Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-15

and he at first had the little Sllueu
ball at the top of the pole fitted with
single rod. Then lightning-rod
man came along and persuaded him
there ought to be a rod on the other
side of the pole in case the lightning
came from that direction, so he added
another rod directly opposite the first.
The following year a new man con-
vinced him he had made a grave err
ror in protecting only the north and
south sides of the pole when most OF
the thunderstorms came from the east
or west so two more rods were added
to protect the other points of the COM
pass. That flagpole was the pride
of the village, for there was no other
like it for miles around. But one sad
day we had a hard nor'east storm and
the pole was struck. Too bad there
wasn't a lightning rod to protect the
pole in that direction.
Who invented the lightning rods:
Why, Benjamin Franklin is said to
have discovered their efficacy in 1175.
But it was nearly 100 years later be-
fore the industry really began to -four
ish. l have been told they really dated
back much further than Franklin's
time and that the temple of Solomon
was so protected, but neither Sioux
Falls nor Reno had then been discoV-
cred, and / fancy Solomons lightning
rods may have been designed for do
mestic lightning more than for protec-
ton from that which emanated from
the heavens. 1t is strange how those
lightning rod men were so popular.
They were more than popular with
the girls. They were head and should
ers in advance of any other travelling
salesman. You see, the lightning rod
man necessarily had to have a team,
Sc he could scour the country and To-
cate farm houses which had stood for
fifty years or more in a frightfully un-
protected condition and all unconscious
of the impending danger.
"On those locating trips it was alb
solutely necessary that the lightning
rod man should have some one along
with him to hold the reins while he
explained the dangers of the elements
to the farmer, and somehow it always
was the prettiest girl in the village
who could hold the horses most effec-
lively. The way those chaps could get
away with ones best girl was an eX-
hibition of the speed of electricity.
1--WE thought seriously at one time OF
equipping all the pretty girls with
nonconductors to ward off the sales
men, but never carried the scheme
through. If we had l might not now
be a lonesome old bachelor.
THE lightning-rod man was so pop
ular he became joke and was used as
frequently as basis for alleged humor
in those days as the women's hats and
the perennial mother in-law are util-
lied by the comic papers of today.
Even Mark Twain found him attractive
and wrote one of his funniest stories
about his experience with one OF the
clan"
And what do you suppose has be-
come of the hundreds of men who must
have made their living selling rods
and installing them on the vacant por-
tions of the houses?" asked one of the
party.
81 do not really know" said the
colonel very solemnly, but l have
grave suspicious. This morning be-
fore I had eaten my breakfast / was
called on by a man who obtained my
signature to a subscription for set or
books that I don't want and which |
shall never read. They are to be is
sued in several dozen de luxe volumes,
and he extracted from me ten-dollar
bill to bind the bargain. Now that l
think it over, l begin to believe that
he was an unregenerated lightning-rod
man. It seems probable that they have
all turned into book agents. l think
you may bring me another, James-a
little stronger than the last Boys
what'n you have ?"-New York Press.