The Washington herald., 1909-03-07

20 escape death was the horse In the
! center.
Several remarkable accounts have been
recorded where alternate animals OF a
series have been killed. During a storm
IN 1901 lightning entered a stable where
there were twenty cows and Il killed ten
Of them. The first third. and so on. were
killed, while the second, the fourth. and
so on. survived. II Is certainly difficult
20 explain cases such as these, but il
would be Unwise 10 deny the possibility
OF their occurrence.
Cases OF Incineratioa.
Cases Of complete incinerat.cn are not
rare. but more remarkable are the IN
stances IN which the body Of a man killed
by lightning has appeared 10 be unaltered
but when touched 1t has crumbled 70 dust
In H.. three soldiers took shelter under a
tree and a stroke Of lightning killed them
all but they all remained standing. and
even their clothes appeared 10 be intact
| but when touched the bodies fel into q
heap OF shes.
The lower animals appear 10 be more
liable 20 be struck than human beings. A
whole herd OF cattle or sheep may be de-
stroyed by lightning TWO hundred and
sixteen sheep out Of 2SS have been struck.
and on one occasion 1000 goats are said
10 have been destroyed al one time. IN a
storm cattle and sheep herd together. and
this fact probably increa ases their danger.
Representations Of surrounding objects
are sometimes said 20 have been imprint
I'd on the victims skins by a lightning
discharge. Nearly always the picture is
that or a tree and may be merely a
branching mark made by the electricity.
While not denying the possibility Of such
picture-m king. the writer considers the
evidence quite insufficient
In one case a woman was miudinE a
COW and they were both struck by light
ming when shelterng under a tree. The
cow was killed, but the woman though
for a time unconscious, soon revived. On
her breast was seen a representation OF
t.e COW. Here also a healthy skepticism
is reasonable. for the picture Of the COW
YVES only seen by peasants.
Finds His Lost Parse.
IN the summer Of 1855 a DR.. Derendin-
ger was returning home By train When
he got out at the station his purse was
missing. Il was Of tortoise shell and on
one side It had a monogram OF two DIS
intertwined- Some time later DR.. Deren-
dinger was called 90 see a stranger who
had been found unconscious under a tree
having been struck by Lighting.
The first thing he noticed on amin
ing the man was that there was on the
thigh picture Of his own monogram. the
intertwined DIS. He reSuscitated the man
who was taken 20 the hospital Or. De-
rendiuger said that his purse would prob
ably be found IN the patients pocket. and
so II proved This case Is certainly more
easily understood. for the metal Of the
monogram would prove a good conductor.
and SO We can imagine how its image
might be impressed on the skin. Similar
cases are recorded of the imprinting OF
money and other metallic objects on the
skin by lightning. and ii IS common 20
md burns on parts Of the body near
matches or other metallic objects
a very curious effect IS sometimes pro-
duced- The person struck Is killed and
yet he remains In the very attitude in
which he was al the moment OF death
Eight farm labOrers were resting al din
ner time under an oak when they were all
struck and killed by the same flash OF
lightning. When found they appeared 10
be still eating One held a glass, another
was carrying a piece Of bread to his
mouth, and a third had his hand on a
plate"