Philadelphia, 24 August, 1777.
My dearest Friend,--We had, last evening, a thunder-gust very sharp and
violent, attended with a plentiful rain. The lightning struck in several
places. It struck the Quaker almshouse in Walnut Street, between Third
and Fourth Streets, not far from Captain Duncan's, where I lodge. They
had been wise enough to place an iron rod upon the top of the steeple,
for a vane to turn on, and had provided no conductor to the ground. It
also struck in Fourth Street, near Mrs. Cheesman's. No person was hurt.
This morning was fair, but now it is overcast and rains very hard, which
will spoil our show and wet the army.