Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-09-11

fchleaxo Herald
a siIh0neIte s. 7FeI LIlilan faai's
pF1aie. axed ~ . aAsh q lightning
wllhoul human I'D ca lAeqasEsa
Tin tray some weeks AGO. says lie
New YORK SIN. has excited very
great inierast Il Painted sInce some
account % he pnenomsnnn rs sp-
peared ID he neWspapers Pnotoz-
rapheK LacEhaKne. 81 Painted took
negntiFs d fhe pictured traJ for e.
hibilIon.
a hesvF thunderstorm visited
Plainheid o. he night Of July u
accompanied by rain and hail. and
many telephones we're burned o1s b.
the hghtninx. LiiliaR Paul, daagA-
Ger Of G. D. Paul, sal up late that
evening Ii her fathers house 10 West
Fourth Street 20 await the resuru g
. belated servant. The vivid Light
ming eansed her some uneaslneas asl
she Sal alone il the parloF, but she j.
not & timid girl
After al the other members Of the
family had retired Miss Lillian vent
out into the dining room for glass
OF wafer. n q hay window looking
out toward the north was small
stand. and on this lay cleaning
tray about which reflections from the
/ lightning flashed necessarily, almost
like 4 fame. Miss Lillian was startl-
ed By the spectacle, and IS she reach
ed for the tsay 70 remove Il there
came q fash Of extreme DrilliaucTs
which caused her 70 stop aad turn
| partly away blinded By the light
Hastily seizing 3 table spread the
frightened girl threw it over the tray,
and, thus covered, she put il under
the table and hurried out OF the
room. The record Of that one daz
cling fash vas found next morning
when ths tray vas discovered. for i
b0re upon It's center an image Of the
girls face.
Electricians aFe busy with the prob
/ lem thus presented 70 them. Leo
Daft. the inventor Of the electrical
motor which bears his name, has ex-
amined the tray, and now proposes
20 Try some experiments with electri
city upon . similar tray. 70 deter
name, II possible, by just what chem
/ ical action this curious effect has
been produced. The tray Is OF tin,
about fourteen inches in diameter,
and Is stamped in imitation Of ALI
gator hide. Il Is heavily lacqnered
10 resemble brass, and Il has high
polish. Miss Lillian's profile appears
in an entire change in the surface Of
the yellow lacquer. In color Il Is q
light buff, aud il Is without the gloss
which covers the other parts Of the
tray. The edges of this discolored
surface are softly but distinctly out
lined, especially along the lines of
the Wavy hair and about the shout
ders. a curious feature Of the pic
ture Is the fact that where Miss Lii
liAn's eye would naturally be placed
In portrait. the lacquer Is untouch-
ed by the lightning's fash.
The first theory entertained was
that the electrical bolt had burned
the young girls profile in the lac
quer, but il is argued that q current
Of such power would have burned
the tray, aud stunned, il not killed,
the fair sitter in Jove's studio. Then,
too, If the image had been burned
by the direct influence Of the electri-
cal current, why would not the sur
rounding parts of the tray have IN
dergone the change, and the profile
in the center been left in FURNISHED
lacqueri
Electrician Daft has this explana-
ton of the phenomenon 10 offer !:
He believes that the picture was pro-
duced BY oxidation under the in
tense electric light. The lacquer on
the tray undoubtedly contains among
its Ingredients bichromate of potas
stun, sometimes called dragons
blood, upon which the intense light
may have had its effect. He holds,
In fact, that the picture was printed
by light and not by heat, and that
the fash was reflected from the face
to the inside of the opposite window
pane, and thence thrown upon the
tray, producing an actinic portrait
Such q change in the appearance of
the lacquer, containing in its color
ing matter ingredients sensitive to
light, might take place in the course
of long time over the whole sur
face Of the tray from the effect of q
difused light, and this curious fash
of Jersey lightning has, according 70
this theory, simply done in fraction
of q second, by brilliant effort DIR
ected % small spot on the tray,
what the rays of the sun would have
taken months 10 accomplish over the
whole surface. Both Mr.. Daft and
Mr.. Burr, of the Scientific American,
who lives in Plainfield, viii try by
experiment 10 produce similar effects
on lacquered trays.
Miss Lillian, who is about eighteen
years old, Is now in Canada on a
summer visit, but she viii have 3
photograph Of herself taken there
while she stands as nearly as pos
sible IL the posture in which the
fash of lightning caught her. On
the night Of the storm she wore q
white dress, with light folds of tulle
about her shoulders, and this may ex-
plain the certain vagueness Of out
iine 10 the lower part Of the picture
Her hair, which Is dark, is short and
curly, and Is brushed up and back
from her forehead. She does not
wear it tied in 3 knot behind, IS the
picture would seem 70 indicate, and
this Is explained by her own sugges-
ton that while reading In an easy
chair before going into the dining
room. her hair may have been mus
sed and pushed up IS shown By her
elecirniYne.