Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-09-12
SHOWN BY STATISTICS OF LOSSES
IN TIE COUNTRY
SAYS MARSHAL PURTELL
New Official Declares That Big Pro-
portion of Fires in the Rural Dis
tricts Are Caused by Lightning and
Usually Results in Total Loss
Grounding is important.
Madison Sep. 10


Lightning rods not only help TO save
farm buildings and property from de-
struction, but are almost an absolutely
dependable safeguard. This is the
opinion reached by State Fire Marshal
t. M. PurteIl, who has devoted him
self to investigating the causes of
fires. He finds that a very large pro-
portion of the fires in the country
districts are caused by lightning, and
that most of the buildings fired by
lightning are totally destroyed.
Mr.. Purt' II made the following state.
ment in reference to this subject yes
terday:
In the short time in which this de-
| partment has been operating l have
been greatly impressed by the large
percentage of fires, particularly coun
| try fires caused by lightning. During
| the first twenty Gays in which reports
were received there were forty fires
reported from the country districts in
| which the total loss was $4,000. This
! large percentage, nearly II of the to
! tai caused by lightning has led me to
investigate means of protection and
thereby a lessening of this enormous
loss. | find that the mutual fire in,
surance companies in a recent report
state that over two-thirds of all the
losses by fire to farm property is
| NV 10Th ink oil in he
section where there are but a few
, lightning rods. Also at a recent meet
ing of the officers or representatives OF
ITO of the mutual insurance companies
of Michigan it was figured that thei1
lightning losses during che past year
of Ill farm mutuals in Iowa report
that IS per cent of their losses have
been from lightning. In each ono
hundred barns struck, rs are set on
fire and a barn fired by lightning is
almost invariably a total loss.
GA comparison of the losses on
buildings which are protected by well
| constructed lightning rod and those
without such protection shows that
the lightning rod is almost a positive
safe guard against the losses from this
cause. This positive fact would make
| it seem almost advisable for insurance
companies to offer some inducements
in the way of low rates to the parties
who use this safeguard
In the matter of lightning rod con
StructiOn and tho host material &C 2
conductor we note that the most rea
Oily available as to cost, considering
the conductive power is copper, as the
power is more than five times as great
as either iron or steel, and when we
consider that an average sized build
ing properly rodded with copper con
ductOr will not exceed $4,000 in cost
the expense should not be a consid
GRAFTON as compared with the bene
fits derived
THE essential points in the erection
of a lightning rod are generally con
coded to be tn erection of a point
at or near each gable, cupoIa or chin
ney about feet high and the roc
should terminate in two or more
ground connections thus forming a
perfect circuit. AS to the ground con
nectiOns it is positively essential that
this part of the rod should always
| reach moisture, either by some devise
of the rod itself which will keep the
ground permanently moist or some
other means to assure this end