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

T..
nr Holm n. Purdie on Electricity and
thunder storms, and Particularly
some Richmond Storms. s...s..f .
''" rRor the Dispatch.] .,.....,..
Intelligent observers must have noticed that
during the last twenty-five or thirty years the
most grand and terrific thunder-storms tnat
have visited the Atlantic States have occur
rcd in and around the large cities. l have
maae nores on several such, and calm con.
sideration of their effect on contiguous OBJ,
iects has led me to the conclusion that such
effe cts are produced only when the surface
OF the earth is positively electrided-the
oyerpassing clouds being in negative state.
I need not attempt to explain here the rd-
tionale of my conclusions. 1t suffices to
convince me that during such storms the
electrical discharges pass from objects on the
earth's surface to the clouds. y. -. -...
The electric storm that visited Richmond
on the night Of the 18th Of July, as de.
scribed in the Dispatch of the 10th, was the
most remarkable on record, so far as my OBJ
servations extend. It's attendant manifesto
lions and effects are conclusive to my mind
that from some cause the electrical state OF
the CITY and adjacent country on the memo
rabc night was superatiVely posture. Here
after I may submit crude theory of the
cause of so vast an accumulation OF POSITIVE
electricity. For the present l will merely
examine the appearances and the results oil
the storm as described in the Dispatch.
Your Local says: "During much of the
time the city seemed to those at distance
all afame" "that the lightning flashed and
coursed along the streets, and played about
church.steep pies" "The street-railway was
struck. and the electric fluid ran on the track
with peculiar, Kissing noise" " TO gen.
| tlemsn who noticed st. Paul's church steeple
it seemed as if it would be set on hre.''
:. From a window on Church Hill, more
than q mile of, gentleman plainly dis
oerued during the flashes the FURNISHED FORK
| of the rod on Broad-Street Methodist Epis'
copal church." THE rod on the Second
| Bap,is, church is believed to have carried OF
tue lightning twice"
Learned electricians may explain these
phenomena In more correct manner; but,
presuming the appearances truly described,
the only explanation a tyro in physics can
offer is that on that fenIful night the city
was a huge, highly charged electrical bat
terry, and in discharging itself to the negafiee
clouds that aWfully sublime storm was the
consequence.
Is this position supported by the effects Of
the lightning on surrounding objects? And
first, on trees: Your Local says "trees were
torn down, and among them large oak"
| [ bave examined maay trees after being
struck by descending discharges, and baVe
generally discovered one or more scars,
varying in width, on the bodies and tops,
showing a forcbIe removal Of the bark. l
hot oil
annihIated BY one stroke Of lightning, aud
surely such cases require different explaDa-
! .iou, / will mention one instance that i'm
pressed me deeply: An oak, nearly five feet
| on the stump and eighty or more in height,
standing within one hundred yards of my
dwelling, received charge of electricity, ac-
| companied with the loudest report from
| thunder have ever heard. Upon inspection
found that every limb, save one the size OF
my arm, had fallen to the earth; that not more
than fifteen feet of the trunk was standing,
entirely deuuded of bark, and split all around
as if in preparation for slaves. Fragments
of its bark we're scattered over circle With
a mean radius of sixty yards. Under other
circumstances / might have supposed that
an explosion of gunpowder or nitro-glyce.
rine had caused the work Of destruction.
But with all the facts before me was forced
to the conclusion that the earth in the locali.
ty, with the objects on its surface for some
distance, were charged with positiue electrt-
cttg which in its discharge into negative
cloud that came within the range Of electrical
attraction passed, as it were, erpl0SlueLy
through the tree, causing the effects Wit
messed.
If this rationale be correct, the trees torn
down by lightning in Richmond must have
been in like electrical state, and like results
followed the discharge Of the accumulated
fluid to the clouds.
Again: As to the electrical effects OF the
Richmond storm on houses you say :
"The fluid entered Mr.. Robert billiards.
dwelling by a window, made hole in
floor, tore off Washboard and plaster.
ing, broke lamp, and the inmates, though
near its entrance, were only stunned, as
were members of near neighbour
family" For this problem I offer the
following solution: The house, inmates, and
other contents we're charged with poSttUe
electricity in Quiescence a negatiue cloud
approached within range Of attraction, set
ting the charge in motion; and in Its act OF
leaving the receptacle the house was dam.
aged, the family stunned, and the charge
| escaped by the chimney or some other ele-
vated part Of the building, aud only in ap.
pedraace BY. the window. An examination
of the hole in the floor and the direction In
which the fragments and splinters were
| forced would have afforded presumptiye eYi.
dence Of the course Of the charge. @s
"The lightning knocked to pieces the
chimney of Mrs. Joynes's house, splintered
a mantel Ia the second story, entered the
first story, and passed out on o gas-pipe
withoutipjuring the family" In this Gaze
the course of the electricity has been re-
versed. In my opinion this house, as Il e
whole surface Of the city with all objec 8
| standing on 1t, had charge of positiue elec-
tricity which, by its passage upwards after
being moved by the attraction of q cloud,
spintered the mantel ia the second story, and
in its escape By the chimney knocked it TO
pieces, and the gas-pipe or its soldering was
melted or showed other signs of electrica
action. presume it received the injury in
conducting the additional fluid 30 the charge
Of the house when moving to the point of
escape, and not in conducting any portion
from the house. =.
Again: "a part of Mr.. Caulder's chimney
was Knocked of, and the mantel.piece
moved from the wall. The lightning left
through the house and along the conduc.
tor" An. interesting question arises here:
Was that rod insulated' Il hope the editor
will solve the question by proper inquiry
A satisfactory explanation Of the Injuries to
Mr. Caulder's house will depend on the
answer. If insulated, the case is clear, as the
electric charge Of the house could not pass
through glass to the rod and thence to the
cloud. In forcing its way through such bad
conductors as brick and mortar. the iDantels
were displaced from the interior face Of the
chimney, whose top was broken by the dis.
charge o.. the electricity from It and fell to
the earth. 40
II, on the other hand, the rod was not In.
sulased, must acknowledge myself at loss.