Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-06

Metallic Bound Sheds, Electric Wires
and Street Car Rails Diffuse the Most
Powerful Discharges-The Heart of the
City Safe.
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.I
The chances are estimated at something
like million to one against an individual
being struck by lightning, yet the fear of it
seems rather to be increasing rather than
diminishing. The electrical storms in Pitts
burg last summer carried terror to many
heart, and more people than one would
suppose welcome the coming winter princi-
pally because its skies will be free from the
vivid streakS.
Electricians and scientific men generally,
declare that every large city in the United
States is, at least in its heart, perfectly pro
tected against stroke of lightning from
the clouds. This ought to be re-
assuring. Yet at times the facts
seem to be as much against as
with these authorities, and there is so much
that they do not know that q reasoning
novice may be pardoned for doubling the
universal application of their theories. Any
one who has ever witnessed the appalling
force of a direct stroke of lightning may be
pardoned for doubt as to any human agency
being able to divert it, or to diffuse it harm
lessly. On the street, under supposed con-
ductive shelter, or in an ordinary building,
the terrors of an active electric storm are
vivid enough; but in a large telegraph office
they are appalling to one of nervous tempera.
ment. An instance in point occurred in this
city recently.
Scene in a Telegraph Office.
During an especially violent storm Of
thunder and lightning as chronieled in the
local papers at the time, the Western Union
Telegraph office. at Fifth avenue and Wood
street. was q scene of unspeakable terror.
The unusual severity and frequency or the
lightning had been noted throughout the
evening, though without exciting more than
the usual amount of comment. Suddenly
there came flash of the most intense vivid
ness. 1t was disturbing to the humors Of
the eyes the unveiling of direct and
powerful electric light IN close proximity in
the thickest darkness. Without a quiver
every electric light in the big office was ex-
tinguished. Instantly there was a tremend-
Gus crash. 1t was that of the synchronous
thunder. but not man in the office could
realize it. An awful explosion 1t was, too
heard for miles around.
81 thought it was the crack of doom,
sure" said one operator in describing the
scene. at seemed as though the office hao
been struck, and thought I could feel the
top floor OF the lofty. building falling out
In perhaps half minute the electric
lights resumed their accustomed radiance,
and the wonted tranquility of the operating
in that office had been blanched, and more
than three-fourths of the men had arisen
from their chairs as though to prepare tor
the worst
The Man at the Switch Board.
But it is the wire chief who has to face the
lightning as its brilliant flashes and mus
kerry rattle roll across the switchboard,
within a few inches of his face. Only the
steadiest nerve can resist the impulse to
Jump" when an unusually loud report or
bright flash occurs. To watch the antics of
a nervous wire chief is as mirth h.provoking
as to contemplate the holdings and recov-
cries of q sleepy deacon in church on a
warm Sunday. 1t is 10 to ], too, that the
man who laughs the hardest will jump the
highest when he innocently approaches the
switch board and encounters specimen of
the phenomena.
Mr.. Tom Hughes, of the Postal Telegraph
Company, said the other day: "This city is
almost perfectly protected against danger
from lightning. You never hear of |
lightning. striking anywhere near the
heart OF the city although strokes
townships are of frequent occurrence. Our |
iron bridges, our countless smoke-stacks,
our great metallic-bound sheds, our electric |
wires overhead, our steel rails on the sur
face, and our underlying ore deposits-all |
divert or dtffuse the most powerful stroke of |
lightning have ever seen. 1 feel q sense OF |
absolute safety in PittsburS, and nowhere |
is this sense SO acute with me as in a tele-
graph office. Each wire is gauged to carry |
only SO much current. If it crosses with an |
electric light or motor wire, the increase Of |
current will melt it and break the circuit, |
thus disconnecting the Office. The same |
eeffct would result from q heavy stroke of |
ALLISON.