The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-08-17

""o heselO pam a. uOOHuay, duu 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 us, ;"
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 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 a
trembling to their riders. We both no
ticed 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
piercing shrek that startled the
horses as well as myself "See! Good
God, what is that?r
Far off to the northwest, and high tlp
in the dome that now appeared larger
than ever, was small blue speck, alone
in the deep black darkness. It 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 at the same moment.
Again we looked at the blue ball that
was rapidly approaching us. AS it
neared 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 a bright blue center.
+, its extreme outer edges of fierce and
glaring orange color, and charging as
it descended until it was several feet in
diameter, and striking the ground,
from which 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 gallon,
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 a
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 Lighthouse 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.
GLOW was the sick woman when
you got THEREOF asked one of the list
eners.
"She was found by the doctor sitting
up all right, and smoking her pipe,n Ca
common practice in those days. was the
answer.
"Then you had your ride for moth
ingP" said another.
"To have been out in such a storm.
and see one of those circles made, was
| worth half q lifatina ;,
"Did you go to the place the next
daypn
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 at 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 nephew,
now living at Portage, who has often
heard him relate HIS account of the in
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' was
asked.
g Yes, after searching through all the
books could find that treated on cleo
tricity, lightning, etc., at last discov-
cred the following explanation of the
phenomena in The Botanic Garden, a
poem in two parts, containing the Econ
omy of Vegetation and the Lives of
Plants by Erasmus Darwin, M. D.,
London, 1926. 1t is headed, sFairy
Rings
"There is a phenomenon, supposed to
be electric, which is yet unaccounted
for; | mean the fairy rings, as they are
called, so often seen on the grass. The
numerous flashes of lightning which oc-
cur every summer are. believe, gener-
ally discharged on the earth, and seldom
/ (if eyer) from one cloud to another.
Moist trees are the most frequent con
ductors of the flashes of lightning, and
[ am informed by purchasers of the
wood that innumerable trees are thus
cracked and injured. At other times
larger parts of prominences of clouds
/ gradually sinking as they move along
are discharged on the moister parts Of
grassy plains. Now this knob or corner
of cloud in being attracted by the
earth will become nearly cylindrical as
loose wool would do when drawn out
into thread, and will strike the earth
with stream of electricity, perhaps
two or ten yards in diameter. Now, as
a stream of electricity displaces the air
it passes through, it is plain no part of
the grass can be burnt by it, but just
the external ring of this cylinder, where
the grass can have access to the air,
since without air nothing can be cal
cined. This earth, after having been
so calcined, becomes richer soil, and
either fungi or bluer grass for many
years marks the place.
"That lightning displaces the air in
its passage is evinced by the loud crack
that succeeds it, which is owing to the
sides of the aerial vacuum clapping to-
gether when the lightning is with
drawn. That nothing viii calcine with
out air is now well understood from the
acids produced in the burning of
phlogistic substances, anG may be