The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1904-09-29
FORCE OF LIGHTNING
sCwE or T-E FEATs PERFORMED
By T-E MYSTIC FLUID.

The way Great nn,ts OF ships Have /
B"en Shattered-Nb "a Bolt strikes I
IA free IL Generates steam Prom t5s .
Zap and EkpIodct the bark.
The exp!o,ive force Of lightning se.. |
Ing on dead wood is not. az a rule. 20 |
great as when living trees are struck, !
though Sir William Harris shows that
'the masts Of ships Of the line, three
feet IN diameter and 40 feet long
bound with hoops Of iron half an inch
thick and five inches wide, the whole
weighing about eighteen tons, have
been iu many instances torn asunder
and the hoops Of iron scattered about
the decks 1t VIII be found, as a rule.
that trees are struck by lightning far
more often than are buildings. even
II the trees ana buildings are close to-
gethcr This is partly because the
| tree. are higher
EIt there must probably be some un-
Z known reason not only for the fire.
I qu,ucy with which trees are struck,
but for the recurrence Of such shocks
| ~ tho case Of particular trees or trees
/ ~ the same locality The commonest
foru Of Injury is that th" current
/ passes down The bark Of the tree, strip
ping of the band. wider or narrower
I from top 10 bottom Sometimes on an
| oak two or three of these lightning
marks are seen, evidently caused at
| different times
There must be something in the form
or situation or earth below the trees
| which endangers il. An instance is
! quoted in Mr.. Anderson's descriptive
book of the Church OF St Mary in
Genoa, which was frequently struck
by lightning, sometimes as often as
twice a year. 1t was noticed that the
electric force always followed the same
track. 1t was discovered later that
the walls were clamped with iron, and
that the lightning had followed the
patch in which the metal offered the
greatest continuity. destroying the zone
between.
II the ground below the tree or build.
ing is hard and dry. the contact with
the earth in which the lightning eX-
pands it's force and disperses, is din
cult and the destruction Of the object
struck is likely to result. This may
explain the frequency with which a
o "blastcd" tree is seen extending its
dead arms on the summit of some rocky
cliff or peak. The ground below it is
dry and does not easily lead away the
current into the earth.
At the same time thunderclouds un-
dOubtcdly tend to discharge, or perhaps
II would be safer to say that the trans
mission from the cloud to the earth
more frequently takes place, near
% pieces OF water and along the courses
of rivers than elsewhere.
In park in one of the eastern coun
ties Of England there is a large lake
The park contains more trees struck by
lightning than the whole of the rest OF
the estate. Some miles away IS road
] called locally the Lightning road
from the frequency with which acci
70 dents have occurred there either &c
Z trees. horses. cattle or passengers. II
this park there recently occurred an in
stance Of the explosive effect in Ger
tain circumstances not perfectly known
A very tall spruce, probably 100 fee
high. was exploded" from top 10 bot
tom into pieces the size Of the wool
'- used in making chairs. Every shred o
bark was stripped from them, and th'
,. wood looked as If 1t had been shredded
up for firing. A similar Instance oc
Cured some years ago when an oak II
the grove below the foot of the Whit
lodge in Richmond park exploded un
der lightning shock. The bark flew OF
and simply disappeared in small patch
Do es, and the rest of the tree was shat
tered into white fragments.
I, Ia these cases II Is probable that In
;, current sets up such "A tremendous hea
[ that all the sap in the tree is converte'
/. into supcrheated steam, which eN
pludcs. The greater the heat the more
the cells in which moisture lies are eX
ploded and the greater the destruction
VI Of the tissues of the tree As there
most moisture between the bark an
p the trunk the first and greatest explC
D sion takes place there, instantly dri'
c. ing the bark away into space Ere
2 quenty the explosion only takes plac
n. AT that point,
As Sir Hiram Maxim pointed ou
. after the great explosion of Nor
u Pelce, a very similar method ID no'
T. used by the American manufacturer
m Of wood pulp. The logs of FIR az
placed in strong chamber, and theI
4 subjected to the action of superheate
steam until the water in every cell
converted into explosive gas II
chamber Is then opened and the lo
eXplodes converting itself into woo
powder London Spectator.