Sunday Washington globe., 1902-06-01
STUDY OF THUNDERSTORMS
LIGHTNING STROKES IN VARIOUS
PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.

Probably no other scientific subject
nas so much interest for the genera
public as that of meteorology. The
work of the Weather Bureau Is watch
ed more closely than that of any other
department of the Government, and
scarcely a newspaper reader fails tc
see what il has to say about the
weather One division of meteorolOgy,
however, has more interest. especially
for women, than any other just at
present, now that the hot season with
its thunderstorms is approaching, and
protection against lightning is a fruit
ful subject for discussion. This pro.
lection has two sides-that of life and
property-one Interesting the farmer
more than any other person, and the
other mainly womankind. The discus
sion over the best means of protect.
Ing buildings from the electric fluid
from the clouds has been going on for
many years, and the lightning-rod
agent has always been the butt of the
2artoOnist and the comic paragrapher:
but the danger to human life has al
ways been let alone by these worthless
probably because no one has yet de-
vised or attempted to devise special
methods Of protection for man in
thunderstorm.
1t has been commonly asserted that
more lives have been lost by lightning
than by violent winds and tornadoes.
but that seems to have been disproved
by the United States Weather Bureau,
which has been investigating the sub
iect for the last dozen years. The
subject was taken up in 1890 by the
Bureau in a desultory sort Of way. a
few Of the largest newspapers in the
country being carefully searched for
records of deaths by lightning Then
the officials at the various weather bu-
reau stations throughout the country
searched the local newspapers and re-
ported their facts. As this did not
yield the results desired. a clipping
bureau was employed in 1899 and 1900.
and in the two years nearly 10000
clippings were received. The search
was then abandoned. one reason being
the work of classification Of the enOr-
nous mass and another the conviction
that no really useful information was
obtained in this way. The result Of
the work is given in a paper prepared
by Alfred ]. Henry. one Of the meteor
ologists of the Bureau, under the di-
'Tection of his chief, Willis L. Moore
In his report he shows that, as far
as the Bureau was able to learn, 713
persons were killed or received fatal
injuries from lightning in 1900 OF
this number, 219 were killed in the
open, 1873 in houses, 81 under trees,
and So in barns. The circumstances
about the rest, 151, were unknown.
The number more or less injured was
973, Of whom 327 received their in
juries in houses, 243 in the open, 81 in
barns, and % under trees. The cir
cumstances under which the remain
ing 317 cases occurred is unknown. II
is believed that these statistics very
nearly show the actual injuries by
lightning in the United States in 1900,
and ii may be accepted as a fact that
700 TO 800 lives are lost each year by
lightning stroke. From the data OBJ
tanned, it has also been possible to
form some idea Of the death-rate due
to lightning in the various States and
Territories. Thunder-storms occur
WITH considerable frequency over all
the territory east OF the Tooth meri-
dian, excepting a narrow strip along
81 kh.e
ridlan, except in the Rocky Mountains.
the frequency steadily diminishes un-
til it is practically zero at the Pacific
Coast. There are three regions Of
maximum thunderstorm frequency
one in the Southeast, with its crest
over Florida, one in the middle Mis-
sissippi Valley. and one In the middle
Missouri Valley. The average number
Of days with thunder-storms in the
firstnamed region was As. in the sec
ond 35, and in the last 30.
The greatest number Of fatal cases
occurred in the Middle Atlantic States,
and the next greatest in the Ohio Val
ley and Tennessee. The greatest mum
Der of deaths in any single State dur
ing the years 1896-19O0 occurred in
Pennsylvania-18G followed by Ohio
with 1876. and Indiana, Illinois, and
New York with 124 each. The great
est fatality from a single stroke oc-
CURED at Chicago, where eleven per-
sons we're killed while huddled upon a
pier on the north shore. From these
and other figures the facts are de-
Quoted that statistics of deaths by
lightning based upon total population
are not comparable, except for areas
having about the same density Of pop
ulation. It is stated that in general
the death rate by lightning per million
Of total population OF any section is
about one-half in the cities of what 1t
is in the rural districts. and that the
more densely populated the districts
the less the rate.
Mr.. Henry says that while the belief
is general that the chance Of injury
by lightning is less in cities than in
the country, It is hard to determine
what the foundation is for such an
idea. 1t Is not surprising that so few
1fmhfuguor ctroIrog Fa1T In offfao yrG,o,,