Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-23
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
Terrible Experience and Narrow Es-
cape of q Washington Lady.

cape of q Warrington Lady.
The manner in which Mrs. Clifford War
den of this city was struck by lightning
and miraculously escaped death is describ-
ed by Mr.. Warden in letter to friend.
The thrilling incident occurred at the
residence of Mr.. F. P. Clark at Sligo.
Montgomery county; Nd, where Mr.. and
Mrs. Warden and their children. Ethel
and Clifford, are spending the summer.
Late Wednesday night about n:20
oclock)," said Mr. Warden, IAN electric
storm came up just as we were retiring
for the night. In fact, the light in our
room had been extinguished and we were
actually in bed, when the fury OF the In
creasing storm impeled to close our
windows more securely and guard cloth
ing from possible dashing rain. We hastily
1ghted candle, and. while my vile was
covering some clothing which hung on
clothes rack on the wall, lightning entered
the room, striking her and throwing her
to the floor. stunned and helpless Inc
lightning had penetrated the side or our
room, about three inches above the frame
Of the west window, detected downward,
shattering a portion of the clothes rack,
and thence striking my wife.
The explosion of that bolt was the most
terrific sound / ever heard. 1t seemed as
If the whole house and everything in it
had been torn to atoms After a horri-
Bile though brilliant flash and an 1ndescrlb-
able crash the room was darkened, hlled
with sulphurous smoke and with dust
from the plastering from the wall. l was
at my wife's left side at the moment OF the
occurrence and was greatly shocked by
the terrible explosion, but l was not seri-
ously injured-only shocked and temporar-
lily deafened in my right ear. Instantly 1
called to my wife and reached for her,
but she had disappeared. She made no
response. Then l began to grope for her
when uhe smoke and dust having cleared
slightly found her. helpless and stunned
lying her left side near the window.
with her head damned against the end of
the bureau. Picking her up-she was limp
and pale and seemingly dying-I lifted her
to the bed. begging her not to give up
Her response was: 4 will not give up; but.
oh, God, l am paralyzed in my right side!
Her horror of paralysis is greater than her
fear of death so you may understand
the tones in which she expressed that SEN
tence.
Il quickly opened the door and shouted
to Ethel and Clifford, who occupy rooms
near ours, that Mama has been struck!
In a moment all of the occupants of the
house were in our room, vieing with each
other in efforts to assist in relieving my
wife, who, in the meantime. was calm and
composed seemingly the least excited per-
son in the house. The paralysis was re-
lieved in the course of an hour or two by
the massage process, but in the meantime
it was discovered that her right arm from
near the wrist was badly blistered. the
burn extending down the right side of the
body, over the hip and nearly to the ankle
Under the doctors care her wounds are
rapidly healing, and there are no tndica-
tons of internal injury nor of serious eff
lection of the heart, but she is still suffer-
ing from the burns and from bruises and
stiffness of limbs.
THE experiences of that night were more
horrible than any nightmare The escape
from death is wonderful-miraculOus. For
tunately, however, the after-effects have
been less serious than might have been
reasonably expected. We are hoping that
there is truth in the saying that lightning
never strikes twice in the same place., and
that we may never have another close call
like that of last Wednesday night.
''One of the remarkable things about
this affair is that we were in what might
be supposed to be place of safety-in our
bed room, with door and windows securely
closed. Where the bolt of lightning en-
tered the outside of the house is Il mystery
which may never be solved. for there is
nothing the roof, the caves nor any por-
and plastering of the wall of our room to
Indicate the presence passage of any
unusual substance, but there is a small
round hole, newly made, as clean as If
bored with an augef, in the wall of our
room. few inches above the window
frame. through which the lightning entered
the ROOM
1.-The explosion was simply terrific. ac
companied by a binding flash of fire (elec
trio blue, followed by sulphurous smoke
and such crashing and Earring Of the
house as / never before felt. Then, for
an instant there was darkness and gloom
l hope | shall never again have such an