THUNDERSTORMS KILL SIX PERSONS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 206, 29 August 1905, Page 3

THUNDERSTORMS KILL SIX PERSONS

m I [BY MAIL.] NEW YORK, July 30. The eastern coast of the United States was swept to-day by terrific thunder storms and cyclonic winds, which left a trail of dead and injured in the stricken areas. At Coney Island five persons were killsd and nine injured by lightning. The intense heat of the morning attracted a great multitude to the shore resorts, and late in the afternoon, when the storm blew up from the westward. the park and beach were thronged with bathers and spectators. The rain Oescended in torrents, and hundreds of men, women and children sought the shelter under the big bath-house, which is elevated above the sand on piles. The Lightning was incessant, and terrific thunderclaps shook the bathhouse, to ihe terror of the crowd huddled together beneath it. A few minutes before 5 o'clock a bolt struck the flagstaff and grounds in the very thickest of the crowd. Nearly fifty persons were prostrated, and the crowd rushed out into the storm. Those who had remained in the water were also panic- stricken, and ran in all directions, not daring to enter the bath-house, which appeared to be on fire. Ambulances were summoned from all the nearest hospitals, and on their arrival five persons were found dead and nine unconscious under the bath-house. The bodies of all were scorched by the electric fluid. The nine injured were removed to a hospital, where it was said that some probably would die. Many persons less seriously hurt were taken home by friends. A slight fire in the bath-house was quickly extinguished by the rain. About the same time Henry Kansweller was struck and killed while seeking shelter under a tree at Gravesend Beach, and his son William, with John Apple and Daniel IMcCauley, were jetdered unconscious. Lightning struck at various points in the city. A store in Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, was burned, and a car in Sixth Avenue, Manhattan, was set on fire, but the occupants escaped unhurt, At Gravesend Beach one man was killed and five persons injured by lightning while in a tent avoiding the storm. At Carterest. N.J., a cyclone preceding the storm turned houses over, wrecked others, uprooted trees and carried small animals away. At Bridgeport, Conn., two persons were killed and many were injured and houses were wrecked. At Point Pleasant, N.J., the storm caught Frank Brown, a banker, and his daughter while boating and drowned them. In New York city the storm also played havoc. Patients in Bellevue Hospital were thrown into a panic when the lightning was carried into the institution by the telephone wires. A Si.cth Avenue elevated train was set on fire by lightning. In many ways the storm was one of the most remarkable in . years. Swooping down upon the city from the lake regions in the west and north-west, it centred over the city, where it was joined by a thunderstorm advancing from the east and swept off again to the east and north-east.