The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-08-29
Lightning Protection.
BY PROF. D. A DUpRE.


control. The stiff breeze thae speeds the
huge merchant ship may cease, and in .
moment tornado may leave no trace Of
the graceful vessel. The gentle waters
ofstreams which we bank up in our
ponds and lakes to serve us for mechani-
cal purposes may overleap their barriers
and give us the spectacle of Mogul en-.
gines and stone piers borne along in a
torrent through d 6onemaugh Valley.
Electricity is being used on land,
on sea, in the air, in great and deep
mines-everywhere, for everything. We
are all ready to praise in glowing terms
its wonders, its ready ooedieice to our
summons. The "wings Of the wind" are
stupid and slow compared with its speed
in executing our errands-it is our ser.
want, docile and quiet. But how about q
thunderstorm When the lightnings
of heaven fash down amidst our forests,
or leap from tower to basement in their
eccentric wanderings among our proud
city edifces, roaring and crashing in
absolute defiance of everything on earth,
who is the servant now? But man is
not bold enough yet to demand that
lightning do him service; he will be con.
tent with some means of defense against
its fearful "strokes."
It is said that "!the temple of Jerusa.
lem bristled with iron points; that the
fires of heaven respected for more than a
thousand years the edi6ce consecrated to
Jehovah" lightning neither touched
the first temple built by Solomon nor
that which rose upon it's ruins after the
captivity of Babylon" When the third
temple was being erected the "builders
neglected to put up the armatures and
points which had so successfully pro-
tected the two temples before the birth
of Christ" "The lightning was not long
10 destroying the scafolding and dispers-
4ing the workmen sent by Cesar" The
points aud iron rods were placed on the
older temples merely as ornaments, for
Che Levites knew nothing of lightning
rods OF electrical conductors of any
kind.
A fash of lightning produces less ter
ror than "clap of thunder" But even
among those who know the destruction
there is much nervousness on the ap-
proach of thunderstorm. There is a
general impression that metals dra,C
lightning. II saw in a paper of this
State that man was killed by lightning
because he happened to have in his hand
an axe during thunderstorm. 1 know
book that claims to be serious which
describes how young lady at some en-.
tertainment, one evening, walked out on
g balcony, and, stretching out her hand
to see if it was raining, had the beautiful
gold bracelet upon her arm melted like
wax by q sudden stroke Of lightning, she
remaining unhurt. Many persons at
the FIRST mutterings ola distant thunder.
storm begin to divest themselves ofevery
thing me tallic. 1 have seen thimble,
needles, scissors, hs.irpins, hurriedly put
sside for fear of attracting the lightning.
Iknow of a young lady who, on one oc.
casion, at the approach of storm, strip.
ped herself of all her metallic appenda.
ges and thea jumped upon bed for
safety. After the storm was over she
Was Mortified to find she had been reclin
ing upon brass spring mattress. Is it
reasonable to suppose that lightning that
can leap from cloud one or two miles
high, that is aiming with all light.
ning's haste and fury to reach old mother
earth, could be turned aside to disturb a
hair.pin that is quietly nestling in
lady's hair? Lightning is indeed eccen.
trio, but its "ambition is immense" and
it never loses its self.respect. A Wall
street speculator aiming after wealth
could not be turned aside by copper
cent"-a good conductor as far as it goes,
but tits not enough. A French writer of
note says: "Itis known that the skin
of our black brethren is peculiarly insu.
latiDg-that negro introduced into an
electric chain generally arrests the
shock" The same author seriously
states that "big feet render their possess.
sor peculiarly liable to be struck by light.
ming"
So defective are lightning rods gener.
ally that many sensible people refuse to
put any faith in them at all; while many
others, equally sensible, have them placed
upon their dwellings for protection
against the next lightning rod agent.
When electricity accumulates in cloud
it seeks the shortest patch to the earth
or TO another cloud. The shortest elec.
trical path is not always the shortest in
distance. The path that offers least
resistance, though zigzag, is the one
chosen. Metals are good conductors
hence large masses of metal, like tin
roof, iron stairway or aspipes, may de-.
termine the patch of lightning dis.
charge.
Very few lightning rods are properly
constructed. The metal is most often
too thin and too easily fused. No rod is
reliable that weighs less than eight ounces
per running foot-it should weigh
more.
Thin copper rods said to be galvanized
are worthless; there is no need for GOV
ering copper. A twisted rod is no
appreeiably better than 8 solid rod
Little glass insulators are perfectly
worthless. All rods should be securely
fastened to the building by iron spikes
| Copper is very expensive, and while s