Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-10-05
L|GHTNING'S FREAKS.
Plays Fantastic Parts on the Dessert Tele-
graph Line Near Hooper



a mile and half from Hooper sta.
tlon. on the line Of the Deseret Tele.
graph company. during the electric
storm Of sunday morning. the light.
ming played some queer freaks with
the telegraph wlr. knocking down
some thlriy-nve yards Of It, and chop.
ping It ltersiiy to pieces.
The head llneman. Mt. Carr. Of tho
Deseret company. came to the News
office last evening with sack Of the
wire. which was broken into pieces
from a half inch up 10 several feet IL
length. most Of the pieces being about
an Inch long. some Of the pieces were
found sticking upright In the ground.
these were melted At the end that wan
In the ground. forming bulk VI fused
metal In other instances two pIccer
Of wire had come In contact al the In
slant Of the breaking up. and those
were firmiy welded together Another
strange fact Ia that some 81 the plscei
Of wire were twisted out % shape. but
all were straight a. II they had been
clipped on by the means OF nippers.
the ends u all u them. however. were
slightly fused.
A handful of the wire was taken 70
DR.. ralmage. OF the unlveralty o.
Utah. and he promptly pronounced Il
a. being one Of the strangcst freaks
u atmospheric electricity he had ever
seen. In the oourss Of the oonveraa-
tion he accounted for the action Of the
current. and brought out many inter-
cHuug facts on the action % electric
shocks. lie has made an especial
study % lightning. which IL a form "
electricity but little understood BY cleo
triclans. owing TO the fact that Il has
a scientific value only. and has moth
lnR OF the practical. a. IL the case with
lo~ tension electricity.
Atmosphere electricity IA known Us
high tension electricity. The electricity
such al i- used In the telegraph IL low
tension. The former may be compared
80 heat Of high Intensity but small In
quantity such a. rriail quantity of bolls
Ing water. The latter may be be com.
pared 70 heat Of low Intensity but Of
large quantity.
no Illustrate tho point. the doctor
drew attention 90 the fact that ''tha
water OF the Great Salt Lake often
reaches one hundred degrees cot heat.
this would not scaid the body, yet the
units 81 heat In all the water Of the
Lake would make nm Immense total.
High tension electricity he compared
10 a cup u the same water heated 60
n scaidlng point" There Il not enough
electricity In the most violent stroke
OF lightning 10 send message from
Salt Lake 10 ogden. but battery can
be made In a gun csp out Of tear OF
sufficient strength 20 have It, infiu.
cnce perceptlble through thousands Of
miles Of wire. Atmospheric electricity
passes only on the outside OF con-
ductor. while low tension electricity
passes through the conductor. hence
the practical medical utility % the lat.
Tor. A lightning bolt Is the passage Of
electricity between The earth and the
atmosphere. In the passage from the
clouds 20 the earth, the electricity takes
the straighicat path. but unlike elecrlc-
ity Of low tension. II often leaps across
wide separating spaces, and may strike
objects In the way and traverse such.
Now n such objects oppose little re-
aiatanes. or In other words. n they are
Eo0d conductors. they may pass with
no manifestation Of mechanical yio-
lence. ~. on the other hand. the body
70 struck 10 poor conductor OF cleo.
tricity, u becomes transformed Into
heat and mechanical energy, meltine
10 the body be fuseabls. tearing or
rendins a. the case may be.
Hooper that the wire though G. nduc-
ductor. offered resistance 20 the high
tension electricity OF the lightning
bolt. and the electricity was trans.
formed into both heat and mechanical
force welding and breaking the wire.
The Characteristic u high tension
electricity 60 remain near the surface"
% the conductor IL proved In this In.
stance. ~ the wire has been greatly
changed upon the surface. scmi-
while the inside of the wire Il un-
changed
"ofton discharges u electricity takes
place on sandy deserts, and the pas
sage Of the electricity into. or from the
ground. produces beat enough 90 prae-
tically fuse and cement the grains o.
sand together. Masses ARE sometimes
found Of many inches IN length. gem
orally cubular aud " irregular shape.
These ARE called fulguriten.
with electricity ~ hiRh tension ~
with very high explosives. you cannot
always be sure that the DISCHARGE Will
take place along the line OF the least
resistance. A. for example gun cot.
ton. which IN generally more effective
than gunpowder, but which II likely o.
make It's way through the breech or
the sun instead Of the barrel This was
shown In the ease ~ one u the early
cNperimentera with electricity. Dr.
Richardson.
"In following DR. Frnnkiln'a expert.
ment Of drawing electricity from the
clouds by the means o. a Kite. he wa
killed In hts laboratory by the bolt
ieaplng from the conductor 10 his
head, This accounts for the many
freaks played by the subtle nuid."