The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-10
WHAT TO 90 0M A THUNDERSTORM
ITS rEFIIs CAN BE ELI:::- .TED IF TIE PROPER PRECAU.
TIONS ARE TAKEN.

of nature. except PERHAPS a volcanic
explosion. is more s,artlingly eug-
sestlNs of terrific wv than a bolt
of lightning. Considering the i'm
mense number of strokes that fly
from cloud to cloud and from cloud
10 earth during a severe thunder
storm, it seems wonderful that light
ming is not more destructive than
experience has proved it to he.
cur relative security is due to the
fact that most of the discharges take
place between clouds. and hat when
the lightning strikes earthward it us
ually has an infnity of points pre-
sented To it. which offer ready ways
for its escape inc dissipation. This
is why isolated objects. especially if
they are long and pointed at the top.
are the most liable to be struck. Tall.
pointed objects, especially If they are
metallic. serve to draw off the cleo
tricity from the clouds without an
explosive discharge.
The danger from lightning at sea
was greater in the old days of wood
en- ships. Then serlous damage. or
even destruction from lightning. was
NOT Il Very uncommon occurrence. 1t
has been thought that solne cases of
the Disappearance Uf ships at sea
MAY have been due To lightning. \
, !tlSll Slllp. tIle IktSiSl5Ilte. WdS
struck 10y lightning in the Straits Of
Malacta, the powder magazine ex-
pl"ded, and every soul was lost eX-
cept three sailors . II that had occur
red in the middle of the ocean. no
doubt the ship would have been adj
Ged tn the list of the mvsteriously
missing.
Modern iron and steel ships are in
littl" danger. They present a broad.
..a 49, Las ,,, -, ,f % 60. ,lo 1.,N 90
the electricity. The latter. like Wa
ter, is only dangerous when it is. so
tn speak, crowded into a narrow
channel. with a steer descent and no
ready way to escape. The food that
comes down from a broken reservoir
through "A narrow raVine destroys ev-
erything in its path. hut it spreads
out harmlessly the it enters
a broad plain. So a charge Of cleo
tricity dissipates itself without vio-
lence if many ways of escape are pre-
scented 10 it.
Thunder Increases the Grandeur of
an Electric Storm.
The grandeur of an electric storm
is vastly increased by the thunder.
MANY persons find that more terrifv-
ing than the lightning. Thunder is
due to the rush of air To fill partial
Vacancies made in the atmosphere ny
me suNden expansion produced ny
the passage of the lightning. The
heated air expands with great force,
and Immediately the vacancies are
filled again. thus producing atmos-
pheric waves. which impress the ear
as sound. If the stroke occurs near
by. the thunder follows almost in
stantly. in a sharp clap. If the light
ming is at a distance from the OBJ
server. the thunder follows the
stroke AZ an interval depending upon
the distance.
Sound travels in the air about l.100
lightning stroke can easily I've calcu-
onds which elapse before the thunder
ply this number hv LOO i'm order to
have. approximately the distance of
the lightning. Successive reals of
thunder following a single stroke are
due to the successive arrival of diff
ferent sound waves produced at vary
ing distances from the observer by
the passage of the lightning. AS We
have said. a lightning stroke may he
miles in length. Variations Of dem
sity in III" air tend to separate the
sound waves and make them arrive
in peals instead of in a continuous
roll.
II is an old adage that "thnnder
sours milk" If there is any effect Of
this kind il must he due to the cleo
trio state of the air rather than to
the thunder.Th great heat which oft
on accompanies 4 thunderstorm MAY
cause a sudden development of fer
ments in the milk.