The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-09-10

tweepwfiich. a1dthe building I1ere was 'iee
electric communication. .t.,
So much for the electrical effects o. sua.
memorable storm on inaniiaate .nings,
Then. how was animate nature Eanecseas
The reporter SAYS, aud no doubt truly, luz
air was as heavily charged With e'ectrie..y
that It sent o tinglDg sensation through pev.
nle,s frames, and though bolts OF Hgntnlns
appeared to descend (aseend y on. ese w.
street, not a life was lost aud no serious uani.
age was done any one" ,oo
We should bear in mind mat elee.
tricify lis very different agent Wnen
In uiiescence from what Is In motIon'e -
person may, acquire imperceptioiy Q enatss
sufficient to kill5if In action, and ieet o1iy. 2
t;noEino sensation while 1t Is quiet. nep
t;,is quiet. harmless charge becomes actve
no she attraction of body In an opposite
state the serious results follow. On tnat
NIGHT elevated obiects-rods, chimneys, trees,
Sr.-were the points OF departure Oh Tue
active electricity to the clouds, while the
charge of persons, being quiescent, produced
onIv the sensation of tiogling; ana accep1
fbeycandid report of your Local. VINO naa no
theory to establish on the effects OF the STORM
on living creatures, as decidedly IN support
of my view of the electrical condition OF Inc
city. 10 lisaIg ~. p, -, -. o, :, i
-i,hat Mrs. billiard and children Should
have been stunned is not surprising. Before
the discharge from the house they were POSI-
lively electrified. But when the charge was
set 10 motion it passed from house ana 10,
mates simultaneously, ipjuring the one and
.tuaning the Others. The effects on some
members of MIR, Kuowles's family can be ex'
nIained by. the fact that by contiguous at
traction the charge Of KuoWles's house
nassed to that of billiard, and 10 passing
from one house to the other the inmates were
shocked. -
In the residence of Mrs Joynes, although
the chimney was knocked to pieces and
mantel splintered, the inmates were not In
iured. Can we account for the preservation
of those people? Observation leads me to
conclude that persons are generally Killed or
injured by lightning under these circum-
slances-either a descending stream falls
wholly or partly on them, or, much more
frequently, when they are the points from
which a charge passes 10 cloud, we often
read of persons being killed whilst impru.
IDENTITY standing in or leaning through open
doors and windows. In my own vicinity,
with but few exceptions, those have been the
attendant circumstances. The bodies OF an
imsls are good conductors. Too often
sometimes when cloud is thought to have
passed over, and all danger from tive open
a door or window, and look out 10 receive
the stroke of death. In such cases OF death
from lightning the proximity Of the rear
norton of negative cloud causes active at
traction, and in the absence of q rod or some
other metallic point the positive electricity OF
the house and contents flies to the body OF
the person near the open door or WIDOW,
from which it is discharged to the negative
cloud with fatal consequences. therefore,
in the case of Mrs. Joynes, it is fair to pre-.
sumo that fortunately the windows and outer
doors were closed, or, if open; the inmates
we're not near them, and thus escaped serl-
Gus injury. .-...
To remove any doubt as to the opinion
that persons may be in ahiShly-electrlcal
condition, of which they are not conscious
until the fluid is aroused to action, VIII
state some instances that occurred within my
own observation: A lady residing in house
to which there was an uninsulated lightning
rod wore ring having set attached with
solder. A tbunder.coud passed over, from
or to which there were many discharges
one so near as 10 cause suspicion that the rod
had received it. Soon after, the lady having
occasion to remove the ring from her finger,
she discovered assure through it, and that
the solder around the set had been melted.
Another case very similar to this, except that
the gentleman wearing the ring was on
vessel in Hampton Roads, was related to me
by the party himself, who also showed me
the ring.
A most remarkable case that occurred in
JuIv, 1865, within a mile OF my residence,
can be explained on The same principles. 4
family occupied a sIngle.story framed house
h,vir o b. ick chimney wtbouta rod. During
4 tbunder.cloud the lady wore skirt With
metallic hoops. Just as heavy charge
passed from the house. and which Knocked
off two or three feet from the top OF the
chimney, the lady, with a child 10 her arms,
was standing near the middle Of the rom,
whose doors and windows we're closed.
With the exception of very distinct shock
neither mother nor child received injury but
the metallic hoops of the lady's skirt were
melted in several places.
In conclusion, what explanation can be
given of the facts set forth in this extract
from your report? "Tbe lines of the West
ern Union Telegraph Company and city po-
lice telegraph were very little interfered
with. A considerable portion of our tele.
graphic dispatches were received here while
the storm was in progress and when the
lightning was dancing around the wires and
posts"
AS previously declared, I believe that,
from some cause to be hereafter considered,
electricity had been attracted from the sur
rounding country to an indefinite distance;
and that on that night the eartb's surface on
which the city stands was huge battery
charged positively. All Objects in the city
from which the electricity was not shut of
by non-conductors were in like electrical
condition. But the telegraph wires being ins: 9
lated, no part of the earth's charge could reach
them. Had the wires been connected with
the earth in the city, or at point whence the
fluid might be attracted to the city, in either
case the telegraph would have been inter-
fered with, and messages could neither have
been sent or received. True, experiments
have proven that under favorable crcun..
stances insulated wires collect electricity
from The atmosphere in large quantities. An
amateur scientist in England made some in
teresting experiments with insulated wires
on bis grounds. have also read of the effects
Of atmospheric electricity on telegraph wires
in this country, rendering the instruments in
operative in some instances, although there
was no electric cloud in sight. Such occur
rences must be caused by an excess of cleo
tricty in the atmosphere (by which insu.
lated wires can only be effected), which
counteracted the artificial. Therefore, we
may legitimately presume that although the
electrical manifestations during the great
storm in Richmond were almost without in.
Permission and magnificent beyond compari.
SOB, yet the atmosphere per Sc contained no
superabundance, the earth and all things
thereon having appropriated the fluid, which
it gave out in charges to the clouds.
j. r. P.
P. S. The recent report On the case Of