The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-08-23
Two Electric Freaks.

n most extraordinary instance of an
electrical fog is mentioned by Mr..
Crosse, Of Bromiicld, England. This
gentleman, for the purpose of studying
atmospheric electricity, had long wire
extending from tree to tree in his park.
The wire being perfectly insulated con-
yeycd the atmospheric electricity to the
room OF the observer, where one end
terminated i'll an insulated brass bal,
near which was Il second ball connected
with the ground. Mr.. Crosses account
is as follows Con Il dark November
day was sitting in my electrical room,
during Il very dense fog and rain which
had lasted many hours accompanied by
Il strong southwest wind. L had at
this time 1000 feet Of Insulated wire,
Drought % the electric cG iu!Nto my "taSs room.
From about 8 O'Clock in the morning to
4 in the afternoon the wire gave no
sign of electricity. About 4 o'clock
while reading, l suddenly heard Il very
strong explosion between the two balls,
which was an inch apart. Shortly, the
| explosion became more frequent, until
there was one uninterrupted stream of
discharges, which gradually died away
and then eIrecommenccd with the opposite
electricity in equal violence. The
stream Of fire waf too vivid to look upon
for any length Of time, and the discharge
continued for five hours without any
intcrmi"Sion and then ceased entirely.
The least contact with the conductor
would have occasioned instant death
the stream of fluid far exceeding any
thing l have ever witnessed, eXcept
during Il thunderstorm"
An extraordinary display Of atmos-
pheriec electricity, in connection with
telegraphic lines, which may fairly be
attributed to the prevalence of Il snow
storm, was observed some years ago on
our western plains, and is thus told by
writer in the Hartford Times: cit
was first noticed Oh tile telegraphic
wires in central Iowa. The lines, lead
ing west, were rendered useless for the
transmission of messages, owing to an
inccssant discharge of electricity, in
creasing in intensity untilst would leap
from one strap in Il luminpas stream to
the ground-plato Of the. lightning-ar-
reSter. At times the whole DraSS-work
OF tho switchboard would appear as a
mass of flame, illuminating the oilice
with a binding glare. :. For several
hours previous, and for some time after
the electric discharges, a southwest
wind was blowing at the rate of thirty
five miles an hour, accompanied by
light SNOW, with the Thermometer at
- f. This display took place within
the region having Minnesota on the
north, Detroit on the east, southern
Iowa Oh the south, and Omlha OH the
west. 1t was observed ": .n:sMy tclo-
graph operators, who all united in say
ing that its effects were entirely diff
ferent from those experienced during
ordinary auroral storms. Where Il
number Of wires were on the same pole
one would be highly charged with
electricity and the others but slightly,
or not ut all. During tho remarkable
electric phenomena that occurred on
the l7th Of November, 1892, one source
OF disturbance was Il snow storm, which
prevailed i'll England, and seriously i'll
terIercd with the transmission of tclc-
praphic messages from that country,
and Had also obStructrd tic land service
there