The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-04-18
WHO ERECTED THE FIRST PRAC.
TICABLE LIGHTNING ROD7
Franklin Given the Credit Rightly
Due a Catholic Monk.
The Latter's Success Antecedent t,
Franklin's by 8, His Studies
by 20 Years.


people unconsciously take it for
granted that the famous American
was the inventor of the first practical
BILE apparatus of this kind. AS mat
ter of fact, a serviceable lightning
rod had already been erected in 1854
in a Moravian village. six years be-
fore Franklin (1760) built his first
working apparatus in Philadelphia.
And the inventor and erector of this
pioneer instrument was a Cath
Ollie monk, Premonstratensian
Father of Brenditz in Moravia.
A widely circulated German non
Catholic magazine: "Ueber Land and
Nicer" has in its latest issue, called
attention to this interesting bit Of
history, in connection with the cree
ton of a duplicate of the first serv-
icable lightning rod In the courtyard
of the castle at Znaim in Moravia.
The author of the article not only
states the priority of the erection of
the European apparatus over the
American invention. but also reminds
his readers that the monk, Father
Procopius Divisch, had taken up the
study of the problem of drawing cleo
tricity from the atmosphere without
danger to the surroundings, for the
purpose of preventing death and de-
struction by lightning. almost 20
years before Franklin devoted him.
self to this problem seriously.
The ancient Egyptians, the Rom
ans and the Greeks had endeavored
to protect their buildings from light
ming by various devices. but their
efforts unfortunately were largely
unsuccessful. and partly even disas-
trous to the men conducting the ex-
periments. Experiments along these
lines, says the writer, were conduct
ed also during the middle ages" Az
ter that time during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. following
the Reformation, there was an hia-
tus in these experiments, which were
resumed in the eighteenth cntury af-
ter the subject of electricity had
aroused a new interest in the various
manifestations of this force. Kleist,
Nollet, Voll, Reimann, Cunaeus and
others then resumed experiments in
protecting buildings from lightning,
but confined their efforts to more or
less desultory and unsystematic at
tempts. "The first to pursue these
ideas systematically and intesively
SAYS the author of the article (and
we beg the reader to bear in mind
that the publication from which We
quote is mont atholic) were Diviscf
and Franklin. 1t was the former
who. six years before Franklin, erect
ed the first serviceable lightning rod
Wenceslaus Divisch was born in 1896
at Senftenberg in Bohemia, gradu'
ated from the Academy at Znaim
then conducted by the Jesuits. and
entered the monastery of the Pre-
monstratensians at Bruck near
Znaim, where he received the name
Procopius in religion. Later he be
came rector of the parish at Brenditz
where he remained until his death II
1866. This plain, unassuming pries
enjoyed an enviable reputation as
student of physics and mechanics
and was repeatedly called to thu
court Of Maria Therese to demon
strate his experiments and theories
Divisch proposed to withdraw thu
electricity from the atmosphere
gradually and to conduct it into thu
ground, without danger to the sur
rounding objects or persons. At thu
time of his early experiments Diviscf
knew nothing of Franklin's studio:
along this line, since his labors along
the same lines antedate those Of
Franklin by almost 20 years. Ii
1853, seven years before Franklin's
experiment at Philadelphia was sue
cessful, Divisch had submitted a de
Tense of his system as opposed te
those Of some others, to the Academy
of Sciences at Berlin.
Divisch and Franklin, moreover
pursued different theories. The i'm
portance of their invention is evil
dent to anyone who considers the
general use of these instruments to-
day and the great protection they af,
ford to life and property. The fact
that an unpretentious monk succeed
ed in this important task so long
before the eminent American, and
moreover had occupied himself with
his experiments almost two decades
before the latter should be source
of humiliation to those who thought.
lessly or Intentionally malign the
Church and it's servants as reaction
ary" or ''unprogressive." 1t is also
significant that these modern invent
ors build up on what had been begun
in the much maligned middle ages
while the sixteenth and seventeenth
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