The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-24
DANGER FROM LIGHTNING
Natures Greatest Show Takes But
 Very Small Toll Of Human ! ifa

NaGureS GreateSt Show Takes But
 Very Small Toll Of Human Life
 Every time there is severe thunder storm nature discharges more electricity in the form of lightning than the total amount that could be produced by the simultaneous use of every generator, battery and other electrical machine that has existed since the dawn of cleo trical knowledge. In every single flash of lightning is concentrated many times more energy than could be produced at that Instant by all the electrical gen. erating plants in the world.
 The present available electrical power in the world is 10 million horsepower, while the energy released in 1-20O, booth of second by the average flash of lightning is 250 million horsepower more than three times as much as en- gineers say they could develop by har- messing every stream in the United States
 These amazing facts have been re- vealed by recent scientific study of lightning, natnre's greatest show. How ever, despite it's almost unbelievably terrible energy, there is virtually no reason to be afraid of lightning.
 It is true that lightning is the sixth most frequent cause of fire in the United States, yet as a source of death it is exceeded by practically every disease and every common form of vio- fence. Only 425 persons were killed by lightning in the United States in the last year for which statistics are avail- able, as compared with 1,O38, ,952 deaths from all causes. These figures show that you are far more likely to die in a railroad wreck, to be killed by an auto- mobiles to drown, ar even to be mur- dered than to die by lightning.
 Science has determined that not more than one lightning flash is one hundred is even potentially dangerous to men, for the reason that only one flash in one hundred reaches the earth. The rest, are spectacular flashes between clouds, Also, only a small percentage of the flashes that reach the earth are dan gerous for lightning, like all other forms of electricity, seeks the path of least resistance; and since the air is not good conductor of electricity, lightning, when it can, leaves the air to travel to earth over some better con- ductor. Nowadays, it is likely to find such a conductor in a lightning rod, the steel frame of a building, a metal flagpole, or a grounded radio aerial. It is only when it finds a better conduc- tor than air in a man, an animal, tree, frame building, or the wooden masts of a ship that lighting actually causes fires or loss of life.
 Tall structures, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Washington Monument, have been struck by light ming many times without damage. Most skyscrapers, probably have been struck without the occupants being any the wiser, because the steel skeletons conveyed the electricity harmlessly and silently to the earth.
 You are practically safe from light ming if you are indoors during a thun- derstOrm, and you are reasonably out doors if you stay away from trees. metal, fences and wooden buildings with metal roofs. If caught in an open field, on a bench, or in an open boat, your chances of safety are increased if YOU lie down.-George M. Ogle, in Popular Science Monthly.