The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-06-20

THE general fear of lightning is not
entirely without reason" said Mr. Ed
dy, in discussing the subject, for 1t Is
capable of great devastation. Expert
mental scientists have been very chary
of tackling this subject, and this is
probably the reason why the scientific
knowledge of lightning has not kept
pace with progress in other lines of in
vestigation. The study of lightning has
been greatly retarded by terrible ac-
cident which happened more than loo
years ago.
Franklin may justly be given the
honor of being the pioneer in the prac-
teal study of lightning. After his re-
markable feat a score of investigators
in different parts of the world began
to make a study of lightning. Most OF
these experiments were brought TO a
sudden termination by an incident suf-
ficiently tragic to shake the nerves or
even cold blooded man of science. An
experimenter named Richmond, in st.
Petersburg, had built a laboratory
which contained, among other things,
the lower end OF a lightning rod lOO
feet high, which he had erected, and
from which he had succeeded in draw
ing off electrical charges of consider
able force One day, while Richmond
was working in his laboratory, a thun-
derstorm came up. Lightning struck
the lofty rod, flashed down it and killed
the scholar at his work, badly burning
and mangling his body. That put an
end to experiments with lightning for
the time being. Toward the end of the
| two fatalities
in France, which acted as further det-
riment, and caused Voltaire to remark
in quotation which I get through DR..
Lodge: There are some kings whom
one must not approach too closely, and
lightning is one of these Lodge, there
fore, found an almost unworked field
before him when he began his expert
ments."
The essential characteristic of light
ming and the one that accounts for
most of it's vagaries, according to DR..
Lodge is it's 'impulsive rush. In I'M
scientific language this means that
when a charge of lightning breaks
through a cloud and starts for the
earth it moves with rush so vehement
that no ordinary conductor will turn
it from the path it elects to follow.
There are many cases to illustrate
this" says DR.. Lodge Here is a strik-
ing one: In May. 1889, lightning struck
and nearly demolished a brick wall in a
small English town. Directly opposite
the wall at the point where it was
struck, and not six feet away, stood
gas lamp. Gas is one of the best con-
ductors of electricity, and the lamp was
some feet higher than the wall. On the
old theory of attraction the lightning
ought to have gone for the lamp, but
as a matter of fact, it was not in
jured
There have been repeated instances
where lightning has struck a roof, al
| though ii had rod to protect it, and in
some cases the roof has been struck
only a few feet from the rod itself.
On this theory lightning rods are Of
little value. AS DR.. Lodge has album
dainty proved. lightning may travel
down rod to the earth without doing
any damage in case the rod happens to
be in it's path. but the stroke will sell
dom turn aside to follow the rod.
1t must not be supposed from this
that it is impossible to secure immunity
from injury by lightning. Some build
| ings are protected by the very charac-
| ter of their construction.
There is no danger from lightning in
a modern tall building" said Mr.. Eddy,
though most people think that they
would be more than likely to be struck
because they tower high in the air. As
| a matter of fact, if lightning struck the
| roof of a skyscraper, the current would
be dissipated in hundred directions,
and carried down to the ground through
the steel beams without doing much
more than the most superficial damage. A
safe deposit vault gives absolute pro-
lection as lightning can't penetrate it,
The most practical protection for an
ordinary building, as Dodge points out,
is in double system of wire netting or
connected rods, one net to be placed be-
low the other, and both connected with