The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-10

the boat, when Hines came to the sur
face. was a few scraps of boards. The
lightning had completely demolished the
craft. The boy was none the worse for
his experience, and he went home as well
off as when he came, so far as his physi-
cal condition was concerned.
A few years after that Hines was walk
ing on the railroad during a thunder
storm 1t was a pretty lively storm, and
Hines confesses to having felt a trihe
skttsh. for he remembered his experience
on the lake. He was counting off the ties
at pretty lively rate, in the hope Of get
| ting home, when there came a binding.
| fash of lightning, and Hines knew moths,
| ing for some time. When he came to-
| himself he was hanging over a stone
wall, a good deal like a towel that had
been washed and hung out to dry. The
spot from which he had been removed by
| the electric shock was several feet dis
tant. Hines never knew whether he was
| thrown on the wall by the lightning, or
he had walked there while suffering from
the shock. Hines manged to get home
and into bed, where he stayed week be-
! fore he was able TO get out. That was
| the closest call he ever had.
When Hines was about % years old, he
was a member of the Baptist church.
He was a regular attendant Sundys, and
was an active worker in the Sunday
school, One Sunday he sat in church lis
| tening to the preaching, unmindful of the
| thunderstorm that was raging outside.
| The minister had reached an unusually
| interesting point in his sermon, when
a bolt of lightning came through the
| roof of the building, and, as If II had es
peeial designs on Hines, made straight
| for him and tore the seat in which he
| sat into matchwood. Not content with re-
moving the mans support from under
him, the fluid ripped his shoes OFF his
| feet tore his trousers into ribbons, and
| blistered his left leg in several spots.
| The congregation got terror-stricken and
vacated the premises on the double-quick.
| Hines began to get the impression that
he was a mark for lightning, and, for
/ the first time since his first experience
with the mysterious fluid. got nervous.
/ BY this, time his record as a lightning
| catcher had become known, and he was
| made a special subject for prayer After
| this attack of lightning, Hines was able
| to tell ten hours before a storm broke
| that 1t was coming by the peculiar sem
| saton that he experienced in his left
| leg. He became a sort of human barom-
/ eter, and he was of considerable benefit
| to his farmer neighbors, especially dur
/ ing the haying season.
About five years after Hines was
touched up with lightning in the church,
he was blowing one Gay behind horse
| that was trifie nervous. The man had
| made up his mind to take a little of the
| IRE out of the beast before leaving the
| field and when 1t began to thunder he
paid no attention to 1t. In the middle of
| field was a big rock, ana Hines was plow-
ing around it, when a bolt of lightning
| fell out of the sky and split the rock in
| two. The horse was instantly killed,
| and the pillow was warped and twisted,
until it looked more like a cOrkscrew
| than a farming implement. While this
| was going on, Hines was being gleefully
rolled in the dust. On this occasion the
lightning was very considerable, and did
| him no bodily injury, beyond spraining
| one of his elbows. 1t singed his hair
took off his eyebrows and wiped his whis-
| kers out of existence. On that occasion
| Hines wore a watch, and the chain and
| certain parts of the watch were melted
. He buried the remains of the horse where
they lay, and never attempted TO pillow
that field again,
Six years ago Hines sat one night at
| the supper table alone. There was a
thunderstorm on, and Hines felt as if
there might be trouble in his ward before
it was ended Opposite the table a win
dow was open. He was in the act Of
raising a piece of potato on fork to his
mouth, when streak of lightning came
through the window and snatched the
fork. potato and all out of his hand He
got mp to close the window. and had taken
put rev steps When another bolt of
lightning came in, and, without ceremony,
threw him under the table. On the way
the mans head struck a leg Of the table
and he became unconscious. He soon
came 70 his senses and was none the worse
for wear.
Hines neighbors are of the opinion that
he certainly bears charmed life.
but Hines cakes a more philosophic view
Of IT, lie thinks that he has been struck
because he happened 20 be IN the path
OF the lightning, and thinks the reason he
Is stu alive is because the lightning
never happened 10 MT him hard enough
10 Mi him. He says that be- has got aii
over his nervousness when there is a