In the upper part of the city, however, in the neighborhood of the Crystal Palace, the wind blew with destructive violence. A high brick wall was blown flat to the ground—a block of four wooden buildings (not entirely completed) was prostrated-and a small wing of the Crystal Palace was blown down. The fall of hail was heavy, and considerable glass in the Crystal Palace, and the buildings in the vicinity, were broken. During the first part of the storm, the lightning was unusually severe. Several buildings and trees in New York and Williamsburgh were struck by the electric fluid, and one or two barns were burned to the ground. I have succeeded in tracing this storm for a distance of full twenty five miles, and for about two-thirds of this distance have followed the track personally on foot. The portion of the track which I have myself surveyed, commences about a mile and a half southwest of Paterson, N. J., from which point it proceeds in a southeast direction-passing over the village of Acquackanonck, together with the cities of N. York and Williamsburgand from this point the storm can be traced with diminished energy to Jamaica Bay. Near Paterson, the wind is believed to have been more violent than in any other part of the above mentioned track. Where it swept through the forests, many large trees, of one to two feet in diameter, were overturned-while others were snapped off and twisted like reeds. This remark applies to a distance of about three or four miles from the commencement near Paterson. In the neighborhood of Acquackanonck, a few trees were overturned-but not a large number. East of Acquackanonck, the track soon crossed the Hackensack meadows where the ground is low and flat, and there were no trees to be overturned. I have obtained no information of the effect of the wind upon the high ridge on the west bank of the Hudson river-but the entire length of the track across New York was marked by violence, as above stated. was particularly exposed since it was the highest ground encountered by the storm in its passage across the island. Having crossed East river, the storm passed centrally over Williamsburgh, where it caused more damage than in any other part of its course. The steeples of two churches (the first Presbyterian and the Dutch) were blown down; the roof of a third church was partially blown off-the roofs of a large number of dwelling houses were carried away-the tin from numerous roofs was rolled up in long solid coils, and in some cases carried off-while in others, it clung to the roofs and was left after the storm in long massive windrows. This region The breadth of the track near Paterson is thought not to have exceeded half a mile-perhaps was somewhat less than this-and the destructive violence did not extend beyond these limits, until the storm reached Williamsburgh: but here the wind was almost equally violent over a space a mile and a half in breadth, while houses were unroofed over a track two miles in breadth. Beyond Williamsburgh, the wind was less destructive-the track became broader and less distinctly defined-and the general course deviated more to the east. The storm was reported as severe at Jamaica and South Jamaica. From the commencment near Paterson to Williamsburgh the track did not deviate sensibly from a straight line; and its course was from N. 40° W. to S. 40° E. Throughout the entire track here mentioned, hail fell of unusual size. Near Paterson the stones were smallest in size, but most abundant in quantity. The destruction caused to the fruit and the crops was such as not unfrequently occurs in France, but has seldom been witnessed in this country. When I visited the spot a few days after the storm, the trees looked as if they had been pelted by myriads of heavy stones. The leaves were strewed thick upon the ground; and most of those which still clung to the branches, were riddled through and through, and dried upon the stems. The rails of the fences bore marks of large gashes where the brown weather-worn surface had been nicked off and a fresh surface exposed, as if by a volley of stones from a troop of mischievous boys. Upon the north side of the houses along the track, scarce a pane of glass was left entire, and the clapboards were covered thick with gashes an inch in diameter, where the paint was chipped off. Fields of wheat and rye, which had not been harvested, were beaten down as flat as if a heavy iron roller (such as is sometimes employed for smoothing gravelled walks) had been dragged over them; and fields of corn were totally destroyed. On some fields, I was assured that after the storm the ice lay in a solid compact mass two inches thick. Large quantities of ice still remained unmelted on the ground the next morning, and a tenant on one of the farms collected a considerable quantity and carried it into Paterson, (two miles distant,) to show to his landlord; and I was informed that in a hollow, against the side of a house, the ice accumulated to such a depth, that on the evening of July 2nd, the day after the storm, a bushel basket full of ice was shoveled up; the stones varied in size from that of a pigeon's egg, to a hen's egg. The track of the ice did not deviate much from the track of greatest violence of the wind, and followed the same general direction, but covered a somewhat greater breadth. From Paterson to the Hackensack meadows beyond Acquackanonck, the damage caused by the hail was very great, amounting to nearly an entire destruction of the crops of wheat, rye, oats and corn, as also the cherries, peaches, apples, etc., within the limits of the track. In the city of New York, the damage done by the hail was not very great; for the stones were not numerous, although of prodigious size. The ship-yard of Mr. Thomas Collyer at the Dry Dock, was covered with singularly shaped pieces of ice,-one of which was measured and found to be 64 inches in circumference -another seven inches, and a third measured three inches long, and two inches thick. In Williamsburgh the hail appears to have destroyed more glass than in New York. In many houses nearly half the glass was broken in windows which were unprotected on the north side. Over 400 panes of glass were broken from the north side of a single school house. On the same day with the preceding storm, large hail is said to have fallen at several places in Pennsylvania. About three o'clock in the afternoon, a terrific hail-storm passed over Northumberland doing great damage. Hail-stones are said to have been picked up measuring 7 inches in circumference; and several thousand panes of glass were broken in that town. At 5 o'clock, P. M., a severe hail-storm passed about 20 miles north of Philadelphia. At Upper Dublin, the storm was very destructive. Several barns were unroofed, many fruit and forest trees were blown down-and many fields of wheat and oats so badly damaged, as scarcely to pay for harvesting. One hailstone was measured, and its greatest circumference found to be 63 inches, and its smallest five inches,-and this was half an hour after the storm had abated. At Norristown and Doylestown the crops were much injured by the hail, and at Burlington, N. J., the wind was exceedingly violent. It is not probable that either of these storms was the same as that which passed over New York. The hail-storm near Philadelphia, was about simultaneous with that at New York. The storm at Northumberland may have been identical with that at Upper Dublin, the distance of the places being 100 miles-the interval of time 2 hours-and the direction nearly parallel with the track of the New York storm. It would appear that a violent wave of great extent set in from the northwest, which rolled over both New York and Philadelphia, and within this wave were formed about simultaneously several distinct veins of hail. Was the storm which passed over New York a whirlwind? I have surveyed every part of the track of the storm where I have heard of any violent effects, especially with reference to the decision of this question. Throughout Williamsburgh, I could find no unequivocal evidence of rotation. The steeples which were prostrated, fell in a direction coinciding very nearly with that of the storm's progress, that is, towards the southeast. In the case of one of the churches whose steeple was blown down SECOND SERIES, Vol. XVII, No. 49.--Jan., 1854. 6 |