The Colorado statesman., 1912-09-21
CAUSE OF TERROR
vagarieS About Lightning With
out Reason.
Although It Causes Fewer Violent
Deaths Than Any Other Foe Of
American, 1t is Feared Most
by Many.

Washington.-Terror OF lightning Is
mostly morbid. If you are obsessed
with such fear, Uncle Sans statis-
ticians can comfort you with the as
eurance that the average citizen OF
the United States is ten times more
likely to be murdered than to be
KILLED by a thunderbolt; eleven times
more likely to be shot dead, through
malice or accident; twelve times more
likely to die OF heat or sunstroke,
twenty-eight times more likely to die
of burns or scalds. thirty-four times
more likely to be drowned. only
about 276 people in our land are an
nuaily put to death by Joves merry
darts. OF course the death rate from
this cause varies from year to year.
1t was above the average In 1909, and
sVen heavier in 1906. Some astron-
omers believe that the severity of
tbunderstorms is increased by sun
sYots, others that it varies with the
phases of the moon. but meteorolo-
gists generally deny these theories.
They agree that your danger from
the celestial artillery depends princi-
paily upon the locality in which you
live. and your shelter at the time or
che storm. The weather bureau, by
careful observation and tabulation,
discovers our zone OF greatest danger
from lightning to include an irregular
area of the east, covering all the At
,antic coast states from Massachu-
sets to Virginia, inclusive, and bit
ing inland until it takes in southern
Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Vir-
ginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and
eastern Illinois. Thunderstorms
therein are more fatal though less fire.
quent than in the Gulf states. If you
wish TO escape thunderstorms almost
entirely. pitch your tent upon the Pa
clfic slope, where such storms are
practically unknown. Or, IL required
to dwell within the danger zone, Sc
lect for your castle a house in the
midst OF a city block with continuous
tin roofs connected to well anchored
Waterspouts.
The fact that lightning annually
strikes four times as many people of
outdoor occupations as people in gen
eral emphasizes the wisdom of keep
ing indoors during such disturbances.
mind that you are far safer in the
dense heart of a wood than at its
outskirts, and that the shelter of a
single tree is particularly treacher'
GUS, especially II near the edge OF a
body of water. even a ditch. But If
you must be near a tree. seek the
companionship of the beech. which is
struck least often of all, and avoid
particularly the oak, which attracts
lightning more than any other.
The oak is hit ffty-seven, the fir
thlrty-nine and the pine five times as
often as the beech. Avoid above all
else tree or other shelter where
under a group of men or beasts are
huddled together. While in the shad-
ow OF the thunderhead. monarch of
all clouds, be exclusive. The weather
bureau also warns you against door
ways, particularly OF barns and
stables: also house connected with
n metallic clothes line.
While successful in tabulating the
destructive and fatal effects of light
ming and. by deduction, formulating
such common-sense rules as the
above. our weather bureau, in COM
mon with other great meteorological
institutions, finds the force behind the
fiery cannon balls and projectiles of
Jupiter Pluvius too Elusive and vaga-
rious to be reduced to law. For
years the bureau has been cleaning
from all parts of the world reports
describing the eccentricities of this
aweinspiring phenomenon, Of which
B1ammarion has said
at is like an elementary spirit, &C.
centric or rational. clever or silly, far
seeing or blind. headstrong or indif-
fereut. passing from one extreme to
the other. 1t wriggles through space.
1t moves among men with surprising
agility, appearing and disappearing
like lightning"
But the most weird OF all lightning
pranks on record is that of killing a
man and leaving him standing erect,
as in life Such a phenomenon was
lately reported by a Canadian OBJ
server, C. Baillarge, who near Beau.
mont saw man struck by a thunder.
bolt while walking in a field. AL
though dead, he remained motionless
standing with one foot in front OF the
other In the attitude of taking a step