New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-08-14
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.

The latter part of the present summer threat
ems to achieve at least nine days fame FOR It's
numerous thunderstorms Earlier In the sea-
son such phenomena were not unusually c0nspc-
HONS and the month Of July was, on the whole,
fairly free from them. and temporarily COOL to
boot But with the advent OF August the
celestial batteries became intensely active Day
after day, or night after night, drenchng show
ers accompanied by severe lightning and thun-
der prevailed often doing much damage to prop
erty and sometimes to limb and life. The eli
max TO date was reached on Sunday night last
or early Monday morning. There then
veritable deuge Of rain, and for an hour such
violent and incessant blaze Of lightning and
crash Of thunder as seldom have been known In
this part Of the world. The storm was uncom-
monty destructive, too, the country being dotted
with wrecks and fires and more than one hui
man life being lost under the scathing electric
volleys.
These appalling manifestations Of Natures
furious energies arouse anew. though to little
present purpose the old wonderment as TO their
cause and nature. We say to little present prr-
pose because with all that has been learned and
gained by modern science, electricity remains
chiefly a mystery The last two or three decades
progress made in electric science-in the appli-
cation. that Is. OF electricity to the service OF
man. 1t would take library to tell what has
been accomplished In that direction. few
nages. perhaps few lines, would tell all that has
been learned Of the origin and nature OF this
mysterious force In regard to electricity in
summer storms, what do we know to-day more
than Franklin, or at any rate than Rejchmann,
knew? Little. indeed. We have learned, per-
hans. that lghtning-bolt is not merely an ex-
haustlye discharge Of electricity from an over
laden cloud in which 1t had In some way been
accumulated. We know, perhaps, that the heat
Of the lower air and the cold of the upper, the
moisture. the wind, and the surface Of the earth
itself. all form gigantic electric machine In
which the subtle fluid Is continuously generated
and discharged from the negative upper into the
positive lower cloud, and thence into the mega
tive earth But how little, after all, that Is to
know, in actual practice!
few years ago certain eminent German SCI
cntists. after long and close observation, pro-
nounded certain theories regarding thunder
storms They said that such storms were rapid
" increasing in frequency-fvefold. they de-
clared between 1884 and 1887. This was due
70 the changes produced upon the earths sur
face by the march Of civilization, especially to
the growth of cities and manufacturing centres.
Tho vast volumes Of smoke and dust and steam
sent I'D from these places generated electricity
nv friction upon the air. This latter part or
thcIr theory was not new; nor Is II TO De taken
os true. II II were true, thunderstorms would
rage most and be most destructive over and
mar large cities AS matter Of fact the
.,,rarv 10 tho cose Statistics prove that the
nroportion of buildings struck in the country to
those in the city Is as two to one. So far as we
know. thunderstorms are as frequent and as
furious in the wilderness as In the most densely
nonulated land. Civilization. with all It's works,
has had little perceptible effecVupon them.
Neither. we are inclined to believe, Is the Ger
man scientists theory that thunderstorms are
increasing in frequency TO be accepted as true
Perhaps there was some Increase In the years
they mentioned. 1t could scarcely have been
iyefold Certainly no such ratio OF Increase mas
since been maintained II It had, half the build
ings in the world would have been struck by this
time. 1t Is doubtful indeed whether there be
any real increase. People will say that there
have been more thunderstorms In this month OF
August than ever before In such n time That
will scarcely be true. And when they come TO
take the whole summer Of 1895 together, they
will find IL not above the average for thunder
and lightning. To many people the thing that
now Is surpasses all that went before. The pres
ent hot wave Is the hottest that ever was. The
present thunderstorm Is the most severe. But
when, In the light Of accurate statistics we SUR
yey q whole year, or a series Of years, We ind