METEOROLOGICAL TRIFLES IN THE UNITED STATES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2510, 11 August 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

METEOROLOGICAL TRIFLES IN THE UNITED STATES.

At Wellsville and Allontown, N.Y., a tornado passod through, unroofing buildings aud doing immense damage to crops. Over twenty buildings were unroofed at Wellsville. The storm also did dovasting work at Cameron Mills, in Steuben county. lowa, South Des Moines, Sevastpool and Bloomfield report a fall yesterday of bail-stones, between the size of hazel nuts and hen's eggs. At Sevastpool the hail drifted to a depth of four feet, and not a window that was exposed was unbroken in tho town.

Irregular chunks of ice in tho shapa of crystals, instead of the usual form of hail, fell at Charabersburg, Pen., and many window panes were demolished. Machinists had to leave work in tho Taylor Manufacturing Company, tho ioe-fall breaking through tho glass and showering both ice and glass upon the workmen. The company lost BCO window panes. Serious cuts and bruises of men and horsos are reported. In Mercor Connty, Ppn., the Sharon Stove Company's brick foundry was wrecked, the roof being torn off and boards driven through tho heavy boiler-iron cupola lined with brick as though shot from a cannon. Houses wero unroofed, trees uprooted and fencos and orchards greatly injured. A regular hurrioane operated in Green and Washington counties.

At Titptville, Penn, a tornado cloud burst and deluged the vicinity about three o'clock in tho afternoon. The wind was fifty miles an hour, and the people rushed to the cellars for safety. The top of the Baptist Church steeple was blown off, three houses were unroofed, the telegraph and telephone lines were badly damaged, and several buildings were wrecked.

Hail fell in portions of Kansas with great force, tearing shingles off the roofs, and cutting cattle so that the blood ran, while horses were driven against the barbed wire fences. At Stockton, the Salmon River is over a mile wide, and everything moveable on its banks was carried away.

Omaha, May 28.—For the past three days Nebraska has been deluged with rain, and reports from the northwestern parts of the State show that great damage has been done. A despatch from Chndrou reports a fearful water-spout in Dawes county on Sunday night. Five miles of track were submerged in Fremont, Elkhorn nnd Missouri Valley Railroad, a number of bridges were washed out. There have been no trains from the north or west for nearly thirty-six boars, and it is hard to say when there will be one, as it has rained hard since four o'clock on Saturday night, without stopping, and the oountry is flooded. Farmers along the White and Lone Tree Rivers have had to abandon their houses, and a number have been washed away. The White River rose 16 inches in forty minutes. The water came down almost in a solid wall. The cloud was plainly visible from Chadron, and it had the appearance of a rolling black mass, rorolringlike a cart wheel or log, entirely different from a cyclone cloud.

Nebraska City, Neb., May 28.—A heavy rain, aocompanied with violent wind, struck this plnce early yesterday morning aud completely flooded the streets. The Burlington and Mis'ouri and Missouri-Pacific Depot platforms wore flooded to the depth of or.e foot. Thirty-seven sections of the Burlington and Missouri's trestle approach to the bridge were blown down. Reports from the country are that the storm did tremendous damage to the crops. The accident to the bridge will delay its completion three months.

Wichita, Kan., May 6.—A fearful cloud-burst is reported to have taken place near Maize, about fifteen miles west of Wichita, at 6 o'clock this morning. It had been raining all night, when suddenly a cloud descended on the city, which id described as being as black as night. The phenomenon was accompanied by a fearful noise, similar to that of an earthquake, aud the people who happened to be up at that hour rushed into tho streets, notwithstanding that the rain was pouring. Maize is situate! on tho south bank of the Arkansas, and the streets were quickly turnod into rivers, which, fortunatoly, found speedy outlets. The rain came down in a torrent, washing away a number of hou«es and moving others from their foundations. A house in which a family named Rockby lived was carried into the Arkansas river, whore it sank, drowning Rockby, his wife and two children. A number of narrow escap»3 are reported. The water seemed to come straight down and could not have been thicker had it found its source from a lake in the air. The scenes at the time of the catastrophe were awful, and the amount of damage will be very large. A great many head of htrses and cattle were also drowned.

The cloud burst extended over a space parallelogram in form, five miles wide and one mile long. The heavens were black, and darkness, almost equal to night, covered the entire area. The people ran frightened from their houses, crying, ' The end of the world has come !' Horses rati from the line of the cloud, and many were drowned. Wellington*, Kan., May 24.—A cyclone struck tho town of Argonia, a few miles west of here, on Tuesday night, cutting a big path through the thickest settled portion of the place. Among the buildings utterly demolished were the Methodist church, the Palace Hotel, and a considerable number of stores and dwellings. A number of persons were badly injured by flying timbers and debris, though no fatalities are reported. Several families are homeless. The storm was terrible. The people ran to tho cellars, thinking the whole town would be blown away.