital
BANGR Herman hirtyons ysars old Of No 4a4 beT-
42d street Brooklyn: taken to Bellevue Hospital
1893 Third avenusi taken to Presbyterian Hospital
s,assa ses % Sc yseea 90 HOSPITAL sS s 81
ao11o taken to s. G Hospital %
assn 70 of'G add wight no.pa OF
LEONARD Thomas "a Old Of NO Ss5
pita
MANNING. Alfred nifty eight years old. home: taken
RUBEN Ida twenty years old Of 2ss Broome street.
home
iSoth street; taken to j. Hood wright Hospital
RIDDEN Daniel. twenty-eght years old of No. 2oa
SAMSON Frederick thirt,-s,x years old, Of No. 2o2
gleecker street. taken 60 the Hudson Street Hospital
The storm. which was freakish. did tho great-
est damage around Jersey City. causing one
death by lightning and considerable damage
to property, Rain and lightning apparently
picked out special places to descend upon This
especially noticeable IN Stamford, Conn.
where the storm ragged terrifcally in the north
and eastern sections of the city, while in the
central and southern parts no rain fell
While the storm Numbered and flashed over
Manhattan. Brooklyn was not disturbed. and no
damage was reported from rain or lightning.
capricious gale blew up suddenly off Con-
stable Hook carrying cloud of refined oil
from the Standard Oh tanks 10 Bayonne Women
who were walking In the streets fed to door,
ways for protection. but the shower OF OIL soiled
many dresses before their owners knew what 1t
was. While the oil mist blew In the faces Of
passersby bolt OF lightning struck an apart
ment house at oath street and Broadway. but
caused more excitement than damage.
BOY KILLED BY LIGHTNING.
Samuel Gerson, fourteen years old of No 39s
Ocean avenue, Jersey City. while hurrying
through the shower to his home. was struck
by lightning and fell at Rutgers and Stevens
avenues. His face and hands and clothing were
burned and when a surgeon from the City Hos
pital arrived he said the boy had been killed
instantly
Lightning also struck Christ Hospital and
alarmed the patients. set fire 10 the finest home
in the city, shattered Flagstaff in the Penn
syIvania Railroad Company's ferry, and excited
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