Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-07-23
LIGHTNING'S QUEER FREAKS.
Unexpected Results of Many Strokes
of the Electric FluiG.

of the Electric FluiG.
Few natural phenomena show ST.
many eccentricities of behavior as
Jove's thunderbolts. Machinemade
electricity, especially when playing tho
truant is tricky enough, but the iiery
product of the clouds is still more orig
inal, inconsistent and lawless In
small towns, or in the outskirts OF
large ones, where the houses are de-
tached from one another, and are 30
or 100 feet apart, one frequently hears
of damage by lightning; it is seldom
Il row of brownstone frOntcd buildings.
a block of stores, fifteen or twenty
story apartment house or sky-scraper
office building, in those portions of a
city which are built up solidly, is hurt
in any way.
So long has this state Of affairs ex-
listed and been recognized that it has
affected the business of making and
erecting lightning rods. If man
should institute special search for
such apparatus in the older part OF
the metropolis, with an opera-glass in
for his post of observation. he might
we'll ask whether the lightning rod
has not become. like the dodo, an eX-
tinct species. Eventually, few tail,
slender church spires and certain class
es of buildings under the control Of
federal or municipal bureaus would
be found displaying metallic bristles,
connected by copper cable with the
ground.
But these and the few other diScov-
cradle exceptions would only serve to
emphasize the rule Inquiry reveals,
however, that an extensive business
In lightning rods is still carried on.
They are seen as frequently as ever in
small towns and on farms. Occasion
ally, you will hear Of Il man who has
house and big warehouses In the
city which are not provided with these
safeguards, but who employs them
abundantly on his country house and
stock barns. 1t is said that Mr.. Edison
and Mr.. Westinghouse, who are sup
posed to know thing or two about
electricity, protect their houses and
shops which are isolated structures In
this way; and weather bureau ex-
perts and other scientists who have in
, vestgated the subject declare that n
, properly constructed lightning rod has
n distinct value. 1t is clear, therefore,
that this time-honored institution Is
not going out Of favor except in big
!, cities. ,
The singular Indifference which the
= lightning seems to manifest toward
great centers of population is proba-
bly, not due to the nonconducting quail
tiles of the brick and stone so largely
Q used there in the construction of build
t ings. On the other hand most of the
8 theories advanced to account for the
l puzzling phenomenon in question as.
= sumo that, in some way or other, bet
l ter facilities exist in and near great
d cities than elsewhere for relieving a
r thunder cloud Of the superabundant
y electricity and leading the same quietly
s to the earth. The vast number of chin
d neys, flagstaffs, spires and other up
{ ward projections from the roofs, espe.
Gully Wueu wen WelleAl, luClllldlt u
}. silent discharge in nnumerable small
d streams. The complicated network OF
telegraph and telephone wires reach
ing through the streets, high In air
't has also been credited with dissem
e mating a good deal of electricity dur
l. ing thunderstorms. A third factor In
70 the situation may possibly be fount
10 in the steel frames Of some Of the mod
Ii ern high buildings. Certainly, If tn,
% metallic portions of the roof OF ont
of these structures were properly con
u nected with the frame, and II the lat
: ter reached down into permanently
= moist soil, the combination would af
: ford a lightning rod of exceptiona
efficiency and proportions. Distribute
the credit among the various agent
10 as one may, there is evidentl" Sc
n of conditions existing In large cite
j. which tend to lessen the violence o
B. lightning there, and which appreciabl
r. affects the demand for lightning rods