The southern sentinel., 1901-10-04
dARNeSSINc JovE's BOLTS
Protecfioa Against Lightning Still q =
for Iuvepfars

Protecffoa Against Lightning stiIl q
for Inventors.
A severe Electrical storm yis,
st. Louis last week and a considI
able property damage resulted. vbf
several persons were more or L.
seriously injured. In recent yeary 3
Louis seems to have become a fayn
ite target for Jove's missiles, and n.
frequent repetition of such dIsasten
has moved the Post-Dispatch to -
mark that il is time some steps va.
taken toward the possibility of cu
trolling the discharges from the arm
| lery Of heaven. Our contemporar
suggests that $50 years ago FrankIh
showed that lightning was nothi,,
more than untrapped electricity, al
that since that time no progress b.,
been made on the lines which h
started. 1t is argued that if Franz.
lin. with his primitive apparatu
could harness the lightning on a smsB
scale. modern science, with all IL
resources which il has at hand, shouN
be able to subdue the thunder-storu
The Post-Dispatch also calls atteR
tion to some experiments made in n
cent years by an English scientix
who erected tall poles about bin
estate. topped with lightning rods
and stored the electricity caught n |
Leyden jars.
There seems to be no doubt, h
view of the statistics compiled by
meteorologists, that damage frun
lightning is steadily increasing in thh
country. Various causes are ascribed
Some scientists say that the destruc
ton of the forests has resulted in a |
increase in the number and severiy
of electrical storms. Others say tha
the Capitalization of industry result
ing in vast emanations of steam frou
every city in the country, has tended
to increase the amount of vapor n
the atmosphere and resulted in mon
frequent storms. But whatever tn
cause the fact remains. Latest Ar j
ures show that more than 500 people
were killed by lightning in the coun-
ytoAs thC pAOPCiNy
ran high into the hundreds of thoH
sands. OF course, as has been said
500 people out of 75,00O.OO0 is not d
great number, but the loss of thsk
many lives yearly from any causo
which might be removed by propa
'ffort is appalling to contemplate
Moreover. the property damage is 3
actor of no small Importance. an1
ne which cannot under present con
itlons be entirely guarded against.
There seems to be little doubt tha
cience will soon be called on to taks
p the question of wholesale protec
ion from lightning. The writef
uoted above favors an endeavor not
My to make the lightning harmless
ut to make it the servant of mar.
his is a tremendous proposition
Electricity has been put into service
a remarkable degree. Today it fur
ishes man with heat, light and pow
+. IL carries his messages fer hin.
him quick transportation
,oks his dinner. lights his room. Ya
e do not know what it is. No mail
nows whence il comes or whittier a
)es. Its most tremendous and ter
nc demonstration is in the lightning
en- who attempted to follow the e1
nple of Franklin have met death 81
e result OF their temerity, and wou
i've no assurance that an effort wu
llarge on his ideas might not result
disaster on a larger scale.
But the experiments of the EngIishU
dentist spoken of above seem q
i've been entirely successful. aniX
ere appears to be no reason whym 4
ey should not be followed on 3
rger scale. In the cities immunityM
pm danger might in all probabiliu |
procured by the erection of veF7
II poles, equipped with proper coa-
ctors for carrying on the currex
I'm the clouds before ii has tine b
ncentrate into destructive die1
arge. This experiment has bees
ed with success. But so far as thoX /
untry districts are concerned sucAM I
'eguards are. of course. impossibIe
d as to utilizing the electricity tai 4.
from the clouds in the manner sue {
sted. 1t would probably be not -
Ich a question of catching as q t.
ding on--Louisville Courier-Jow