The Republican., 1891-09-18
DRINKER CREEK LIGHTNING.
Some Freaks That Beat Anything of the
Sort Yet on Record.

Will pEloC Iuc dIItT what L eSDe-
rienced with little electric freak the
other day back on the Drinller Creek
road, d" said II. Sun Hall. of this county.
Mr.. Halls middle name was given him
because he was so bright. His veracity
has never been questioned, except by
strangers. Those who know him never
question anything he says because it
would be a waste of time, and time
among these rugged hills and deep
down valleys is worth as much as sew
enty-eight cents day, especially during
the huckleberry season.
II have heard of fellows having their
monograms etched on the bottom of
their feet by capricious strokes of light
ming, and | remember case down in
Jersey somewhere, where lightning
started itself in the portrait business by
printing girls photograph on plaque
that hung on the wall; but those freaks
are mere amateur efforts compared
with what lightning can do when it has
such a field as the DrinLer Creek region.
Il was out after hucklebe berries, three
miles from home, in company with a
friend. We turned our horse and car
riage into the woods, unhitched the
horse and tied him to tree, and went
off into the bush after berries We had
picked an hour or so. when | noticed
storm coming up l never saw the sky
SO black, although there wasn't much
thunder, and only now and then flash
of lightning.
"'Great Hooky" said l. we must
hurry back and hitch up and pull out of
this.
$50 we made double-quick time back
to where we had left our horse. My
friend went to get the horse, and got
into the buggy to get the side curtains
from under the seat and put them on.
My twelve-quart tin pail of huckleber-
ries | had set on the ground at the side
Of the wagon. While | was busy in the
buggy there came flash that seemed
to me to make everything SO blazingly
light and near by and distinct that
believe | saw in one brief instant Mason
and DiXon's line and the Canada border.
But there was no time for enjoying a
landscape scene just then, for imme-
diately following the flash down the
road came ball of fire that | don't be-
lieve you could have crammed into
corn basket 1t rolled along, went right
under the buggy, and the next thing |
knew | was whizzing down the road in
the wagon at rate so rapid that had
to turn my head to breathe, while was
the center OF the most awe-striking py-
rotechnical display that ever mortal
mans eyes rested on. The tires of the
wheels were streaks of whirling fire,
from which a solid mass of sparks flew
ten feet high Wherever there was a
bit of iron on the wagon it was splitting
fire as hose squirts water. No comet
ever sailed through space with a
grander or more awful display of fiery
trail than did that electrified buggy of
mine. And what do you s'pose caused
it all? That ball of fire had fastened
itself to the iron on the thills, and there
it was dashing me along down the road,
a veritable thunderbolt of horse! l
had been SO taken abacll for a second at
the electrical display all around me that
| hadn't noticed that | was making a
tolerably fair one myself; for every
hair on my head was standing up like
porcupine quilts, except they We're so
many tiny jets of fire, like the little car
bons in electric light bulbs. l didat
feel bit hot. but | thought of home
once, and wished l was there.
Twenty times quicker than l have
been telling you of this, we had passed
three miles down the road, and | was
very near home. But there was no tell
ing where this fiery charger of mine
was going to stop, and l was afraid we
might meet someone on the road and
run into 'em and hurt 'em. But that
didn't happen, for the big electric ball
left me as suddenly as it had hitched to
me, and, jumping to one side of the road,
paused for a moment at watering
trough, and then jumped into the trough
and put itself out xhe water in the
trough boiled and steamed like tea
kettle, but had no time to see how
long it would continue to do so, for l
was anxious about my friend and his
horse. | didn't know but what the
lightning might have killed them so
hurried back to where | had SO curious
ly abandoned them.
81 covered the three miles in very
short time, l can tell you, and l think
was eXcusable in being SO surprised at
what | saw that | couldn't move out of
my tracks for ten minutes. Talk about
freaks of lightning! You should have
seen what this lightning had done. There
stood my friend tied to the fence as the
horse had been. stamping away, and
gnawing at the boards for all the world
like real horse. Oh a messy bank on
the other side of the road the horse was
lolling in lazy enjoyment and in his
mouth, muzzle up, was a flask which |
knew had been in my friends pocket
when we started from the berry bushes
to hitch up the horse, On the horses
fore feet were my friends boots. | took
another look at my frienC:, and if the
horses front shoes weren't on his feet
as if they had been glued there, then
you can muZzle me!
"Well, by good deal of manipula-
tion got my friend and the horse back
to themselves again, but had the deuce
and all of time to get the horses shoes
off of my friends feet. Both he aud the
horse were still dazed when went to
look up my pail of huckleberries. The