News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-09-04
LIGHTNING AT PLAY,
BATRAORDINARY FREAKS ON THE
WIRE CLOTHES-LINES IN MATA.
MORAS, PA.
peculiar Experience of Lady Whose
House Was Struck by the Fluid,

A letter from Matamoras. Pa. saws:
While Seymour Caykendall and his fam
lily were sitting quietly at dinner, on
Tuesday, during a terrible thunder
storm, three excited neighbors burst
into the house and wanted to know if
any OF the family were hurt or killed.
That was the first the Caykendalls knew
that lightning had struck their house.
and that the fluid had been playing all
over and about it. The bolt had struck
the roof near the chimney, tearing
hole through it as big as tub. 1t did
not enter the house, but dividing in
three parts, coursed in different direc-
tions over it. One portion of the cur
rent flashed along the roof to the south
end of the house, another travelled
north, and the third took an eastward
course along the ridgepole of an extern
sion. The current that went south slid
down veranda post, which it scattered
In slivers about the yard, and entered
the ground. The division of the current
which took the opposite direction also
started for the ground on veranda post,
but, when half way down, met the end
of wire clothesline which was fastened
to the post. Switching off on to this
line the fluid was conducted to tall
post at the other end of the wire. This
post it made short work of, and then
leaped to the ground at the side of coal
house in an adjoining yard twelve feet
away.
Flowing a channel for itself in under
this coal house from one side to the
other, the fluid turned upward and
struck chicken coop at spot where
another wire clothesline was fastened.
Tearing away portion of the siding on
the hen house, the current followed the
wire to its terminus on an clubhouse,
which it scattered about the garden
and then buried itself in the ground.
Still another wire ran parallel with the
one on which this portion of the original
bolt made its last journey and five feet
distant. A linen handkerchief WAS hang
ing on this line. and as the current
passed it ON the other wire the handker-
chief parted in zigzag tear ascending
from the bottom to the top. That por-
ton of the fluid which had passed along
the ridgepole of the extension left the
roof at one corner, aud in passing down
also came in contact with wire clothes
line, followed it to another yard, where
it tore an clubhouse to pieces and disap-
peared in the ground.
The electrical display at Caykendalrs
house was hardly over when lightning
struck tall pole in Charles Lsppert's
yard, ON the same street. There the
partiality of Matamoras people for wire
clotheslines came in good play again for
the lightning. One was attached to the
pole, whence it extended to the corner
of the house, and then to hen house
at the lower end of the garden. Next to
the hen house was hop vine, next to
that fourishing grape vine, and near
the two q gay-colored bed of flowers.
The fluid ran along the wire to the cor
ner OF InS house, dHu GOre Oh IL pOIIlOu
of the siding. 1t then passed along to
the hen house, where it did but little
damage, playing simultaneously about
the hop vine, grape vine, and flower
bed, and then disappeared. The vines
and plarts-leavcs, stalks, flowers and
all-were here changed to a coal black
in the twinkling of an eye. At the mo-
ment the lightning struck the corner of
the dwelling Mrs. Leppert was in a
room in the second story. She felt
severe blow on the right side of her
head, which stunned her for an instant.
Then a peculiar numbness passed over
her left side and leg. This soon passed
away, and was followed by burning
sensation in two spots on the hip. Mrs.
Leppert found two black and blue spots
the size of dime where she had felt
the burning.
The play of electricity about the vii
lage during the storm was almost un-
broken for twenty minutes, but no other
damage was done.