The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-08-07


t.r days and days the region had
t.a high haromotric pressure Tho
r..t was intense. Not leaf stirred.
rrt+.r all In a fcw hours. clouds
,,tgerrd. thick and dark, and a
....m rolled up the valley from the
..ut1wcst, which for intensity Of
fry had not been matched for
y.lre.
somewhere in that solid mass OF
st.,m clouds there is one Cat least
... there may be great mauy)
composed OF myriads Of dancing,
l.UN.nE ice crystals every crystal
,...rtcally formed. All carrying as
p,..t electrical charges as they can
r..l. they take shapes that make 1t
,....st for equalization ot electric
.rtIrn 20 be brought about by dis
,ysrra and exchanges among thcm-
Hives Each crystal has legious OF
Golnts. each point providing an easy
sy,,h FOR an equalization.
I As the cloud drifts with its fellows
o. Nr!thcs and twists within itself as
doc. thick black smoke boiling out
,t "a factory chimney. Tho myriads
,-..a~ged ice crystals therefore. are
r.rr..d now up, now down, now this
uat. now that, approaching each
..I.-. rcccding. exchanging charges.
dis. .rging, rccharging, transmit
ting.
Tho cloud is drifting over a forest
t~,nencd 10y preceding rain clouds.
III, electrical exchanges go on, COM
Mrttinus Of crystals occur, groups
form. the charge Is concentrated
NOR. and more, till the ice crystal
cloud Us one great charged condenser.
r,ndv. at the slightest lcsscnlng Of
,he atmospheric tension, TO discharge
ts entire store to earth.
ON ovor the forest drifts the cloud.
Olte vi'h their rounded tops and
,.,-. 'iupod with leaves offer no
,lyv mathis; but there, In little
clearing. standing no higher than its
fellows. Is gaunt leatless red oak,
ID long since, seasoned as It has
.'8oa signs Of decay do not pcnc-
tratr more than a few inches from
,r. surface. Ninety-siX feet it holds
ls fuumost bare twiE above tho
earth. hut II IS not the height that at
tracts. II 10 that poin. Of the dead
tyir aimed directly at the passing
cloud ard IT Is enough.
E-r-r-ipp! Bang, and the thunder
POLLS It's echoes up and down the val
l,y
-Four thousand square inches OF
solid. seasoned red oak rent, splin-
tered and scattered in every dircc-
ton Pieces as large as scantlings
are thrown 10 feet away from the
tree. q who took the moasurments
know) The TRUNK itself is deeply
rent.
In the twinkling Of an eve the
bolt sought out the shortest path TO
ground. In one-twontlcth part OF
second II chose the topmost twig
most nearly pcrpcndicularly over the
base II the tree, even selecting the
side of the twig that would give II
the shortest part to earth. II followed
down that side of twig and branch,
tim big Jog in the trunk would have
thrown II off i,s straight path. At
. that precise point, and no other, 1t
ran around. and went TO ground on
Tho other side Of the tree trunk.
Now # takes a stress OF 100 foot
pounds 10 shear one square inch of
seasoned rod oak, when the force is
applied parallel to the grain of the
wood. -Four thousand square inches
shcared In the twentieth part Of n
seconI. 100000 foot pounds ap-
N4rl Tor 'OAt slnhll iIat'lOn OF llile.
one hundred and sixty thousand
horsepower is the amount Of energy
! )urlcd against that unfortunate tree.
: fro hundred and nineteen thousand
three hundred and sixty kilowatts;
n il took a million volts to overcome
tho resistance. the current would
hay, p strength Of 1l9 ampcrcs. A
blackberry bush four feet away from
tho base Of the tree wasS Withcred,
shgiy"led. dried ny.
Now this energy may have been
expended directly. by the ether
waves. disturbed 10y what We know
IS electricity Water may have pene-
rated into cracks and crannics Of
The wood and been instantaneously
converted into steam hy the heat Of
the passage Of the current. Steam oc-
cuu..s ut least $50 times as much
space ms the water that makes II.
The sudden change, therefore,
from liquid 10 vlpor, in such con-
in'd spaces as the cracks and cram
nies o. which the water had pCuC-