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Great Hail Storm

Great Hail Storm image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
June
Year
1845
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

A correspondent of the Evangélica) Observer ot White Pigeon thus describes the effect of the hail storm of the 24th of April in that vicinity. "The appearancc of the storm as it approached, was singular and grand. It arosedirectly in the West, and is course was almost due East. The clouds, instead of the usual ly smooth appearancc, seemed piled together in irregular dark and green masses. The baso was unusually white, Üke a thick mass of driving spray; and the whole body of the clouds exhibited n heavy rolling motion. lts progress was very rapid, I should judge a mile a minute, although opposed by a strong North-east breeze. The lightning plnyed fcarfully along its front, and the distant thunder had a very hoarso deep sound. It canio upon us like a flood. - The wind, though powerful did not possess the fearful energy oí a tornado. Il was the hail which gave the storm its terror. The rain for 10 minutes feil in sheets, it bei ng impossible, where I was, for the sight to penétrate into it 10 fect; then there wasa slight diminution of rain and an instantaneous crash; sometlung as if a 71 gun ship had let loose its broadside upon the house. Windows and window blinds flew in every direct ion, and for a short timo the air was darkened with rain, hail nnd an immense quantity of vegetable matter, broken and cut oíT by hail, and driven beforc the wind. Th is continucd for ncarly 20 minutes. During this time t was neecssary for two persons in the same room, in order to hear each other speak,to raise their voices to the highest pitch; the noise was even above that of the thunder. No person :an form any conception of the terrifiegrandeur of the scène, but an eyo witncss. The enlightened mind could not but contémplate the might and mnjesty o that God whosc are "the treasures o hail," and "who maketii the clouds hi chariot, and rideth upon the wingsof the wind." Man feit his ïnsignificance, om for a while at least, "trembled and feared before the God of Jacob." The veins of hail seemed to cross the track of the storm from North-VVest to North-East. I have been in, and bordering on the path of the hail, for more than .'35 miles, and find as far as I have made particular observation, tbat it will avernge 4 to4J miles in width. This runs wiih the storm, but is crosscd by frequent veins of far more powerful hail. The line of these is as stated above. In lliis path, somc places were left untouched, while the hail feil on all sides. In the veins, everv thing in the shape of fruit trees, that were exposeü, weredestroyed, and even the forest trees cannot possibly reclothe themselves with their accustomcd verdure this scason. The damage done is very great. I learned at Niles, that a nurseryman North-East of that place, valued his loss at more than $2,000. The day after the storm, I found n stone, an irregular mass of ice, bctween 8 and 9 inches in circumference-, ond about ono inch thick. - Twelve days after, they were brought into Ihis village from one to three inches in circumferenco. Three miles from here, the fourth day after the storm, they lay in drifts 2 fcet dcep. W heat was literally ground to the earth."

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News