The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-07-10
.THUNDERBOLTs.
Nest Protection Against Lishtniug...
What are Common Conductors. !,

| storms:
"Twenty years ago the writer remem.
bers turning with smile. too Others who
shrank and cried at the peals Of terrible
storm In country house. The glare OF a
bolt coming down: the centre OF the room
caught the eye at that very instant; the next
was an explosion that shook the house, anu
insensibility followed. Two men 10 the
same room were burned by the bolt, though
no lives were lost; but have never been
able to smile at lightning again. To give
any idea OF the terror left on nervous or
canization by the shock would involve ex-
trayagance Of terms.
.sBut, unfortunately, SO far from being
an exception, there are too many who suf-
fer the same harassments with me. Nor
are women alone subject to this nervous
ness. I knew school superintendent and
canal contractor, man over fifty, with
large family. who would hide in closet III
storm, and had been known to rush from
his bed with fright at lightning. Many will
remember the professor at Bowdoin College
who always. retreated to the cellar in
thunderstorm, although his house WAS
bristling with lightning-rods. The strong
est man I ever knew, who could throw
another man across the street, and work
hand.press in printing Office as il lie
were part Of the machine, was discharged
as reporter because his desk was
vacant every time there was thunder
storm. The mother OF Washington was
afraid OF lightning, and never failed to re-
treat to her room at the FIRST flash Of storm,
where she stayed till the last flash died away.
The physical effects OF this fear are most
depressing. One woman knows when
storm is coming, hours before, by pros
tration of strength and spirits, accompa-
MED with symptoms like cholera. One Of
the most dauntless young women l know
was sick in bed for hours after the great
storm at Springfield. Mass, last month. She
had received q shock OF lightning years be-
fore, and never fails to be i'll in thunder
storm since. .-
treason and study OF the laws Of light
ming have done much to lessen the lear OF
it. It is true we live between two maga-
zines Of electricity-one in the earth and
the other in the ar-and cloud charged
with electricity passing over point or body
| in negative condition will discharge its
surplus. by the quickest and most congenia!
medium, which it finds in the human body,
tree, or house, indif1erently. But it is
also true that, provide the lightning with
convenient and easy conductor in The shape
OF a stout iron rod higher than any point
OF house and reaching we'll into the
ground, where electricity may scatter harm
lessly in the damp earth, it will prefer that
conducting-rod to anything in its vicinity,
and people who stay indoors in we'll. pro-
tected house are safer from lightning than
any bomb-proof from bursting shells.
every accident from this cause l ever
knew OF came from careless exposure in
situations known to be unsafe. The first
noticed after my own accident was that OF
Il Iii lnlH a..
ing an open window, just as a woman was
on Long Island last summer while sitting
at her sewing-machine. A young man in
Maiden, think, was killed while sitting
out on a porch with his chair tipped back
and his head against the knob OF the door,
bell, making an excellent connection with
the bell-wire. Many men have been struck
while riding into q barn on load OF hay.
Many will remember the frghtfill calamity
at Scranton, Pa, where party OF women,
out picking berries on one Of the high bills,
crowded into a deserted log hut in q sudden
storm, and seven were killed by one bolt.
Steep hills with mineral veins cropping out
are not places for any one to live on who
wishes to escape lightning, and unprotect-
ed houses there are doubly dangerous.
sIt is never too soon to 60 in the house
when 4 storm is rising. When the clouds
are fully charged with electricity they arc
| most dangerous, and this fluid obeys sub
tie attraction which acts at great distances
and all directions. A woman told me OF
bolt which came down her mothers CHM
ney from rising cloud when the sun was
shining overhead. n. p. Willis writes OF a
young girl killed while passing under
telegraph wire on the brow Of Il hill while
she was hurryins home before storm.
Sundays sad accident ut Morrisania should
warn every mother that it is not safe 10 let
children stay out OF doors till the last
minute before the storm falls People
should not be fool.hardy about sitting on
p5rches or by open windows, whether the
storm is hard or not. Mild showers often
carry siagle charge which falls with
deadly effect 1t may or may not be fatal
to stay out; it is safe to be in the house,
with the windows and doors shut. The
dry air in house is 4 reader conductor OF
lightning than the damp air outside, and
any draught Of air invites it.
~ hot fire in the chimney attracts it, so
to sneak, and it is prudent for those who
would be sure OF safety to use kerosene or
as-stoyes in summer, and avoid heating the
cbimneys OF the house. People are very iS
norant or reckless about lightning. / have
seen girl OF eighteen crying with fear OF
lightning, and running every other. moment
to the window to see if the storm was not
abatIng, unconscious that she was putting
herself in danger. II every onewoud hurry
to shelter as soon as storm-cl0ud was half
way up the sky, when certain it was coming
nearer; il they would shut the doors and
windows and keep from them afterWard
and from bell-wireS, stove-pipes, mantels,
chimney breasts, heaters. and mirrors, with
their sivered backs, which carry electricity,
and keep away from lightning-rods and
their vicinity, and from metal aterspoutS,
with good rods on their houses, they might
dismiss the fear OF lightning from their
minds, so far as it is thing OF reason and
not Of impression.
"a good lightning rod is one that is
thick enough to carry heavy charge OF
electricity, not less than three-fourths OF an
inch in diameter, which has point above
each chimney or pinnacle OF the roof, join
ing the main rod by curves, not angles, and
running into the ground down to perma-
neptly moist soil. 1t should BE held by |
glass.ipsulators fixed in blocks OF wood, |
held TO the house by wooden pegs, not
spiked to the wall. 10 give possible connec-
tion wi tn the interior. Any blacksmith can
nut up rod which will be perfect pro-
lection, and it should not cost over Sl2 Tor
a house forty feet square and two stories
high. When accidents happen 10 house |
with lightning.rods, it is because the roa Is
too small or not rightly attached, or the
eround-connectfo is not good. /
.sThe ignorance and carelessness haoltuat
to the American on all points not lmmedt-
,toi, oo,nontod with his amusement or