Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-07-17
Thunderstorm Advice
Given by Expert

MlltOil, Mass, July 1o.-(by A. ~
Get under cover if possible when
thunder storm threatens. If this
is not practicable, lie down. That is
the advice which Alexander G. Nc
Adie, director Of the Blue Hill OBJ
Servatory in this town and professor
7 of meteorology at Harvard Univer-
Slty, gives in an explanation of the
action of lightning prepared for The
Associated Press. He gives what he
describes as ten good rules to help
people take care of themselves"
In a battle" says Professor Nc
Adie, "a hundred bullets are fired for
each soldier killed. 1t is something
like this with lightning flashes.
There are a hundred discharges for
every bolt of lightning that hits a
person. Fortunately, too, of every
hundred streaks of lightning about
ninety are from cloud to cloud or
spill-over discharges Of moderate
electrical energy, and are mostly
horizontal, doing no damage what
ever.
About ten flashes in hundred
come vertically, that , is, down to
earth in straight line. Some
flashes come sideways and seem to
be crooked, although there are really
no flashes Tagging like the teeth
of a saw as artists generally depict
lightning.
1.-THE intense straight flashes are
the ones to be feared, and it is silly
person who stands out in the open
when such flashes are seen. He in
vites trouble. but the invitation is not
always accepted.
"At this time Of the year thunder
storms are frequent and there are a
comparatively large number of fatal
accidents. One reads in the press
dispatches that four men are walk
ing along a New Jersey beach during
thunderstorm. There is a flash of
lightning, one man is killed outright,
one severely burned, and the others
stunned.
"Now there is no protection for a
case like this unless one could carry
around with him a metallic cover well
grounded. The first rule is then: Do
not stay out on a beach or in a field
when dark, heavy clouds ARE over
head or coming slowly from the west
or south. Get under cover if possible.
If this is not practicable, lie down.
Don't remain standing.
Second: Do not stand under tree
with a thick foliage. You are form
ing a part of the line of discharge,
since the body, more particularly the
skin If moist, is better conductor
than the trunk of the tree. More
people are killed by lightning in this
way than probably any other.
Third: Don't stand in the door,
way of a barn or at a window in
proximity to a chimney. There are
currents of air or winds, and the
lightning follows to some extent any
draft or column Of rising air, espe-
ciaily warm air.
Fourth: Don't laugh at any ones
nervousness during a severe thunder
storm. There is a good reason to be
nervous. Even If one is in a building
that is struck the damage is, in nine
ty-eight cases out of a hundred, con-
fined to ripping out plaster or knock
ing off states, and tearing off any
projecting timbers. But there are
times when the storm clouds descend
to earth and amid darkness the
flashes are heavy and numerous. At
such times there is danger. 1t is
dangerous to be near chimney or q
tree or flagpole or a metal clothes
line.
Fifth: Stock should not be tied
near a wire fence.
sixth: There is no particular
sense in going to bed. Standing on
glass or rubber or any good insulator,
a wooden blanket for example, will
give one a little more security and
a great deal more confidence. The
probability Of a person in an ordi-
nary residence building being struck
is very slight.
Seventh: If you are near q per-
son who has been struck make every
effort to resuscitate him. Only rare
ly does lightning kill outright. Mostly
people are stunned, and all that is
needed is little artificial respiration
to restore them to consciousness. OF
course get doctor quick.
Eighth: If you are in a trolley car
and flash comes in and burns the
fuses with a roar and a binding flash,
sit still. The danger Is over. and