AN AWFUL, SIGNIFICANT EVENT.
Herewith I attach a brief account taken from the Sydney Daily Telegraph of an awful storm, which swept over Victoria, Australia, on November 12. The phenomenon is attracting wide attention. A London scientific authority decides that the fire-balls were electrical, and similar in character to those discharged at Mt. Pelee. The effects of the storm were very wide, having been reported from New Zealand and adjacent coasts and islands. Many vessels at sea have been delayed by dust storms, which obscured every object. What with storms, terrible shipwrecks, drought, and famine, Australasia is furnishing a full quota of the signs of our times. Men's hearts are filled with apprehension of the future. But to the people of God the word comes: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 28. The account is as follows:— Melbourne, Wednesday, November 12. — The weather throughout the State to-day was phenomenal. Dust storms, accompanied by great heat, raged violently in all parts. At Boort great balls of fire fell in the paddocks and in the streets, throwing up showers of sparks as they struck the earth. Wycheproof had a trying experience. The whole air appeared to be on fire. Lanterns had to be used during the daytime. Trees and buildings were blown down in all directions, and boughs of trees were blown about in the air like feathers. At Langdale a house was set on fire by the fire-balls, and destroyed. The Sealake Presbyterian Church was so injured by the wind that it will have to be pulled down. Balls of fire burst on the poppet-heads of the New Barambogie mine, at Chiltern, and the fire which resulted spread to the timber in the shaft, and was, with great difficulty, extinguished. Bush fires spread in every district. The extent of the damage can not be learned at present, as nearly all the telegraph lines are down. Almost every station heard from makes the same report. Gales, dust, lightning, balls of fire, and darkness in the daytime, so intense that fowls went to roost in the afternoon, while the people were stumbling around trying to find their way by the aid of lanterns. People thought the world had come to an end. The storm struck Melbourne to-day, and was strongly reminiscent of “black Thursday.” The wind came whistling along from the northwest at fifty miles an hour, sweeping dust, stones, and debris into the air until the sun was obscured, and it was difficult for people to make their way through the streets. Many shops were forced to close their doors in order to avoid serious damage to the stock. The heat was stifling. Every water cart in the city was turned out, and extra men were put on with hydrants to endeavour to lay the dust, but the water fell as on red-hot stone. It sizzled and evaporated in a few minutes.