LIGHTNING FLASH.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1924, Page 7

LIGHTNING FLASH.

EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. FOUR MEN STRUCK. Sydney, Dec. 5. A vivid Hash of lightning, which was fjjlt in manv parts nf New South Whies, apparently, accompanied a rainstorm in Sydney on Monday. It caused much damage in the city and suburbs. Electric power was cut oft’ at many places, telegraph lines were affected, and telephone lines broke down. Several houses were struck by lightning. But the most amazing portiort of the visitation was at Eppling Racecourse, where four men, who were standing near a tree, were struck. The flash tore several concrete slabs to fragments, and threw the four men to the ground one of them receiving a distinct impression of a leaf, about nine inches long, and four i-nches wide, on his left shoulder. They were all picked up suffering severely from shock, and after, treatment at the racecourse casualty room were taken home. A horse in a cab took fright at the rop of Wentworth Avenue, a steep thoroughfare in the city, and scared by the thunderclap which accompanied the lightning careered wildly down the street. The roadway was slippery through the rain, and when the cab driver attempted to stop the anima], the horse swerved, slipped on the blocks, skidded to the side of the road, where a pavement patrol pump, in the line of the skid, was torn out from the concrete bed. The cab was smashed to match wood, and the occupant, Mr. Timothy Breen, was buried in the wreckage. At the impact the driver was thrown from his bucket seat and fell sprawling on the ground, escaping, fortunately, with a few scratches and bruises. Breen/ ( was less lucky, and was taken to the hospital, severely injured about the head and body. The horse was badly cut on the head and chest, and died in the street a few minutes after the smash. The damage to the petrol pump i 8 estimated at £6O.