Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1922-03-03
Artificial Indoor
Thunder Storms
Created by an Electrical Wiz
ard at General Electric
Plant at Schenectady.

Schenectady, N. z, March 2.-fBy
The A. P. P.)-schenectady has a modern
Jove. who sits on his throne in a labor
atory Of the General Electric company
and hulr thunder bolts at will.
He is DR.. Charles P. Steinmetz, cleo
trical wizard, who announced today he
has succeeded in producing and con-
trolling an indoor thunder storm, with
all the characterizatics Of its natural
brther except the thunder clouds.
At a demonstration of his lightning
generator" a few days ago. the familiar
fora5ed tongues flashed through the lab
oratory with a deafening crash, splinter
ed large block of wood. hurting the
fragments Is feet, and ripped a mInia-
ture tree from tip to base.
The bolt carried the energy Of Loot, 900
horsepower - about one five-hundredth
| Of the energy of a natural lightning bolt
DR.. Steinmetz estimates-and lasted for
| the one hundred thousandth part Of q
second.
| DR.. Steinmetz hopes his apparatus will
| contribute largely to the development Of
| lightning arresters, as It provides an op-
portunity for the study at close range
| of the phoneomon that Benjamin
| Franklin began to investigate years ago
1
HIS experiments have convinced him,
| however, that there is little likelihood Of
mans realizing his dream Of harnessing
] thunderbolts and making them work. De
! spite their tremendous energy, he says
their life is so short that, h4rnessed, they
| would be worth only a few cents apiece
In our lightning generator" he said
I'VE get a discharge of 10000 amperei
at over hundred thousand volts, that
is, a power of over-a million horsepow.
er, lasting for a hundred thousandth par
of a second. This gives use the ex
plosive. tearing and shatterng effect o.
real lightning, SO that, for instance
piece of small tree exposed to the dis
charge Is mechanically torn to pieces
A piece of wire struck by the fash van
ishes in dust"
The inspiration to produce artihcia
lightning came to Dr. Steinmetz tw,
years ago when he arrived at his sum
mer camp on the Mohawk river to fin,
the heavenly visitor had preceded hin
by a few hours and left the camp in sa
dlsaray.I
The lightning had struck tree owe
hanging the camp, and then had jump
ed to the camp, where it divided On
branch passed to the ground through
post, while the other tore it's way throug
cult and made tour Of the house splir
tering screen, a looking glass and
bed in. which DR.. Steinmetz might hav
been sleeping had he arrived "a hour
earlier.
Instead Of bemroaning the damage, D
Steinmetz got busy with a camera,
tape line and notebook and collecte
'evidence" which he says was of Inc
tin1able value in the plan Of his ligh
ming generator.
: II he wanted to, DR.. Steinmentz sal
I he could cut loose on artificial bolt thi
: would do as much damage as did Il
y one which assailed his camp But he
content with producing one f1ve-htl1
n dredth as much kick" Producing Il
s. larger bolts would involve great expen
: and the bolt would be too dangerous
y observe at close quarters.
Il DR.. Steinmet's generator consists e
= = sentially of a high voltage condenser
the form of 200 glass plates These a
=. arranged in two rows, in groups of fit
e and are capable of holding 1900 voI
af electricity.
= One end Of the double row Of co
: densers corresponds to the thunder clo
in the sky, IN which an electric cure
. is gradually stored up and increased
the conglon1 Grafton of the rain droI
as DR.. steinnetz has shown. The ott
- end Of the condeser plates corresponds
20 the earth.
~ When the tension Of the stirred ener
becomes greater than the generator v
hold, the discharge takes place I
lightning fash Is seen, the thunder 70
.. represented by a loud swapping sou
20 and the bolt strikes