Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Hail Storm

The Home News, March 19, 1859

A sudden and violent hail storm, accompanied with high wind and a flood of rain, broke over this city and vicinity at one o'clock yesterday afternoon. The hail, about the size of peas or buck shot, soon covered the ground, but were too small to do any damage to window glass. 

Considerable havoc was committed by the wind in various quarters. The cement roofing from the brick building on Ohio Street, occupied by Cotton & Gray as a furniture store, was partially blown off, as well as that from the Wharfboat. The parapet gable of the old brick store on Ohio Street was blown over on the roof of Hall & Snider's bakery adjoining, entirely demolishing half of the roof, from front to rear, breaking a twelve-inch joist, and falling to the lower floor, within a few inches of a boy at work. 

The roof of N. Bishop's blacksmith shop on Fourth Street was blown in and fell on a man named Robert McKittrick, considerably bruising him about the head and body. A portion of the roof was carried a distance of 25 yards. About one-eighth of one side of the roof of Brown & McCarty's tannery on Third Street was lifted up and completely folded back. The window panes in the front of W. Mervine's house on the same street were dashed out. One of the chimneys on the residence of Col. Mills was overthrown, and another on the jail shared the same fate.

"The wind it blew,
The hail it flew,
And raised particular thunder
With skirts and hoops
And chicken coops,
And all that sort of plunder."

P.S.  The rain of yesterday afternoon turned to snow about midnight and this morning is half an inch deep on boards, bricks, &c. and still slightly falling, though the mercury has sun to 33 degrees only. Unless it becomes colder, fruit cannot suffer much.

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