Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-07-15
SINGULAR RTYECTs OF LIGHTNING
An "Upward" stroke.
From the Lexington tYt.l Gazette. I


About two o'clock on tba list of June a
heavy cloud passed over Lexington, from
which sudden and violent peal of thun-
der startled the whole town, succeeding the
fash of lightning so quickly as to impress
every one with the belief that the ssstroke"
ives near at hand. This was soon found
to be true for the mysterious AGENT had
visited, in very unceremonious way,
the residence of Mr.. Francis Jinks, who
lives on the northwest border of the town.
The features of the phenomenon were
in some respects very remarkable. 1. 1t
seems to have been what the electri-
clans call ''an upward streke, that is,
according to DIR. Franklin's theory of
electricity, the cloud was in a negative
condition, and by its attractive force had
accumulated a heavy charge of the s'elec-
trio fluid" (if it be huid) in that part of
the earth below In its efforts to reach
the cloud the electr city would of
course pass off at the point where it
found the least resistance to its upward
flow, which, In this case. seems to have
been Mr.. Jink's lightning rod. 2. A Second
peculiarly was the effects upon the ground
in the vicinity of the house. The soil near
the surface was furrowed in four zigzag
lines nearly at right angles to each other,
and ali converging toward the lightning
rod, which stands at the western end of the
house. These burrows were upheaved very
much as if large mole had plowed his
tortuous path beneath the soil, coming
near enough to the surface in some parts TO
throw the clay entirely out on both sides
of its open track. Two of the burrows seem
10 have commenced at least twenty feet
from the base of the rod in opposite sides,
and to have run in lines nearly parallel
with the end of the house, while a third
one met them, coming distance Of fifteen
feet and varying a little from a perpendic-
ular to the general line of the first two.
These three seem to have taken their harm.
less flight through the rod. The fourth,
however, which had its origin OF
the opposite end of the house an6
more than thirty-feet from the rod
behaved in a much more singular
manner-in fact, it appears to have
stead of passing on to the rod it took {
wherever it went) by running into heavy
locust post on which a corner OF the bacl
porch rested, and at the point of the build
ing most remote from the lightning rod
The post was utterly demolished, its fraJ,
ments being thrown off in every direction
some knocking the planks off the yart
fence, and others flying away to the dis
lance of hundred yards. From the 10
Gust post the electricity passed up a woodel
pillar which supported the porch roof, tear
ing it into thousand splinters. When tn,
charge reached the roof it tore up few
shingles near the corner, but after that i
seems to have lost its power; for, although
the house is a story higher than the porch
and intervenes between the stricken corn6
and the lightning rod, not trace of cleo
trio action could be found beyond the COZ
ner of the porch roof. Mr.. and Mrs. Jinks
who were at the time IN their basemen
dining room, were both severely shocked
but received no permanent injury. Tn
place was carefully examined after tn
storm was over by Professor Campbell, @
Washington College, who expresses tn
opinion that the lightning rod saved bot
the house and its occupants. He think
that the violence of the discharge was du
in part to the insufficient size of the TO-
Dit being slender iron rodl, and in part I
the want of perfect conducting communi
cation between the rod and the earth
These suggest important points to be al
tended to in the construction of hghtnin
rods.