The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-09-17
A TiPPERARY THUNDE
Terrifying Experience of Body of
Troops on the March.

From the Tipperary Champion.
A more terrible. terrifying and trying
experience than that through which the
I'd battalion Cheshire regiment passed
on Thursday night it would be hard to
imagine. The march from Newport to
Upper Church was long one the dis
lance between the two places being 21i,
miles, and Colonel Curteis, commanding
the Cheshires, determined on account of
the heat. to do it at night. Accord
ingly, the camp was struck at Newport
about s p. m, and the regiment started
out at 9p. m. When they reached Kill
common rain began to fall, and halt
was made to put on overcoats. This
done, they proceeded. The road here
was pretty steep hill, and they had
not gone far when the first flash of
lightning burst upon them and the cleo
trio fluid appeared to run along the
whole line from front to rear. The sec
ond flash, which was more intense,
gathered its greater force around the
Maxim gun, struck down Lieutenant
Cooper and six men in charge and ov-
erturned the gun. For time these men
lay PROSTATE on the ground and We're
quite blind. They recovered however,
and Were able to proceed. The next
couple of flashes were very bad, the
lightning racing along the rifles. Cor
poral Caley's rifle became red hot and
Mow's rifle was torn from his hand.
Matters were now getting SO bad and
dangerous that the regiment was halt
ed and drawn up in line. instead of be-
ing in tours. All the rifles We're then
put down on the ground fiat, as it was
thought that the rain, which was fall
ing in a perfect deluge. and the wa
ter, which was running down the hill
like a river, would tend to keep the
electricity away. This. however. did
not happen, the storm, in fact, increas-
ing in force. Darkness of inky black
ness prevailed and no officer or man
who had served in the tropics ever ex
perienced anything like the rain. 1t
was while standing still under these
conditions, in an open, barren coun-
try, far from any shelter, that the most
trying ordeal for the men took place.
Every flash of lightning struck down
one or more men, and the doctors hands
were soon full. The police sergeant and
his men at Red Cross turned and rem
dered most valuable assistance in car
rying the injured to a couple of poor
laborers' cottages close by.
These two cottages were like cock pits.
Some of the victims vomited violently.
a large number had one leg paralyzed,
others had two and some had their
arms, while one man was struck blind,
and 1t was only after long time that
he recovered the sight of one eye. Dur
ing this terrible ordeal the men behaved
most bravely. They went with alacrity
to fallen comrade, assisted in carry
ing him to the cottages, and in some
cases were struck down on the way
themselves. There was not a man in
the regiment who did not feel the eff
fects more or less, as the electricity
regularly played about each man, Civ
ing him the appearance of being phos-
phorescent.
Sergeant Major Foley, who felt ter
rible shock on his left side when one
of the flashes came, found on examin-
ing his sword in the daylight that the
scabbard was badly burnt. The wood
work of nearly every rifle was burnt to
a greater or less degree, and the only
explanation as to why men We're not
killed is that the number of rifles was
so great that. while attracting the light
ming, they distributed its power over
a large area, splitting it up and thereby
weakening its force.