Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1893-02-25
THE LIGHTNING ROD CRAZE.
RecOiiections OF the Time When It Swep
O-er the United States.

RecOfiections cf the Time When It Swept
O:er the United States.
If any one has mind that is at
all antiquarian in its disposition he
may find about many of the farm
houses through the country and most
Of the older houses in the city re
minde2s q |, custom that can now be
said with q fair amount Of certainty
to belong 10 ancient history that Of
using lightning rods.
He will then remember what has
almost left his mind for fifteen years
the lightning rod phase of history.
when Il man was generally regarded
as an idiot who lett bis home with
out the protection of rod, and when
insurance companies insisted that
each house on which they took a
risk should be provided with them
until you would have thought Provi
dence had nothing to do but manu-
facture thunderstorms and send their
bolts against those unprovided with
the articles 1t was cne of those
pseudo scientific craZes that rage,
fiercely for time, and ON that ac
count are dropped the more com
p!etely afterward.
| Now almost no one puts the rods
on his new house, and the insurance
companies have turned their atten
ton to the far more practical Quvs
ton of the danger from electric wires
Old Ben Franklin was popular man
in every way, but he never touched
q subject nearer the heart of man
and, it may be added, Of woman also
than when he gave to the world his
ideas Of protection against lightning
The invention started out by causing
a furious struggle between the Eng
lish Wings and Tories concerning the
proper wiring Of st. Paul,s cathedral
in London, and has caused no end of
controversy since until it dropped
out of sight ten or fifteen years ago.
Yet it was nearly SO late as 1860 that
the great American scalawag first
took practical charge of the idea and
|
downtrodden and abused people. For
fifteen years the lightning rod man
ruled the nation, until his tyranny
aroused the public to madness and to
shooting on sight.
The articles were made by many
different firms, each making differ
ent kind that was individually supe
rior to all the rest. The hardware
stores did not handle these invalua
bic goods. but they We're intr1,sted t,.
special agents, who ravaged thecoun
try for a season of five months every
year, beginning May L. The winter
seasons of these ll1fiian bands We're
spent in the mparatively ligh;
amusements Of horse stealing ami
murder In fact, the nervous sys
/ tenn of the coultry. and especially
/ the trusting nature of women, has
never yet recovered from the shock
given by the tales of these men con
cernlng the fearful fate of those who
were SO fcolhardy ;ts to use any kind
of lightning rod but their own.
One band of bad men from the
west, whose goods were made in
Cleveland h2d it's headquarters for
nearly ten years in Springfield, and
from this devoted city eighty teams,
with ;,n appropriate number Of men,
scourged the country through the
summer The trusting farmer, h"y
ing been shown in glowing colol's his
danger if unprotected, was induced
to ask for estimates on wiring his
buildings. The agent gave some low
fgu1e as the probable cost. and the
farmer agreeing, signed an indefinite
contract to pay for this. Woe unto
him! The lightning rod man set out
in 6endish glee and wound wire
about his fated building until it
looked like a railroad map of Massa
chusetts. He then put in bill vary
ing from s775 to $500, according to the
apparent means of lis victim.
The farmer was bound by his con
tract and protested in vain. The
despoiler of his home would agree to
no less than Il part payment III cash
and a note for the rest The farmer
would sign the note, protesting he
would never pay it, and the willy
agent would Immediately sell it, gen
orally to some New York broker
who would force its payment.
The farmers were III a prosperous,
condition at the time, and few of
their places were mortgaged. SO tile7r
notes were generally as good as gold,
Long after the lightning rod men
We're a thing OF the past book agents
continued their thrifty methods, and
within ten years it has been deemed
a justifiable cause for homicide if you
called a man lightning rod agent or
designated any Of his business ways
as Lightning rod scheme. But be
sides these men there were people
who honestly believed in the idea, as
they had right to do, and agents
who were as upright as any man.
Springfield Republican.
Speaking from Experience.
Then you would advise me not to