Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-07-08
Fear OF Lightning.

from Inc IAttlOiu
Twenty years ago the writer remembers
turning with smile TO others who shrank
and cried a, the peals OF a terrible storm
In country house. The glare OF u bolt
coming down the center OF the room
caught the eye at thst very instant; the
next there was an explosion that shook
the house, and insensibility followed
Two men Ia the same room were burned
by ,h5 bolt, taough no lives Were lost, but
| have never been able To smile at light.
ming since. To give any idea of the ter.
ror felt on a nervous organization by the
shock would involve extravaganza OF
terms.
Bui unfortunately, so far from being
an exception, there are too many who
suffer the same harassments with me
Nor are women alone subject 10 this ner-
vousness | knew school Superintend.
ent and canal contractor, who would hide
in the closet in storm, and had been
known to rush from his bed with fright
at lightning. Many will remember the
Professor of Bowdoln College, who nj.
ways relrealed To the cellar IN thunder
storm, although his house was bEisltng
with lightning rods. The strongest man
| ever knew, who could throw
another man across the street. and
work hand press in Il printing
office as II he were part OF the
machine, was discharged as q report.
or because his desk was vacant every time
there was a thunder storm. The mother
OF Washington was afraid OF lightning,
and never tailed to retreat to her room at
the first flash OF a storm where she stay.
ed till the last flash died away. The physi
cal effects OF the fear is most depressing.
One woman knows when u storm is com
ing hours before by u proslration OF
strength and spirits, accompanied with
symptoms like cholera. One OF the most
dsuntless young women | know WAS sick
in bed for hours after the great storm At
Springfield, Mass, last year. She HAD re-
ceved a shock of lightning years before,
and never fails to be i'll in thunder
storm since.
Reason and study of the laws of light.
ming have done much TO lessen the fears
OF II. 1t Is true we live between two
| magazines of elictricity-one in the earth
ana the other in the air--and cloud
| charged with electricity passing over u
point or body in negative condition will
| discharge its surplus by the very quickest
and most Congenial medium which 1t
finds in the human body, tree or house
indiiferently. But it is also true that pro.
VIDE the lightning with a convenient and
easy conductor, In the shape of stout
iron rod higher than any point of 4 house
and reaching well into the ground, where
electricity may scatter harmlessly into the
damp earth, it will prefer that conducting
rod to anything in lis vicinity, and people
! who stay indoors In u well projected
house are safer from lightning than any
bomb proof from bursting shells. Every
accident from this cause | ever knew Of
came from careless exposures in situations
known to be unsafe. The first | noticed
after my own accident was that OF u mis-
sionary's daughter, who was killed while
passing an open winduw, just as woman
WAS on Long Island last summer while
sitting at her sewing machine. A young
man III Maiden, think, was killed while
sitting on porch with his chair tipped
back and HIS head against the knob Of a
door bell, making an excellent COnnnec'
ton with the bell wire. Many men have
been struck while riding into a barn ON a
load Of hay. Many Will remember the
irightiul calamity at Scranton, Penn,
where party Of women, out picking
berries on she high hills, crowded mo u
deserted log hut in u sudden storm, and
seven were killed by one bolt. Steep hills
with mineral veins cropping out are not
places for persons TO live on who wish to
escape lightning, and Unprotected houses
there are doubly dangerous.
1t is never too soon to go IN the house
when a storm IS rising. When the clouds
are fully charged with electricity they are
most dangerous, and the fluid obeys a
subtle attraction which acts at great dis.
tances and in all directions. A woman
told me OF bolt which came down her
mothers chimney from a rising cloud
when the sun was shining overhead n.
L. Willis writes OF young girl who was
killed while passing under telegraph
wlte on the brow OF hill, while she IVES
! hurFying homo before a storm. The sad
accident at MOrrisania, when two emil
| dren were killed, should warn every
mother that it is not safe TO let children
! stay out OF doors TIL the last minute be-
! fore the storm falls. People should not be
/ tOoihardy about sitting on pOrches or by
/ open windows, whether the storm Is hard
! or not Mild showers often carry single
/ 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 win.
! doWs and doors closed. The dry air in q
1 house is reader conductor than the
| damp air outside, and any draught OF air
/ invites it. A hot fire in q chimney at
/ tracts it, so TO speak, and 1t is prudent for
4 those who would be sure OF safety TO use
kerosene or gas stoves in summer, and
! avoid heating the chimneys OF the houses
I People are very ignorant or reckless
/ about lightning. | have seen girl Of is
crying with fear OF lightning, and run
ming every other moment to the window
I 10 see II the storm was not aba!ing.
nuc0nsciOns that she was putting herself