Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1883-08-17

horses TO move. All was darkness,
dread and quictness. The horses sud-
denly. without perceptible cause,
crowded together, and so quick was
their action that we were nearly un-
seated. They kept pressing against
each other, and with such force that
our positions were becoming painful.
Their ears were extended, with their
necks arched, they were looking intent
ly in one direction, and apparently at
one point. The air was getting more
close, and the difficulty in our breath
ing was becoming greater, but still
moro awful became the now perfect
stiffness.
Tho beating OF our own hearts
Was all the sound we heard"
Again and again, in rapid succession,
flashes of lightning shot athwart the
sky, followed instantly by short claps
of thunder, which evidently was com
ing nearer TO us. Our horses, il posi-
bic, more frightened than before, were
now crouching so near the ground that
our feet nearly touched. A double
flash of glare lightning lighted up the
dark vault above us with such bril-
liancy that our eyes were dazzled and
W. Hdll w ClOSt lltll. sun uuOlutl
burst of lightning came, bluer and yet
brighter than the former flashes, with
a peal of thunder instantly following,
that seemed to rend the earth beneath
us. The last flash and pealing thunder
was succeeded by another streak of
light, so bright that everything near us
was made plain as MONDAY, and re-
vealed the doctor with his hands
pressed together as if in prayer, and,
when the quiet followed, the words
"From lightning and tempest and from
sudden death, good Lord, deliver u.s.
were plainly heard, as | was listening
intently to catch any syllable that might
fall from his lips.
a moment or two more of stiffness
followed, when there was an opening
in the gloomy darkness, and from
thence came n burst of flame, neither
white, nor blue, nor any color we had
ever seen. 1t was really horrid, chill
ingly, dreadfully depressing and
frightful. 1t was evident that the
horses were sinking under the fright
they had so long felt. Their limbs
trembled under them, and the CULVER
ings of the poor beasts impaired
trembling to their riders. We both no.
ticcd how they invariably looked
toward one point of the compass,
seeming to strain every nerve to catch
sight of something, as if led to do so
by instinct. Suddenly the doctor
grabbed my arm, and yelled out with
a piercing shrek that startled the
horses as well as myself. "See! Good
God, what is thatp"
Far off to the northwest, and high up
in the dome that now appeared larger
than ever, was small blue speck, alone
in the deep black darkness. 1t seemed
like star, yet so intensely blue that the
eye became dazzled in an instant, and
the sight had to be averted, unable to
stand the gaze We both turned our
heads away Mt the same moment.
Again we looked at the blue ball that
was rapidly approaching us. AS it
Deared our spot the blueness became
still more brilliant, until the sun at
monday was not more powerful in
BRIGHTNESS of light. All at once the
ball, as if propelled from gun, burst
into a ring with bright blue center,
its extreme outer edges of fierce and
glaring orange color, and enlarging rs
it descended until it was several feet in
diameter, and striking the ground,
from which a circle of flame shot up,
and myriads of sparks filled the air near
to us.
The horses. at the instant the ring of
fire struck the earth, whirled round,
and only by chance did either of us
keep in our saddles. As if relieved
from the fright they had so long
suffered, they started off at a gallop,
it taking us some minutes before we
could quiet them down to an ordinary
trot, their heads, in spite of our efforts,
kept turning toward the spot where
the lightning, or meteor, or electricity,
or whatever it was, had scared the
ground. The rain was now coming
down in torrents, and the horses feet
were splashing. as they trotted along in
the Indian trail they followed. The
darkness was soon dissipated, and in n
few minutes we could begin to distin-
guish the outline of the thickets and
timber that skirted the prairie, and by
the time we reached the log-house from
whence / started, the storm, with the
exception of the lighter rain, some few
flashes of distant and fast-receding
lightning, with an occasional clap of
thunder, was nearly over.
"How was the sick woman when
you got there?" asked one of the list
eners.
"She was found by the doctor sitting
up all right. and smoking her pipe" Ga
common practice in those days. was the
answer.
"Then you had your ride for moth
ingP" said another.
"To have been out in such storm,
and see one of those circles made, was
worth half lifetime"
."Did you go to the place the next
day?"
''Yes, and we found that the ground
was scared into the distance of several
inches. All the grass was burned off in
ring about fifteen or eighteen inches
wide, and about twelve or fifteen inches
across. On the inside, where the grass
was not burned mt all. the rain stopped
the fire from spreading. The doctor,
long since dead, frequently spoke of his
night on the prairie, when he saw the
prairie circle made. He has n nephew,
now living at Portage, who has often
heard him relate his account of the i'm.
cident above described. He had his
own theory about it, and what caused
it, but which seemed inexplicable to any
but himself"
"Did you ever find anything in any
book about such occurrencesp" wa.
asked.
"Yes, after searching through all tn,
books could find that treated on elec
tricity, lightning, ETC., at last discov
cred the following explanation of tn,
phenomena in 1.-The Botanic Garden, ,
poem in two parts, containing the Econ
omy of Vegetation and the Lives o
Plants" by Erasmus Darwin, M. ID.
London, 1925. 1t is headed, "Fairy
Rings"
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