Connecticut western news., 1911-07-27
FIERCE HAIL STORM HOSE CO.'S FAST WORK
WINDOWS SHATTERED;
 MANY BIRDS KILLED

OTOpS nulIEu ndtISkuHSS tfo "
 Inches Around, Lay in Drifts Foot
 Deep-Noise of Storm Deafening.
 Late Friday afternoon the worst hail storm within the memory of the oldest inhabitants, descended on Canaan and vicinity.
 From an almost cloudless sky great drops of rain began to fall, quickly followed by sharp lightning and heavy thunder. Then oame-not regulation hail storm. but deluge of ice balls The storm, coming from the south, ap- parently divided into two paths, doing the most damage along the Housatonic river in the Weatogue district and West Main street in this village.
 During the storm, which lasted about 30 minutes the noise was almost delfen- ing, and the sudden drop in the temper atnre changed the air from midsummer to winter in few moments. It was 8 sight long to be remembered.
 The green lawns were suddenly changed to a winter garb, in many places being entirely covered by ice, several inches deep. Garden vegetation was riddled to shreds and many crops utterly destroyed. The rattle of the hailstones on the roots was like the steady roar of musketry. In the village, the fact that window glass escaped des- truction was due to the fact that the wind accompanying the storm was very light. On the outskirts, however, glass suffered severely. At o. H. Pease's summer home on the r1ver, which was in the storm center, hailstones broke through the windows in the south side of 8 small room in the upper part of the house, passed through the room and broke the windows on the north side. The roof, which was covered with heavy ''fintkote" roofing, was punctured in more than,a hundred places and dented in a thousand spots. On Granite avenue, George Fuller had the curiosity to measure some of the hailstones. and found the largest averaged one and @ quarter inches across or nearly four inches in circum- ference. The traditional "hen's egg" comparison is no longer an exaggeration
 In places where the hailstones rolled off the roofs they lay in drifts more than foot deep, and Tn many such places they were found in abundance the next morning, even after the dis. solving effects of the severe rainstorm that followed the hail. In fact, D. L. Peirce gathered supply of hailstones Saturday morning, with which his family froze 8 generous supply of sherbet.
 Some thrifty residents scored point on the foe man by shoveling up the hail. stones by the basketful and dumping them into their refrigerators.
 Pedestrians, passing after the storm indulged In snowballing contests as a novel experience for the 21st of July.
 The storm was most destructive along the Housatonio rlver. The crops on the farms of W. D. Sheldon and W. H Proper were nearly all ruined. The hail came with terrific force. The fields oi corn, oats and grass have disappearance of being run over with steam roller.
 Mauy birds were killed and wounded as though shot with a rife.
 The gigantic "Balm of Gilead'' tree on the corner in front of Frank Snyder's farm house, was struck by lightning during the storm that accompanied the hail.
 Persons witnessing the storm along the river saw most unusual sight. The hailstones striking the water sent ur jets of spray, giving the surface of the river a boiling and seething appearance
 Many buildings show the effects of the storm-in some places they look as if they might have served as the back stop for shooting gallery.