The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-06-11

| VI Alc4ucACS ID III
and vicinity, and that Of minimum fire.
quency appears to be on the coast Of
New England. From May to June the
maximum is in the northeastern and
central states, especially in a region eX-
tending along the Missippi valley from
Keokuk to Cairo. For July the maxi
mum extends from northern Montana
to central Texas, thence to Georgia,
and from there to southern Maine, also
in small area about Lake Huron.
The maximum for August occurs in the
vicinity of Salt Lake. Utah, and along
the gulf and Atlantic coasts. II ap-
pears, therefore, that the maximum
of thunder-stormS comes earliest 20
the west and southwest Of the great
lakes, and gradually extends TO the
| west, south and east. The general di-
rection Of approach is from the west,
and the statistics show a decreased
liability to accidents in thickly settled
communities. The average risk in the
country is about five times greater than
in the cities. The risk for ordinary
dwelling houses is so slight that ex-
! cept where they are unduly exposed iu
city blocks, hghtning-rods are hardly
necessary.
| The report recommends that all barns
and exposed buildings should have
lightning-rods, and especially those on
! hillSideS. Iron is noted as being in
every way as efficient as copper, and
| the sheet form is much to be prefer
red for the latter, according to Sir Will
lam Thompson. The top of the rod
should be plated or in some other way
protected from rust, and the earth
plates are best buried in damp earth
or running water. The conductor
should be connected to gas mains where
it is near them, but the neighborhoOd
of small-bore fusible gas pipes and in
door gas pipes in general ought to be
avoided. Chain or linked conductors
are of little use. Very little faith is
placed in the so-called area of protec-
ton.
1t is considered to be only question
of time when the use of the term ''re-
turn shock" will be abandoned, but the
terms ''recoil kick" and alternative
path" are of far greater import, and
there is no reason to doubt that some
times the discharge takes place from
earth to cloud. This is explained as
follows, the language Of the report be-
ing given, though it may be hard to I'M
derstand for the on-scienti1ic reader:
while we now consider q lightning
fash as something like the discharge
of a condenser through its own dielec-
trio, made up of excessively frequent
alterations, say something like 100000
times per second, the spark or core of
incandescent air may seem to have had
its beginning at the earth's surface
The air gap breaks down first at q
point near the earth"
One of the most important points
brought out is the Indifference of light |
ming to the path of least resistance
In the words of Lodge it is simply hope |
less to pretend to be able to make the |
conductor so much the easier path that |
all others are out of the question. Any
part of a building, If the flash be of a
certain character, may be struck |
whether there is rod ON the building
or not. The great majority Of flashes |
in our latitude are not so intense but |
that a good rod will earther makes the |
most natural path for the flash, but |
there are instances where seemingly
well protected edifices have been struck |
below the rods, and a building may be |
seriously damaged by lightning with |
out having been struck at all. Further
more, many cases are on record where |
lightning has struck twice in the same /
place.
Among the hints in regard to per-
sonal safety it is stated not 10 be judi |
ciOuS to stand under trees during thun-
der-StormS (the oak is struck most fire.
quently and the beech least sol, in
the doorway of barns, close to cattle,
or near chimneyS and fireplaceS. But
also there is not much sense in going
to bed during a storm or trying to in
Sulate ones self in feather beds. Small
articles Of steel do not have the power
to attract lightning, as it is popularity |
put, or determine the path of discharge
One who lives to see the lightning fash
need not concern himself much about
the possibility of personal injury from
that flash, and there is reason to be-
lieve that lightning often brings about
suspended animation rather than SOM
attic death. Hence one who is in the
of a per son struck by lightning
should at once go to work and try to
restore consciousness, even if the per-
son struck appears to be dead The
effort should be to restore respiration
and the circulation, and it ought to be
perSevered in for not less than an hour
before the case is given up as hopeless.
The record, so far as presented, may
be understood to show that loss of life
in the United States by lightning stroke
is on the increase. The $50 deaths
from this cause last year compare with
only 200 for 1898. Pol for 1892, 204 for
1891, and about 100 for 1890. Two of
the deaths of last year occurred in Feb
ruary and six in September, while in
December two occurred in 1892 and
one in 1898.
4
ABOUT PROHIBITING HYPNoTIsM.
1t is given out that the wife of a
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