Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-07-05
STRUCK DOWN BY
A TRUHDERBOLT.
MRS. OTTO GELHAAR AND DAUGH-
TER NARROWLY ESCAPE
SUDDEN DEATH.
MILWAUKEE WOMEN SUFFER,
Pet Dog Struck Dead by Bolt Within
Few Feet OF His Mis-
t.ess

MILWAUKEE, Wis, June 27.-At
Big Cedar lake Friday night, sud
dent bolt of lighting struck Mrs. Otto
Gelhaar and Mrs. Matt Holtz tempOrari-
ly paralyzing them, knocked Miss Ola
NJ. Gelhaar iDsensible upon the floor,
killed a pet dog instantly which was
watching the family at the supper table,
and in various other ways effected dire
results. Mrs. Gelhaar, the wife of the
president Of the National Building Block
company of Milwaukee, was visiting
Mrs. Holt. All will recover. Mrs. Gel
haar still nurses an ugly wound IN
ficted on her thumb by the dog during
its death agony, and Miss Ola Gelhaar
has red scars all over her body.
An Awful Crash.
Mrs. Gelhaar and her daughter, Ola
May Gelhaar, have returned to the city
and are resting quietly at home after
their exciting experience.
Never in all my life did l hear such
an awful crash" said Mrs. Gelhaar.
I'VE were seated at the supper table
with Mrs. Holtz, wife of Matt Holtz at
whose cottage we stayed, when we no
ticed the storm coming up. 1t grew sud
denly dark, and unexpectedly came a
crash that rendered us almost deaf.
My daughter and Mrs. Holtz were
AS~H
into the air, while L seemed rooted to
the ground. l saw my daughter and
Mrs. Holtz fall. Feeling a sudden pain
in my hand, | looked down to see my
pet fox terrier biting my thumb as he
died in agony beside me. l thought my
daughter was dead, and tearing my hand
! from the animals clenched jaws, tried
/ to reach her, but my feet seemed loaded
| with lead; | suppose | was paralyzed.
oyyrl on nd
Furniture was overturned, and big
| hole was torn through the floor Help
came and soon l could walk. My daugh-
| ter was carried outside and restoratlves
! applied, but for an hour she was speech
| less. Her shoes and stockings were torn
from her body and the lightning scared
| her body with red burns, but she has
now recovered except for the scars.
Pals Were Flattened.
''In the barn which the bolt seemed
to have struck first two Of the boys were
starting to milk the COWS. The pals
! they carried were rendered as fiat as
boards by the bolt, and horses and cows
were hurled into d corner Of the barn.
| AS soon as the boys could move they
came to our help.
THE bolt seemed to have Travelled
from the barn along a wire to the house,
! striking one of the chimneys and run
ming down the stove-pipe into the kitch-
en- where we sat \ big hole in the
floor showed where the bolt had entered
the basement. | believe that metal col
lar on the dog caused his death, by at
tracing the lightning to him. The hair
was all burned off his body.
Wooden Floor Splintered
:Splinters from the barn were carried
q block away, and splinters from the
wooden floor under us penetrated the cell
ing We feel the effects of the awful
bolt yet. | hope never to have such an
extraordinary experience again. conclud-
ed Mrs. Gelhaar.
Nicholas and John Holtz, sons of Matt
Holtz, and Mrs. Holtz, their mother, are
reported to have recovered fully from the
effects of the shock. The lightning did
not set fire to either the barn or the
house, and the damage is slight.