The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-11-06
ELECTRICAL FREAKS.
A Lightning Flash Which Went Into the
l,nner-Hanging Rusiness.

A Lightning Flash which Went Into The
raper-Hanging Business.
By this term we do not mean the
experts who testified recently that
they could receive a shock OF 25,O O0
volts and feel sort of braced up by it.
We make this explanation in order to
prevent any misconception of the tenor
OF this article by the intelligent reader.
By electrical Freaks we do not mean
people who play fantastic tricks with
their Imagination when they talk on
this subject, but rather the pranks
which the forked lightning plays when
1t strikes hen-house and lights up
the emotional fancy of the reporter
who is working on space.
A few years ago young man named
Caspar Weidpants, residing in Asbury
Park, was sitting at the window OF his
boarding house, counting his weeks
salary and wondering whether he
should divide it equally among him
self, or give some of it to his tailor
and little to his landlady, or take it
all to hire q horse and q narrow bu y
and take proud but wealthy heiress
out to drive. At that instant q bolt OF
lightning struck the corner OF large
house in Long Branch, not moro than
seven or eight miles away. and the
young man never thought OF his tailor
or his landlady again. They often
thought of him, but nobody ever found
out where he went
In the summer of 1879 John j. Fow-
Ter was practical paper-hanger in
Albany. During the first week Of juno
he was hanging paper in the residence
of Clarence l.. Montgomery, when a
n heavy black cloud came slowly over
tthe city from the west, and single
Wfash of lightning fell from the cloud,
z entered tho room where Fowler was at
work, run up the trimming machine
like a buzz saw for few minutes,
stirred up the paste. hung all the
paper in the room and trimmed SIX
teen yards OF arabesque border. Some
OF the family went in the room about
seven o'clock that evening and found
Fowler lying on tho table, still sleep
ing from the effects of the shock. The
strokes had also affected his mind and
seriously biased his moral faculties,
for he afterward brought in bill for
the work, and had to sue for it (Mr.
Montgomery being very rich MANI,
and he testified that he had dcne all
this work himself before going to
sleep. But that was impossible, and
the court so decided, as it was estab-
lished by the evidence OF more than
twenty householders that no paper
hanger ever did that much work in a
day.
People now living in Skaneateles.
who resided there in the spring of
1888, still remember the excitement
over the remarkable case OF Reverend
Lars Christophersson. rector of the
Aboriginal American Church. He wa:
sitting in his study one Sabbath morn.
ing in MOI bid and gloomy state oil
mind, having just learned that his son.
who had gone of on little scalping
party down the lake the night before,
had taken the only razor in the Manse
While the elder sat gloomily rubbing
his chin and wondering if he couldn'
sandpaper it before class meeting, K;
storm. that had been gathering fol
some time suddenly broke above the
town with terrific violence. A long
zigzag streak of ball lightning entered
the window of the minister's study
shaved him once over without raising
pimple, trimmed his hair straigh
across the back OF the neck, givin!
him that peculiarly mock look o
meekly meekness which is the artist
triumph, OF that style of cut, bange,
it in front to make him Loo
childliko and simple, gave hi
shoes patent leather shine
brushed his coat and was out of th
window again with crashing nois
like fOur-year-old boy falling off
pew during the long prayer. TIL
strangest thing about the occurrenc
was not discovered until that evening
when the preacher discovered tina
the lightning. on departing, ha
burned a hole in his vest pocket an
fused silver quarter into roun
sphere, which had dropped out on hi
way to the Westinghouse.
Last July, Mrs. Weatherby Showers
wife of the well-known financier {
that name, was putting her thre
children to bed one very warm, sultr
evening when flash of sheet light
ning-Hoy? SirP l want to remen
Der that this is a Sunday paper?" Hs
I'd like to see me get q chance to fol-
get it. Well, that's so; guess I'll leav
that Showers story out 1t is prett
tough, little. But the others ma
stand; if they are not as true as som
lightning stories I've heard told b
some awfully truthful people, l don
want cent that can't get -Burdettt
in Brooklyn Eagle.
TWELVE HELPFUL RULES.
Some That Have Tsepn Tried with NotIces