Litchfield enquirer., 1869-12-23
ATTACKS OF LIGHTNING.

There is something very mysterious, iu the attacks of lightning on the human bodY.a We know in sort of rough, gene ral way that metals and other substances differ greatly in their power of conduct. ing electricity; but science must advance beyond it's present stage before we can lay down infallible rules for guidance. Some
 persons have supposed that lightning does
 not penetrate far beneath the surface of the ground; but in 1843, three men were struck by flash at the bottom of a mine SIX hundred feet deep-the lightning hay. ing passed down the chain in, the shaft. Others, again, believe. that safety is to be found in bed. It certainly is so general. ly, but by no means universally, In 1928, lightning attacked cottage near Chiches- ter, destroying with 8 adcrashs the wooden part of 8 lbedstead,z threW the bed-clothes on the ground, and with them the matrass and person who was sleeping on .it-for- tunately without further mischief. Again, in the same year, near Doncaster, g. flash of lightning tore the. coverlet from a bed, but without doing any injury to it's occu. pant. Again, n1772, Mr. Hearthly, of Harrogate, was killed by lightning while asleep in his bed; his wife, lying by his side, was not even awakened by the shock. A Roman Catholic church was once struck by lightning during. the celebration of mass; two or three officiating priests were struck dead, while the third remained un- touched. Sometimes trees are sought, sometimes summed, for shelter dnring thunder-storms, according to the preva- lence of certain opinions 1a Some years ago, theory was preached to, the effect that lightning often strikes the elm, chest nut, oak, pine, and sometimes the ash, but not the beech, birch or maple; then there was an assertion that, when the oak and pine grow near together, the latter escapes while the former is attacked. Generally speaking, however, the opinion prevails pretty strongly, that the farther distant we are from trees during 8 thunderstorm the better. The supposed protectiye pow
 CT of glass, too, is not always reliable. In l7S0, two persons were killed at East
 bourne while. standing inside g window during thunderstorm; the glass was re-
 duced to powder, but the woodwork of the window remained 4uninjured.. Any ar- ticles of metal worn about the person are
 pretty certain to increase the danger from
 lightning. In 1919, lightning attacked the
 prison at Biberach, and, out of twenty
 prisoners in one apartment, attacked only a brigand who was chained round the
 waist, leaving the others unscathed. In
 1749, during thunderstorm, lady rais- ed her arm to shut window; the light
 ming flashed. and ,"a golden bracelet so completely disappeared that not vestige of it could be found," without the lady
 herself being hurt. The complete disap- pearance of the bracelet is probably an ex- aggeration. The melting, without the &C., tual disappearance, is credible; for, in 1914, . lightning flash struck a fishing boat off the Shetland Islands, shivered the mast, and melted a watch in the pocket of man sitting near the mast, without scorching his clothes or injuring him. In 1858, when peasant-woman was killed by lightning near Auxerre in France, not q wound was found on her body; but silver comb was melted in her hair-probably de- fining the spot where the death-stroke was given. Brydone relates an incident of a lady whose bonnet was reduced to ashes while she was looking ont of window at a thunderstorm; 1t is supposed that the wire in the bonnet attracted the electrici- ty. It is, however, not very likely that la-
 dies will adopt the highly scientific pre- caution suggested by him for such. occa- sions: "Every lady should wear q small chain or thread of brass wire, which she should hang, during ..the time of Q fhun- der-storm, to the wires of her bonnet, by which the Eliminating matter might pass to the earth, insteai of traversing the head and other members." eaf 7a z--aa
 Not the least embarrassing of the ques- tions which arise in reference to lightning flashes is, to guess in what way the action will show itself when two or more persons are near each other in line or curve. Will it act most at the extremities of the line,l or in the middle? In 1908, lightning flash struck house in Swiss village: five children were sitting on 8 bench; it killed the first and last in the row, but gave only . violent shock to the others. In 1858, at Drome, in France, g lightning flash killed a young girl Tn farm, house, but left un- touched 8 child in her arms It is not yet known whether horses or other Quadru- peds resist the effects of lightning less safely or more safely than human beings; for some recorded facts tell on the one side, some on the 1other. In 1785, light. ming attacked stable at Rambeuillet: thir. ty-two horses were in 8 row; thirty We're overturned. of which two at the extreme ends of the line were killed. In 1801,I ls miller near Chartres was walking between "a horse and mule; the two animals Wore struck dead by lightning, while the man escaped with slight injury. tn 178l, three French gentlemen were out riding; light ning-flash killed all three of the horses,
 but only one of the riders In 1926 a boy was leading mare on road near Worces ter; a thunderstorm came ofl, which killed the mare. but left the boy unhurt In 18l0 2 gentleman was sitting with. his dog by
 his side; a lightningfash killed the dog
 but only gave slight shock to the gentle. man. In 1858, while a clergyman nea
 Leatherhead was riding in fly with two members of his family, g lightning fast
 struck the driver from his seat, swlthoui
 hurting the other persons or the horses There is almost as much doubt ,whethe the, popular yiewis correct, that water il
 less attacked by lightning than lana
 Kaempfer stated that the emperors of Jap
 an were won't to take refuge in a grotto containing reservoir of water during
 thunderstorm. Do the Tycoon and Mlka
 do, of whom we hear so much nowadays
 practise the same cunning dezice29 Ina
 fish are stunned in the water, there is sui ficient proof. In 1772, lightning attacked
 the rivemD Doubs near Besancon, and stun
 ned the fish, which were foated along b,
 the stream. In 1870, a lightning-fash fei on the lake of Zirknitz in Austria, an,
 " such g quantity of fish almost immedi
 ately foated1on the surface, that the neigh
 boring ih Ants collected twenty-eigh wagon loads for manure. ',l---App. Journal.