The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-06-30
sTk'JCK BY LIGHTNING.
Tho Strange Antics of Thunderbolt.


During the thunder shower yesterday morn
ing the house of William 81. Motley, Esq, in
Deering. was struck by lightning and badly in
juree. The bolt played strange freaks with the
buildings, and the place is quite curiosity to
examine. Although nearly every part of the
house and outbuildings was shattered no one
was injured to any extent The bolt struck the
house about half past six o'clock, and was not
only heard plainly throughout the neighbor-
hood but it aroused several in this city so sharp
was the report.
The buildings consist of a main house, an ell,
shed and stable, all connected. From appear
ances the lightning first struck the chimney in
the centre of the main house. The top was
blown to pieces and the roof was badly shatter-
ed. A part of the fluid escaped under the
caves, while the remainder continued to the
ledge benea tn the house. There it divided,
part going into the parlor on one side, Iwhile the
rest escap ed through the dining room opposite.
In this room thu stove was lifted bodily into the
middle of the floor, the clock knocked from the
mantel-piece and the bolt escaped through the
window, making hole as clean as bullet
The fluid also passed down one of the water
conductors to the ground, and then entered and
passed throug h conductor which had fallen
down. AS it issued from the otherstend it
ploughed along in the ground for some distance
and then took an. upward flight The hired
man, who slept up stairs, says that he saw the
bolt as it passed his window, and, TO use his
own language, it looked as large as water
bucket. Another portion of the fluid went into
the ell and played sad havoc with the roof. 1t
then passed into the shed adjoining the barn,
where some of the strangest praDks were per-
formed. On one side the boards are stove in,
and the splinters are wedged in between the
beams and the flooring overhead so tightly that
they can scarcely be recovered. On the oppe-
site side of this building window frame is
moved several inches out of place, but the glass
is not broken in the least. Large pieces of the
flooring timbers are split off, where the timbers
on either side are not disturbed at all. The
lightning passed from the shed in two direc-
tions, one branch entered the front of the stable
tearing off large piece of plate and splitting
one of the rafters. The other portion passed
down the conductor, which runs down between
the shed and barn, and on reaching the bottom
outelcu tuO Unih SChaA1 SoihS CiCoA ooAooo ohA
out on the further side. rending the stills as
though they were made of paper. In the front
of the house the lightning followed along the
brick walk from the front door to the steps
leading to the driveway, upturning the bricks
slightly and cutting the steps as though sharp
knife had been run over them in an irregular
manner.
Mr.. Motley and his wife occupied the end of
the house next to the street, and had not arisen
at the time. They were affected by the electri-
city to such an extent that it was some time be-
fore they could move. The servant girl, who
slept up stairs, was completely stunned by the
shock. Those in the vicinity at the time say
that there was one loud crash and flying of tim.
bers and then all was over. The whole thing
did not last more than ten seconds. The dam
age to the buildings cannot be less than $1,000
There was an insurance of $25OO in foreign
company with South Paris agency.