Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1897-10-13
cIJRIosITIEs ~ LIGHTNING
70 r.-..ne Flash Never BE Alarmed
u lou SEE nanaar Hos Conc

,.ne Flash Never BE Alarmed,
For Danger Has Gone.
There have been numerous deaths
om lightning near New York iu the
AZ year, says the New York World.
nome instnr tho .alaotr;in f rffnrtcYffl1ss rtYfl1s
~; sG PoulfIiar --pl =,
demonstrated that bolt OF llgh - :
is something beyond the knowledge Of
the scientist. It is impossible to fore
see the conditions that may prevail
during an electrical disturbance, and
when q bolt of lightning is of great in
tensity there is no telling what it may
do.
When Benjamin Franklin determined
the character of lightning andinvented
the lightning rod he made great dis
covery, but since then other investiga.
tors have added much to the store OF
knowledge on the subject.
The matter of lightning rods has re-
ceived great deal of attention from
scientists in recent years, and num-
Der of popular fallacies have been ex-
ploded. Various mystifying char
acteristics of lightning have been ex-
planned and other freaks of electric
current are more or less understood.
Some years ago there was an interna.
tional conference on the question OF
lightning rods in England, and the re-
port of that gathering, based on the
observation and experience of the
members, is the most valuable contri-
button to the literature of the subject
ever made.
While it is generally conceded that
lightning rods offer protection to build
ings, it is admitted that under certain
conditions the most carefully erected
rods will prove unavailing. There are
many instances in which buildings have
been struck by lightning though pro-
vided with lightning rods. In most
of these cases the rods were not prop
erly constr 1cted and connected, though
in other cases the rods were as nearly
perfect as human ingenuity can make
them. The lightning that missed them
and struck the building can be likened
to the avalanche that is so powerful as
to sweep away all obstacles and 60 on
its way regardless Of man and his con-
structions.
From o report issued by direction OF
the Secretary of Agriculture it seems
that the average death rate from
lightning in the United States is Il
trifle more than 200. Practically all
of the fatalities occur in the months
of April, May, June, July, August
and September. The maximum death
rate occurs in June and July. There
have been few people killed in No
vember and December, but the
Weather Bureau has no record of
death from lightning in January OF
February. :,
The financial loss from fires caused
by lightning for eight years averaged
trife more than 81, 500, 600 a year.
lightning has preference for some
soils. Thus when the soil is OF
chalky formation lightning will strike
but one-seventh as often rs when the
soil is sand. Clay soil will be struck
twenty-five times to once in the chalky
formation.
The bolts also have preference for
certain trees. Oaks are struck more
frequently than any other tree. 1t
does not seem possible that oak trees
are struck more than fifty times to one
beech tree, but the Weather Bureau
reports show such to be the case.
Pines are struck about one-third as
often as oaks.
The danger from lightning is much
| less in the city than i'll the country,
the ratio being about one to five. In
o record of eighteen deaths due from
lightning one was killed inside n
building, eleven were outside and Blk
were under trees.
AS rule lightning that strikes n
tree does no further damage. In only
three cases out of hundred did the
bolt Jump from one tree to another.
Walker-""rhe Milky Way always
reminds me of an amateur theatrical
Wall