East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-01-27
.LIdnI uiHl A HiI5lEHY
This Phenomenon of Mature l3 a
Puzzle to SolGTce.
THE THl0RY OF TayaBza.

I1E IILJDi y! titStsl 49,
In General Way II Is undoratooa;
but, as Matter OF Fact, the Bolt
From the Storm In it, 5rratlc Tend
enoies Defes the investigator.
In u general way we mudcrstud ric
theory OF thunderStornis As a mal
ter of fact there is no p.leaoueuaD.
OF uature. but excepting even cartl
quakes, of which We know so little.
Man-made lightning tha IS. cle,
trcity Of the highest power waIgI
we can artiG tally produce ".ll aoi
according to certain knuwu laws 10
will for instance, travel along a .cCr
ductor Of metal
But flash Of lightning viii ne
quent leap from wei defined mrl.u
path and launch itself through the air
or some adjacent object which Is au
infinitely poorer conductor.
This may be due to the almost lu
conceivable force OF Cash OF light
ming, says writer IN 'earSuus Wees
Z ~. II is estimated that dash OF
lightning nile long represents q
pressure OF discharge equal to 3,O0u,
OO0,OOO volts.
/ As such Hash lasts only about tue
| thousandth part OF second the EN-
/ ergy disslpated 10y the discharge is
equal to 100000 horsepower put III
other words. if we could lind some
means of saving and using lightning
we should be the richer by good
round SUN for every fash
Lightning Is. as we know, usually
accompanied by Il peal of thunder
which Is louder the nearer the bearer
Is TO the point OF the discharge. Dui
this is not an inyariable rule There
are cases on record of most destruc
tive lightning flashes which were un
accompanied 10y sound
Such Il phenomenon occurred nj Brad
ford some years ago. What Is de.
scribed as "a silent thunderh0lt tell
in graveyard. destroying one mouu.
ment and smashing to atoms nearly
seventy glass cases containing wreathS
and flowers.
In the same summer Swauscombe.
in Kent. was terrified by freak of
lightning. All OF a sudden IA great
mass OF blue fire" swept along the
street, and next moment it was seen
that the fine old parish church. built
nearly 100 years ago. had been struck
The building. with all it's fine old
carved oak. was soon a roaring fur
was saved
Scientists are still hopelessly at sea
as to the cause of that peculiar phe
nomenon known as globe lightning. Al
Coventry some years ago during vio
lent thunderstorm IT passed along 4
street like a soap bubble built of blu,
fire and drifted into a she'd where II
exploded. blowing the roof off th,
place.
At Rheims, in France. a similar Gr,
ball came into a cobbler's shop
through the open window. The soil
tary occupant OF the place sat perfect.
ly still. paralyzed with terror. while
his fearful visitant hovered for sever
al seconds overhead Then it moved
toward the fireplace and presently
passed up the chimney.
Next moment there was an eXplo-
sion like q shell bursting. and the up
per part OF the chimney came crashing
down.
Not long ago Count G. Hamilton
made record of a similar freak of
electricity. lie was sitting ut dinner
at n house on Lake Wiener. in Sweden
when just after vivid flash OF light
ming u brilliant white ball appeared
over the table and after hanging poised
there for some seconds went off with
with a loud bang
Fortunately ii did no harm To any
one. although ii was quite close to
several people Those who saw ii sug
gcsted 1t was like bah of cold light
ming.
In November, 1902, sydney. Austria
LA, was visited by terrific dust
storm. iu the midst of which a perfect
rain of electric d g balls began To fall
These set fire 10 a number OF houses
and most appalling panic set in. 4
cry was raised that the end of the
world was at hand. and people rushed
out of their houses into the ink black
dust deep streets.
The most amazing and terrifying
displays of the power of lightning are
seen on mountains, In 1890 Il party
was on the top Of II mountain in the
Caucasus when huge violet ball sur.
rounded by vivid rays, struck Il rock
near by and exploding like bomb
burst into atoms one of the party
was badly hurt.