Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-26

There are many cases on record where peo-
pie killed by lightning under trees have been
marked in one part of the body or another
with the image of tree or of a leaf. This
mas been considered very mysterious; but it
Is probable that such phenomena are largely
attributable to Imagination. Marks made
py lightning are apt to be forked and
Dranched in such a fashion to suggest
iiksnesses OF the sort to excited minds.
mere nave been instances where lightning
mas entered powder magazine and dis
persed the gunpowder without setting 1t on
nre This Is more easily understood when
IL IL Is Learned that there is difficulty in set
ting fire to gunpowder by sending charge
from a Leyden jar through it. The powder
IS simply scattered without being ignited
III anything interferes with the free passage
OF the electricity, however, the powder will
explode. There have been several frightful
disasters caused by lightning striking DOW
ger magazines. At midnight, August 10,
tooi' magazine at Joudpore, in the Bonn
pay presidency, was blown up in this way
killing 1000 residents At Luxembourg
June 70, 1907, magazine containing twelve
tons of gunpowder was struck running a
large part of the town. But the worst acct
cent or this kind happened at Bresca
August Is, 1859, when POI, 900 pounds Of
powder belonging to the republic of Venice
were exploded by lightning, destroying a
ings.
There are some parts of the world where
at certain seasons thunder and lightning are
practlcally incessant. the sl<v being lighted
eonsanuons5y by vivid flashes while the
etrS are deafened by a roar of celestial
artlilery without pause. One of these local
tiles Is the east coast OF san Domingo a
region Stunned on this account by men and
beasts at the rainy time of the year There
Is place in the republic of New Granada
where nobody will live on account of the
frequency OF lightning strokes Thunder
by the way. is caused by the electric fluid
rending the air, which has not time to get
out of the way. The rolling of thunder is
due to echoes thrown back from the clouds
All Damage Done in Five Months.
Practically all of the 200 deaths caused
by lightning In the United States annually
occur In the five months from April to
September, the highest ra te being in June
and July. Such strokes are very ant to
produce condition of suspended ANNA
ton. Accordingly, the weather bureau
recommends that everything possible shall
be done to stimulate respiration and circu-
lation in a person who has been struck,
even though there are no apparent SIGNS of
life. Cattle and sheep suffer from this
cause much oftener than human beings
sometimes an entire flock of sheep is wiped
out literally in a fash In nine years end
ing In 1892, 2.235 barns, 102 churches and
66i dwellings were struck in this country
During the same period there were about
1000 fires from lightning with a property
loss of $l4OO0,000. Risk from lightnincy IN
rirai districts Is five times greater than in
cities. Oak trees are struck fifty-four
times as often as beeches, though nobody
knows why.
Though physicists say that electricity Is
form of motion. the fluid is a mystery
yet. Its presence everywhere helps to make
X interesting. Children shuttle over the
carpet with their feet and thus generate
enough electricity to light the gas with a
spark from finger. ANYBODY can do that.
though the carpet must be of wool and
very dry, as we'll the floor beneath
Tesla, the famous expert, makes a light
burn In his hand from electricity passing
through his body. When a powerful cleo
tricai machine is being worked in a room.
projecting sharp points about. the furniture
or fixtures are apt TO be seen in the dark
tipped with light This is an artificial pro-
ductlon or the so-called st. Elmos fire
which sometimes appears on the masts of
vessels at sea, exciting the superstitions of
sailors. On rare occasions church steeples
are illuminated in the same strange fashion
During tnunder-storms peoples heads have
exhibited the phenomenon, each hair being
terminated by minute luminous tuft
Electricity has not always been found a
SAFE plaything. The kite experiment of
franklin was repeated in France in June,
lI53. by NJ Romas a provincial Judge OF
scientific tastes. He made a kite eight
feet high and three feet wide. the string
used being wrapped with copper wire Al
the beginning of thunderstorm he raised
1t to height of about $50 feet Instead
of sparks, he obtained flashes of fire a
foot long and three inches wide accom-
panied by loud noises like the cracking Of
whips This performance was Initiated in
August OF the same year by Prof Rich
mann of st. Petersburg, the apparatus be-
ing set up in his dwelling In the midst of
the entertainment a large globe of bluish-
white fire appeared. with q report like a
gun. The experimenter fell back and died
instantly, while his assistant was rendered
unconscious. The house was filled with
sulphurous vapors and was considerably
damaged. Marks of burning were found on
the dead mans body. In 1857 lightning
drawn from the clouds was made to yield
sparks ten feet in length
Depth in the Earth.
The ancients BELOVED that lightning never
struck deeper than five feet in the earth.
The Emperor Augustus always sought ref
uge in a cave during a thunder storm.
Former rulers of Japan are said to have
fled to safety under similar circumstances
to grotto specially provided for the pur-
pose, which contained a reservoir of water
The water was expected to put out the fire
of the lightning This was certainly a mis-
taken notion. Fishes are sometimes killed
by hre from the skies. In 1870 lightning
fell upon the lake of Zirknitz and such
quantities of fish Immediately fioated to
the surface that twenty-eght wagon loads
were collected for manure.
According to Prof. Charles Tomlinson
to whose work on the properties of light
ming tHe writer Is much indebted, the an
cient Romans believed that sealskin afford
ed protection against lightning. Augustus
always wore such a skin. Tents were made
of that material en- this account In the
Avenues, for the same reason, shepherds
wear snakeskins in their hats. ATTEMPTS
were formerly made to dissipate storms
by kindling fires in the open air. firing
cannon and ringing bells The last method
led to many accidents. During thirty-three
years in Germany lightning struck $50
bell towers, killing l2l ringers and wound
ing much larger number Chambers of
glass have actually been constructed for
the occupancy of timid persons during
thunder storms. But the notion that glass
is impervious to electricity is a mistake
Lightning sometimes reduces glass to DOW
der and it has been known to cut a per-
fectly circular disk out of a window pane
DR.. Franklin suggested that the safest
plan was to retire during an electrical dis
turbance into a hammock suspended by
silken cords in the middle of large room
1t is always best, under such circumstances
to keep away from the windows and Chin
neys. RENE BACHE