The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-27
(Boston Transcript. J

The Weather Bureau has been doing
lot Of specializing of late on the subject
of lightning. Its experts have made up
the figures for the last year, and they find
that during that period 1862 people were
killed by the dreaded fluid in this coun-
try. This was tweny-one deaths in eX
cess of the previous twelve months. Odd
~ enough the mortality from lightn rg
stroke averages SO evenly that just about
so many persons annually are destroyed
in this way. In any three successive
years there will be a few over a Thousand
fatal cases. OF course many individuals
ara struck and do not die.
Recently an investigation was made By
Clark University Of the causes which ex-
cite fear in human beings. No fewer
than 1 701 persons were examined on the
subject, and they acknowledged a great
variety of things they were afraid of
These things were 25S in number. and
lightning led them all. 1t appeared, in
word that lightning was the chief cause
of fear. though it was noted that indivii-
uals from tornado regions put the funnel
cloud first.
Now the Investigations of the Weather
Bureau prove that there is no reasonable
ground for this widespread fear of light
ming. Taking the figures as given for tie
last year, it would appear that the ohant @
that any individual will be killed by a
thunderoolt during the next twelvemonth
| is only one in $780, GOT. Ones prospect Of
| dying by the kick of horse is about SO
per cent greater. In New York city alone
| 200 people are drowned, $50 are burned or
| scalded to death, and 500 come to an I'M
timely end by falls, in every year. 1t is
| interesting to compare these figures with
the mortality for the whole of the United
States from lightning.
RECOVERY FROM LII GHTNING.
Out of every three pen sons struck by
lightning two survive and recover. The
amount of electricity in thunderbolt is
not very great, the experts say; b0d the
voltage is extremely high, and That is
what does the damage. 1t is rather re.
markable that so little should be known
as to the ma ure of fluid which is in
such common and everyday use. Nova
days it would be almost as easy to get
along without water as without electric
ity, yet the fluid is still called the "mys-
terious," inamuch as it's character and
properties are to great extent unknown.
The latest and best accepted theory on
the subject is that, like light. it is a form
Of motion.
But what puzzles the experts most is
to discover the nature of the balls of cleo
tricity which are constantly cutting up
strange capers. One cannot point to such
thing and say, sob, don't you know,
that is only form OF motion" Some
times these lightning balls enter dwell.
lings and explode. Great numbers of
them were seen playing about in Louis
Vile during the tornado of few days
ago, and now and then they would burst
with deafening reports. Fireballs of this
description, though not properly go
termed, have been produced recently arti-
Fl c1ally In Germany, by charging masses
of vapor with electricity. Soon after the
famous experiments of Franklin with
kite, investigators in various parts of the
world initiated his performance. One of
these was Prof. HICKMAN, we'll known
scientist of ST. Petersburg. He succeeded
in drawing the lightning into his labora-
tory, but the result was unfortunate, in
asmuch as fiery ball as big as a mans
fist suddenly appeared in the room, leaped
head, and killed him. The occurrence
that the ball was blue.