THE FLOOD OF 1843. 17 



what he would consider a violent one. The quantity of rain 

 which fell was not ascertained. 



As observed by James Riddle, at Avendale, about two and 

 a half miles N. E. from Chester, the wind blew from the 

 southward and eastward all day till the evening, when it blew 

 a gale from the north-west. Very little rain fell during the 

 whole day till evening, when there was a smart shower, but 

 nothing of any amount to make a rise in the creek. A gen- 

 tleman residing in Concord township, informed Mr. Riddle 

 that the wind changed at least five times, according to his 

 own observations, in that township. 



As observed by Robert Frame, Esq., at his residence in 

 the township of Birmingham, the rain commenced about 

 noon, the wind in the east or south-east. The clouds were 

 dark and heavy, the lightning sharp, and the thunder tre- 

 mendously heavy, accompanied with a rumbling noise in the 

 air. The wind blew hard and was whiffling, and the rain fell 

 in torrents till two, or perhaps half past two o'clock, when it 

 subsided for ten or fifteen minutes, after which — the wind 

 in the west, or south-west, — the clouds appeared to discharge 

 their contents with redoubled fury. The rain ceased about 

 four o'clock, P. M. 



Mr. Joseph Edwards, who resides in Middletown town- 

 ship, within half a mile of the centre of the county, observed 

 a phenomenon during the last heavy shower of rain, which 

 does not appear to have been noticed in any other part of the 

 county. He remarks that during the last shower which con- 

 tinued, say twenty minutes, and in which there fell a greater 

 quantity of water than during any equal space of time during 

 the afternoon — unlike any other shower he had witnessed — 

 the distant woods and other objects were not obscured in any 

 sensible degree by the falling rain. This extraordinary 

 appearance was a subject of remark by all present, and 

 created considerable surprise. At the time there was an 

 impending mass of dense clouds, without any apparent 



