Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-08-08
The Fear Of LIGHTNING.

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go their hold on the hide.
The Fear Of Lightning,
BI,;Ts THAT MAY RE OF ADVANTAGE TO THosI
WHOSE DREAD Is NOW UNCoNrRoLLABLE
From the New York SUM-
The painful story of two happy chil
dren being killed while sitting ON the
garden seat under tree, by stroke o
lightning. will deepen the horror of thos'
who suffer from fear of lightning. The
most agonizing of all nervous fears is thai
of lightning. and a count of those whose
lives are really embittered by this dread
would number scores of thousands, many
of them persons who know no other fear.
Twenty wears ago. the writer remem'
bcrs turning with smile to others who
shrank and cried at the peels of terrible
storm, in a country house. The glare OF
bolt coming down the centre of the room
caught the eye at that very instant ; the
next there was an explosion that shook the
house, and insensibilty followed. Two
men i'll the same room were burned by
the bolt though no lives, were lost; but l
have never been able to smile at lightning
again. To give any idea of the terror left
on a nervous organization by the shock
/ Noill lINolNt tAiIhNdtsstHtS VI ielhis-
But, unfortunately. so far from be-
ing an exception, there are too many who
suffer the same harassments with me
| Nor are woman alone subject to this nerv-
business. | knew school superlnten-
| dent and canal contractor, a man over 80,
with large family, who would hide in a
closet Ill q storm, and had been known to
rush from his bed with fright at lighting.
Many will remember the Professor at
! Bowdoin College who always retreated to
the cellar in thunder storm, although
his house was bristling with lightning
rods The strongest man | ever knew,
/ who could throw another man across the
street, and work hand press in print
ing office as ii he were part OF the mach
Inc, was discharged as a reporter because
his desk was vacant every time there was
a thunder storm. The mother of Wash
ington was afraid of lightning, and never
failed to retreat to her room at the first
flash of storm, where she stayed till the
last fash died away. The physical eff
feet of this fear are most depressing. One
woman knows when storm is coming,
hours before, by prostration OF strength
and spirits, accompanied with symptoms
like cholera. One of the most dauntless
young women / know was sick i'll bed for
hours after the great storm at Spring
field, Mass, last month She had re-
ceivel shock of lightning years before,
and never fails to be i'll in IA thunder
storm since.
Reason and study of the laws Of light
ming have done much to lessen the fear of
it. 1t is true We live between two maga-
zines of electricity-one i'll the earth and
the other i'll the air-and cloud charged
with electricity passing over point or
body i'll a negative condition will dis
charge its surplus by the very quickest
and most congeninal medium, which ii
finds in the human body, a tree or house
indiiterently But it Is also true that,
provide the lightning with a convenient
and easy conductor, in the shape of a
stout iron rod higher that any point of a
house and reaching well into the ground,
where electricity may scatter harmlessly,
in the damp earth, it will prefer that con
ducting rod to anything in its vicinity, and
people..who.' indoors in well-protect-
ed house are safer from lightning than
is any bomb proof from bursting shells.
Every accident from this cause i ever
knew OF came from careless exposure i'll
situations known to be unsafe The first
| nrticed after my own accident was that
OF a missionary's daughter killed while
passing an open window, Just as Il women
was ON Long Island last summer, while
sitting at her sewing machine. \ young
man III Maiden, | think, was killed while
sitting out on porch with his chair tip
ped back and his head against the knob
of the door bell, making an excellent CON
nection with the bell wire. Many men
have been struck while riding INTO a barn
on a load of hay. Many will remember
the frightful calamity at Scranton Pa,
where a party of women, out picking ber-
ries ON one Of the high hills, crowded into
a deserted log hut in a 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 unprotected
houses there are doubly dangerous
1t is never too soon TO go into the house
when a storm Is rising. When the clouds
are fully charged with electricity they are
most dangerous, and this fluid obeys, a
subtle attraction which acts at great dis
tances and all directions A women told
me Of bolt which came down her moth
ers chimney from a rising cloud when
the sun was shining overhead. y. p.
Willis writes Of young girl killed while
passing under telegraph wire on the
brow OF a hill, while she was hurrying
home before storm. Sundays sad acci-
dent at Morrisania should warn every
mother that it is not safe to let children
stay out of doors till the last minute be
fore the storm falls. People should not
he fool-hardy about sitting on porches or
nv VIM
hard or not. Mild showers often carry
single charge which falls with deadly ell
iect 1t may OF may not be fatal to stay
ont II is safe To he IN the house, with
the windows and doors shut The dry
alf Ill house Is a reader conductor OF
hshlnihg ihah the damp alr outsidc, ana
any ulanght oi alr invites It, hot iire III
chimney attracts 1t, so to speak, and 1t
is prudent Tor those who would he snre
OF safety t" use kerosene or gas stoves III
summer, and avoid heating the chimneys
OF the house. People are very ignorant
or reckless about lightning, have seen
glIl of * crying with fear of lightning,
and running every other moment to see If
the storm was abatlng, unconscious that
she was putting herself IN danger. IT
every on" would hurry to shelter AS soon
az u h'''iih 'i'''h "hH nan way up til' shs,
when certain 1t wascolhing nearer, II they
would smut lhr doors hi'd windows, ana
ht.p away if"hl thelh mterWafi, hhu
pen wires, stoVeplpes, mahteiS, chimney
breasts, heaieis' ana mirrors win tiieif
silvered packs' which carry eiec'ficlty;
ana Keep away rom ilghtliihg rods ana
thef vicinity, ana from metal water
spontb, with good rods ON their houses
they might dismiss the lear OF ighthihg
from their minds SO lar MS II Is n 'lihR oi
reason ana moi oi impression
good lightning rod Is one that ls
tllck enough To carry leaVy chaf8e "l
ei'ctnGiiy' NOT less th"h thr'e-i"'lr'i" "l
an men III diameter, "hlch mas POM
above each chimney or pinnacle Oh iho
f""i, joining the mann roo ny cniFtS' no,
angles, ahd running mt" ihc ti""n1
down !" r' llhhhG htly moist soil IL shonld
be held 10y glass msulat"rS liked ON
Al