Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-03-29
LsrI,,tnnt Chronicle.
THURSDAY. MARCH %, 1888.
A POWER OF THE AIR.

kloMlCOSN anu AlNNAAsaAAANfAA NNt'l'--
ances. it is wonderful how little we really
know about some of the familiar forces
that, unseen, surround us. OF all things
in nature, electricity is perhaps the most
mysterious.
Within us and around us, permeating
all matter, this force, OF fluid, or what
ever name may be applied to it, is ever
present-not stationary or in fixed quan-
titv. but continually varying. as restless
waves of the sea. 1t is only in times OF
unusual electrical commOtiOn that they
become perceptible TO the senses, as, for
instance. when the aurora is visible in
the heavens, when st. Elmo'S fires are
glowing, or during thunderstorm.
st. Elmo's fire is peculiar but, at sea,
not unfamiliar phenomenon; and al
though it chiefly occurs during thunder
storms. it is itself in no way dangerous
1t always appears at the apex of lofty,
tapering objects, resembling flame OF
fire rising out of them. 1t may some
times be seen at the tops of trees, but
more frequently on the masts or yard
arms of ships at sea. 1t is nothing more
than harmless discharge Of electricity.
But atmospheric electricity assumes
its most impressive aspect when it ap-
pears in the lightning flash. An earth
quake excites only feeling of terror;
but while thunderstorm has its terrOrS,
it has also its fascinatiOns. When
"heaven's artillery" plays, we cannot but
be impressed with a sense of our own
littleneSs and helpleSsness, and touched
with feeling Of fear.
There are three kinds of lightning
forked or zigzag lightning, sheet light
ming, and glObular lightning. Light
ming is discharge of electricity between
two clouds, or between clouds and the
earth. Fortunately for us, most of the
lightning passes from cloud to cloud.
The position of greatest peril from
lightning is under isolated, unprotected
objects, such as trees, though position
from the tree, at distance of the height
of the tree, is considered safe. 1t is not
desirable to sit before fire in the room
during a thunderstorm, the SCOT and
heated air in the chimney acting as con-
ductOrS. Generally speaking, there is
perhaps less danger from lightning in
towns than elsewhere. the numerous
protectors erected on chimney stalks and
church steeples providing some measure
of safety.
A lightning conductor affords protec-
tion to a space around the diameter of
which is four times its height. But great
care is necessary in erecting such con-
ductors; they must be continuous. that
is to say, they must have no bad joints.
1t is also essential they should have
proper connection with the earth; mere
ly- dipping the wires into the ground
will not do. Under ground water mains
make good earth connections. Where
these are available, an earth plate of
sheet-cOpper, three feet by three feet.
and an eighth of an inch thick, should
be buried in wet earth, surrounded with
coke. But no work of this description
should be undertaken without skilled
supervision.
Every one is familiar with the fact
that lightning does not spring direct
from cloud to cloud, or to the earth, but
purSueS ZigZag course. This is due to
the fact that the air is not equally humid
throughout.
Electricity always takes the path which
offers least resistance to its passage
Damp air is better conducting medium
than dry air: consequently, the lightning
selects the dampeSt route, avoiding the
drier strata and zones it encounters, and
advances, now directly, now Obliquely,
until it reaches the opposite cloud,
where it subdiyides into a number of
forks.
Owing to the resistance it encounters
in its path, intense heat is generated,
which causes the air to expand. In
mediately after the flash, the air again
contracts with great violence and with
loud report, which is echoed and re-
echoed among the clouds.
The report reaching the ear of the
listener from varying distances, is drawn
out into a series, and, being still further
prolonged by the echoes, the roll of the
thunder is produced. 1t is a curious
fact that, although the sound of thunder
is exceedingly loud when heard near at
hand, the area over which it is audible
is comparatively circumscribed.
The noise of a cannOnade will be |
heard, under favorable conditions, at a
distance of nearly hundred miles, while
the sound of thunder does not travel |
over fifteen miles. The occurrence of |
the thunder and the lightning is, of |
course. simultaneous: but as light travels |
faster than sound-its passage is prac-
tically instantaneous flash may be |
seen several seconds before the thunder |
is heard.
The distance of thunder NAV thus be |
approximately estimated, an interval of .
five seconds between the flash and the /
thunder-clap being allowed to the mile |
Sheet lightning has the appearance of |
a sheet of flame momentarilly illumin- |
ating part of the sky or cloud-surface /
1t is, in reality, but the reflection of
lightning flashing beyond the horizon or
behind the clouds, and at too great a /
distance for the thunder to be audible.
But the most remarkable of all the |
manifestations of electricity is glObular |
lightning, in appearance like a ball of /
fire moving leiSurely along, and remain
ing visible, it may be, several minutes.
BILL NYE AND THE BLIZZARD.
Bill Nye in Buffalo News.
As you may have heard incidentally, .
we have had rather backward spring in
New York, and even on Wall street it |
has been pretty hard on stock. | am
not startled, for have seen Billiards
which made this look like the Fourth
of July. 1t makes some folks very
mad to hear me sneer at the blizzard,
but as Heaven is my judge this was a
lava festival and moonlight excursion
compared with a half dozen storms that
| remember. 1t is, of course, a novel
experience for New York, and it is nv
chief joy to see the city enter into the
hearty appreciation of it. OF course it
is annoying to some extent. But the