Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-16
LIGHTNING G-STR0KES.
CAUSES OF THE SEVERE THUNDER
STORMS OF MODERN TIMES.

Effects of the Vast Volumes of smoke
and yapors Thrown Out into the At
mosphere-A Question of Practical im-
portanCe-T Theory of Thunderstorms.
The researches OF Professor Won PetZod,
Kar ,ten Weber, and others have prov ed that
the number Of damaging strokes OF lightning
has considerably increased during the last
fifty years. and this increase can not le
explained by the theory that, owing 10 the
CROWN. number of houses. factories, ct,
ths number II lightning strokes increased
proportionately to the contrary, TINS mum
Der on ht u decrease, rs every huIldln-.
even when not projected toy IA lightning rod.
ellie, t, an equilibrium of the opp sit" "l"c
tric Iotentiais, AMI, the efore, tie number
of lightning strokes ought rclItIvJ.y L de-
crease with the re atiNc nuuLcr Of und
inys This indeed, i, pgoveI hy the fact
that in the pace OF one year among l",~U
buildings there occurred but tAIrt'r IA 49,
OF lightning troI.es in cities, against twenty
three L. oA,s on buildings in tho country
We. /. ereforo have TO take this na ural phi
nomenOn from another point OF view, and
to consider the ratio If dumaEIig ur other
strokes to the uu ubcr OF hui dIngs in "A Ger
tain district This ratio, cal ell 10y the ter
man naturalistS b itE-,lahr danger from
lightning, increased III the Kingdom OF Ia
varia from 1874 10 lNN2 tire 'iOli Hc'ur!lns
t. records of insurance companies even tive
fold and other countries show the same in
crease
OF GREAT PRACTICAL IMP0RTANCE
As in nature each p' p'euomenon must have
its cause, the question arises, To what
cause is due the above mention ii facts
And this question not only Is of scientific in
tsrest, but also OF II eat practical Importance
A great many theories have already been
advanced to explain this phenomenon
among others, that, owing 10 the decrease
of the woodland, houses are more and more
made the pro Getting points OF certain area,
and, therefore, attract the lightning, Ia
sides, this decrease effects greater rise OF
| temperature in summer, an !, IN consequence,
more numerous thunder storms. Others
! find the cause of it i'll the large increase OF
such constructions as gas and water work.,
weather cocks, etc. But this thenry dos
not explain why, especially, country houses
which commonly lack these kind Of con
| structions. are mostly exposed To danger
| from lightning Admitting that these
causes may TO some extent exl lain the in
crease of danger from lightning, they ar,
not sufficient To fully show the surprising
| increase of strokes during 81 short Il period
There must e a more general and iunda
| mental cause Through what can thr
| electrical intensity during thunder storm
| lie so strongly increased that larger mum
! Der of lightning strokes pass over 10 the
| earth than was the case hcrCtOtu 1t /,
not so much the increasing number Of thun
! der storms rs their grta ater free which pro
| Dues the increased danger
As the main cause we now point out the
emo. nous increase, during the last nifty
years of factories, railroads, steamboats,
in short, of all constructions filling the at
moephere with smoke, vapors ahd particles
| of dust of e. cry description. When we con
slider that every day thousands OF locOmo,
tives, thousands Of steamers 90 around the
earth, that thousands OF factories OF all
! kinds daily emit enormous quantities OF
smoke Napor aud dust into the air, that, Is
pecially in cities the large number OF
houses produce immense quantities .. smoke
| and dust the assertion will not seem in, red
! ibe that there is certainly lnO times the
smoke, dust, and gasses absorbed i'll the at
moSphere than was nifty years ago Al
ready with the naked eye the impure state
! OF the atmosphere may lie noticed GO
through the coal districts of Manchester,
England through tho of Pennsy ylvania
through the cite, OF Essen and littshurs
and you viii not ce a layer of vapor con
stantly lowering over them the air Is lille.
with foul gass.s, and eve.y object is more
or less covered with the settling particles Of
DIST
| THE THEORY OF \ THUNDER-STORM.
These conditions being established, We
have TO consider their relations To the vio
lence of thunderstOrms. To give the reader
better conception Of this relation we will
briefly discuss the theory of the thunder
storm and the origin of electricity thereby
develop, d. Friction IS now generally ac-
| cepted to be the caus, of the electricity in a
| thunderstorm Friction between air and
particles of ice according 10 Luvinel, or lie
tween air and molecules of water according
| to Andries is the main cause of that elec-
| tricity When besides these factors parti
, cles of dust are filling the atmosphere the
development of electricity is highly IN
| creased. 1t is the eie, tion Of steam ami
ashes common to the PHENOMENON which
causes the thunder storms Attending 1t ~
assume an exceedingly Violent character.
That the pyramid of CheOpS is rendered
electrical by the whirling dust OF the desert
may here also be mentioned 1t is nothing
but the friction OF the grains of sand on the
surface of the pyramid that causes electric
ity to originate.
The author Of this essay claims that the
rapid, enormous, and LISTING development
of electricity during ,hunderstOrms can not
| be otherwise explained than 10y a purely
| mechanical cause analo gouS To the mechan
| ical force of the hydro electrical ma hine
| Now, as our atmosl here contains so much
more dust than in former years, the fact
must lie OF great influence regarding the in
tensity of electri al phenomena during thun-
| derstormS; from the same Reasoning are ex-
| planned volcanic erupt.ons That this in
creased force of thunderstOrms must mani
| fest itself i'll the greater violence and "a more
dangerous character of lightning strokes, will
| be evident TO the reader. But there is sanother
cause TO be mention. d 1t is an established
fact that air containing solid particles has Il
| conducting power i'll regard TO electric cur
| rents far superior TO that Of pure air. In
| our day, therefore, where these molecules OF
dust and solid particles fill the atmosphere
| to a greater extent, the latter has become a
| better conductor, and favors a direction OF
the lightning strokes toward the more i'm
| pure layers in the vicinity Of the earth, and
therefore, the earth itself Chicago Times
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