The New York Journal, And Daily Patriotic Register

American Occurrences.

KINGSTON, (Jamaica) Dec. 15.

Extract of a letter, dated the 24th of last month, from Mr. Regnant, a lawyer in the Mountain de Roak hellois, in Hispaniola.

"On the night between the 21st and 22d inst. a most dreadful thunder cloud burst over the mansion house at this place, with a tremendous report, and the lightning fell upon the principal rafter; one part of the electric matter ran through the ridge pole, which luckily served as a conductor. by which means it and an angular post of hard wood, which supported it, were shattered to pieces, and about 500 splinters were thrown to several yards distance; the other part of the electric fluid having run along the rafter, took opposite directions. The shock was so violent that the whole mass of this building tottered; the walls adjoining the principal rafter were entirely thrown down to the very foundation in one heap of rubbish. Mr. Horquigny and I were then in the bed, and our bed heads lay in the direction of the focus of the lightning; with difficulty we made our escape through thick suffocating clouds of smoke; I was lightly scorched down the back, while my shirt. and the gown I had on did not suffer the least visible alteration, and he remained unhurt, tho his bedstead was shattered to pieces. But what was my astonishment and joy! that moment a sparkling flame dashed a baton out of my hands, and I perceived it luckily take a direction towards a box of candles, as it were in preference, instead of a box containing 12 lb. of gun-powder: three of the candles were carried and left on an adjoining table three feet high, without the least damage.

The cause of this deviation did not appear to me at all surprising, as I thought it might be attributed to metallic earths which were then on the table, and which the force of the lightning actually put into a state of fusion.

"An accident of so alarming a nature, which exhibited electric phenomena cannot but accelerate the execution of putting an electric bar of iron to my dwelling-house; and I sincerely wish the inhabitants of this colony may have no need of like disasters to warn them to take timely advantage of the discovery of conductors--a discovery as interesting to mankind, as necessary in this climate, subject to storms of thunder and lightning for nine months in the year."