Pleasantville weekly press., 1911-07-26
THE WORST STORM so FAR
THIS SEASON

Again was Pleasantville visited by a
severe electrical storm on Friday after
noon last. 1t began at l2.30 and contin-
ued with slight interruption until after
5. The strokes of lightning Were ex-
ceedingly sharp and frequent and caused
great uneasiness among our citizens, the
Oldest Of whom declare they had never
witnessed the like The financial dam
age is estimated at not less than $1,000.
Twelve houses were struck by lightning,
causing one fire and stunning a number
of persons.
The store of Clark Hackney, on Dough
ty road, was struck by bolt, which ran
along the telephone wires and set fire to
the building. A large part Of the stock
and much Of the furniture was ruined
before the flames were extinguished..
A bolt knocked the back out of the
house of Samuel Barrett on Woodland
avenue near New Road
Lightning played peculiar prank IN
the home of wit" Adams, on Mill road
at Pennington. The bolt hit the roof,
burning hole in it, found its way down
to the kitchen, setting an ironing board
afire, and then put the pump out of
commission running down the we'll. The
Pleasantville Fire Department responded
and put out the blaze
G. A. Campbell's house at Main street
and the Reading railroad, which has
twice before been set on fire by passing
trains, was struck by lightning. One
bolt crashed through a window. left the
furniture topsy-turvy and found its way
down the chimney, while the second bolt.
a fpxU 1ota -ol L. {
the same chimney and carried a large
part of the roof with it,
Paul Wootton, Elmer Jeslin and Bert
Smith were standing ON the porch of a
new house on Verona avenue at Central,
when lightning struck the pavement.
They We're hurled from the porch and
stunned. I'VE felt tingling sensation
all through our bodies for several sec
onds," stated Mr.. Wootton.
A bolt tore a hole Though the roof of
st. Johns church on Doughty road This
was followed a minute later by a crash
across the way, the bolt entering the
dwelling of Job Adams.
Lightning also struck the bake-shop
of A. E. Danielson at Is East Washing
ton avenue, and the cottage OF W. Mi
nerd, Third street, between Pleasant and
Adams avenues
Great damage was done to the interi-
or OF the Kirscht Building, Nos and 5
N. Main street, occupied by Mervyn VIII
son as a Mems Shop and Mrs. NJ A
Frambes as a dry goods and ladies no.
tion store. A new roof was being put on
and the old roof hau been torn away
when the rain storm came on compelling
the men to quit work. The building
was fairly swamped and only through
the heroic efforts of Mrs NJ A. Frambes,
Miss Dorcas English, Mrs E. Kirscht.
Miss Clara Kirscht, and Mr. and Mrs.
Vrooman was the stock in the stores.
amounting to about $4,000, saved from
damage. Tubs, buckets, pans and all
kinds of receptacles were used in catch
ing the water, and the floors were con-
tinuously mopped to prevent the water
from running through the floor onto the
goods below. The entire building will
have to be repaired and repapered.
Never before in the history of Pleas
antville has the lightning struck SO fre-
quently and the whole town was in a
state of terror. Hail stones fell which
were a curiosity, being about the size of
shoe buttons and having peculiar dark
centre which made them look like beads.