The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-08-26
Lightning.

The last two months have been re-
markable for the number of persons
who have been killed or injured during
them by lightning. Statistics in regard
/ to this point are not complete, and those
that have been gathered show about one
person each day struck by this subtle
and powerful agent in various parts OF
the Union, about half as many having
been killed as have been merely injured =.
Death by lightning is not at any time so
rare an occurrence as it Is commonly
thought to be, but electrical disturb
ances during the present summer have
been greater. and more frequent than
usual. The heavens have been at war
with the earth with water and fire, and
have succeeded in doing much injury to
their old antagonist. Floods, hurrl-
canes and cyclones, hail and lightning,
have wrought uncommon disaster, and,
in not predicting the immediate destruc-
ton of the world, persons Of prophet
ic, seventh-seal, and Millerite tendency
have not shown themselves fully awake
to the opportunities of the time. The
''freaks of lightning has become a
common phrase, no other force than
electricity ever being guilty of such
enormous and wonderful vet common de-
partures from their ordinary working
with such terrific effect. If itwere posi-
BILE for gravitatiOn to indulge in such
| freaks: if there were cosmical storms in
which the worlds were sent whirling
through space on the instant, knocking
their heads tog@aser, and then the cos
mical sky should clear off, the nebul9
roll away, the central sun shine out and
all be lovely again-if this were possible
we should have to seek homes in Mr..
Proctor's ''Other Worlds than Ours -
for peace and quietness. Lightning can
never be depended upon to act in any
given way; sometimes it appears as a
ball of fire rolling along the ground and
exploding with a terrific noise, or going
quietly into the earth: sometimes II
hovers and flashes close to the earth or
water; again, in a Zigzag line it leaps
from cloud to cloud, or directly to the
earth; sometimes man IS struck and
no lightning is seen; sometimes II
touches a man and gently melts his
watch, doing no other harm; anon ii
| strikes a house, runs down the chimney
and, finding nothing of more impert-
ance to do, kindly sends poker flying
through the window, melts a copper
kettle, and then runs down n rat
hole. Its favorite maneuver is to tear
off the sole Of a mans boot on its
passage to the earth. 1t has a peculiar
effect in Fastening the decay of animal
tissue, and not infrequently the person
who is killed by it is almost instantly SO
far putrefied that he has to be buried at
once. 1t is said, though with what
truth we know not, that in the eye of a
person struck and killed by the dis
charge there is always a peculiar spot
on the eyeball, produced by the extra
vasation of blood caused by the sudden
expansion and rupture of minute blood
vessels. 1t was once supposed that
| neighboring trees were sometimes pho
tographed on the body of the person
struck, but recently it has been shown
that the appearance of the tree Is bu
| the common authorization of electricity
which every one who has noticed {
highly charged Leyden jar has seen, Is
| the electricity escapes into the ar OF
| lickS around to the tinfOil on the out,
side. The same effect may be obtained
by discharging lightning over sheet o.
glass on which steam has been con
densed. The safest place during ;
thunderstorm is in the center of ;
room, and if one is very nervous he may
put tumblers under the legs of the chail
on which he sits, for electricity Away.
seeks the path of the least resistance. -
| GTnDhic