Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-09
FREAKS OF LIGHTNING.
Running All Over a House without Dis
turbing the Family.

turbing the Family.
Reports from the village of Matamoras.
in Pike county, Pa, says Port Jervis.
N. Y, special of Aug. to the Phila-
delphia Times, give the particulars of
some remarkable freaks of lightning
which occurred there during the thunder
storm of Aug. 8. The flashes of lightning
and peals OF thunder were almost contin-
uous for more than half an hour. Light
ming struck the roof of Seymour Coyken-
dalPs residence, making a large hole near
the chimney. The fluid did not enter the
house, however, but separated in three
parts. One Travelled along the ridgepOle
to the north end Of the house, another
took course to the south end and the
third eastward along wing.
each plowing path in the
shingles. The south-bound division of
the current ran down a post on O
yeranda, tearing it to pieces, and then
buried itself in the ground. The current
that went north also started down a We
fanda post. but came to a wire clothes
line, which was fastened to the post. Fol-
lowing this line to tall post to which the
line was secured at the other end. tearing
this point to splinters, the fluid leaped to
a coal house In an adjoining yard, passed
In under 1t from one side to the other and
then jumped to another wire clothes line,
twelve feet away, and followed this to an
clubhouse, from which il tore all of one
side and then disappeared in the ground.
Running parallel with the last clothes
line was another wire, five feet distant.
on which linen handkerchief was hang
lng.. AS the current passed by, the hand
kerchief was torn in two, from top to bot
tom, although the wire on which it hung
was not touched In any spot by the fluid.
The division of this bolt which took its
course along the roof of the wing also met
wire clOthes-line on It's way down the
corner of the house. Flashing along that,
it entered chicken-cOOp in another yard
and demolished it.
While all this lightning was PLAYING
about the Coykendal House, the entire
family were seated in the house, in entire
Ignorance that ii had been struck by light
ming, and were not aware of the fact un-
til neighbors, who had seen the descent
OF the bolt on the house and witnessed It's
eccentric Nights about it, came running
to see if any of the inmates had been
killed. Not the slightest sense Of the
presence of the fluid had been felt.
Almost simultaneously with the light
ning's visit to Coykendalls house a bolt
struck a clothes post in Charles Leppert's
yard, In the same street. A wire line al
so became the conductor of the fluid in
this instance. The current followed the
line to the corner of Lepperts house and
from there to wOod-shed, from which il
cut corner from foundation to roof. A
chicken-cOop stood few feet away, and
from the wOod-shed the electric fluid
leaped to that, doing but little damage.
but hop-Yine, grapevine and large
flower bed, which were ranged along the
fence near the chicken-coop, were turned,
leaves, flowers, stalks and all, as black as
coal IN the twinkling of an eye. At the
moment the fluid struck the corner of the
dwelling Mrs. Leppert was in an upstairs
room. She felt severe blow on the right
side of her head, which stunned her for an
instant, and then peculiar numbness in
her left side and leg. This soon passed
away, when Mrs. Leppert discovered two
round black and blue spots on her leg
which were attended by burning sensa-
ton, the result, no doubt, of the mysteri-
Gus action of the electrical current.