The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-08-05
DEATHS BY LIGHTNING.

The death of Clement Royds and wife,
by lightning, on Saturday afternoon last,
has been generally talked of this week,
and was truly distressing case.
[Our correspondent here gives Il full
account Of the affair; but as we had sub
stantially the same already in type, it is
omitted.
There have been but few cases of death
from lightning, in this county, within my
recollection. Many years ago, but can
not fix the time, man named John Short
was killed by lightning in Elk Neck. He
came in ont of the storm, and lay down on
bed, with his head to the wall, and it was
said that hand-saw was hanging against
tho wall above his head, and that the
charge which struck him ran down the
blade of the saw. a ncighbor of the de-
ceased gave me the following story in con-
nection with his death, and though | can
not vouch for its accuracy, I may say that
esteemed the author as a man Of truth.
He said that an Irishman who owned pro-
perty in the Neck, and was then shipping
merchant in Baltimore, took great inter-
est in the success of the Irish Rebellion,
which was then in progress, and determined
to send over a ship load of clubs, or shil-
lalahs, for his countrymen, and that he had
numbers of hands employed in cutting and
saving them off to the proper length, and
that Short was at this work whcr the
storm came up, and that he went to the
house carrying his saw, and hung it up
against the wall, and lay down on the bed
under it, when as before stated, the fatal
shaft reached him.
| About 1885, Elisha Mahoney, then living
near North East, at what was known as
the White House, on the Russell property,
now owned by H. D. NJ. Howard, came to
| the back-door of the house to look out, as
the storm seemed to be over and put his
hands up against the casing of the door,
when he was instantly killed by flash of
lightning. Often when passing by this
house on the cars, l have looked at the
mark of the lightning on the plaster above
the door, and thought of the unfortunate
case of this man, whom had known from
my earliest youth, and who was one of the
steutest men in the county.
Several years after this, William Alex
ander was killed by lightning, at Bulls
Mountain; but do not recollect the par
| ticulars of his case. He was also large
and stout man.
James Pugh, in the act of putting his
| i,,f boc fol, 81 h1-1; rrbf ,ir
and considerably injured; but recovered
Several links of his watch chain were
melted, and I think his shoes were torn off
1t is a remarkable fact that all these
cases occurred in the North East District.
There may have been other cases in the
county, but do not recollect them.
recollect a very extraordinary instance
of the power of lightning, some ten years
ago. A tree, standing at the corner of W.
T. Warburton's wagon-house, was struck
by lightning, and the fluid passed down
the tree to rock that lay at the root of it,
and from thence it glanced across the build
ing striking the spoke of carriage wheel
in its passage, SCATTERING the spoke in the
middle where it struck, putting one end of
it straight through the hub, and at the
same instant putting the other end out of
the felloe and dropping it on the ground.
These lemons looked as bright and clean as
when first driven, and were pulled square
out in opposite directions, without any
lateral pressure. The lightning in passing
by or through the middle of the spoke
would leave vacuum, into which the sur
rounding air would rush, but it is hard to
conceive how the soft air could take suffi-
cient hold on smooth spoke to draw it
endwise from its firm position, which could
not probably have been effected by the sus-
pension of ton weight Nc