The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-09-29
FURY
STILL BEYOND
MANS CONTROL.
Mastery Over Elements I'M
possible as Storms
Defeat Skill.
BY DAVID DIETZ
SerippS-Howard Science Editor

The news from Mexico and from
Italy reminds mar that he has not
vet mastered nature. He has learned
to dig ore from the earth, to turn
it with the aid of furnace and forge,
into skyscraperS, locomotives and
ships.
He has learned to sail his air.
planes into the sky. He harnesses
the forces Of electricity and of ex-
plosive gases. His mastery over ma
ture seems complete at a casual
glance.
But when nature is reused to fury.
then man is puny by comparison.
The hurricane, sweeping in from the
sea upon 100-mile-an-hour winds,
laid waste to the port of Tampico,
ravaging a seventy-mile area and
piling up a list of dead and injured
estimated at 5000.
The earthquake, rocking south
central Italy and ports Of Jugo-
slavia, wrecked mountain towns and
villages, killing and injuring at least
100 people.
The earthquake, the volcanic
eruption, the flood, the hurricane,
the tornado, and the lightning
these are the forces of nature be-
fore which man is still ineffective,
Lightning Bolt Feared
1t has been said that both julius
Caesar and Napoleon feared the
lightning. This is not hard to I'M
derstand. Men of destiny in their
own minds, they felt superior to
their fellowmen; they felt assured
of their own powers to carry out
their plans; they feared the light
ming bolt which might cut short
their lives and leave their plans I'm
achieved.
While lightning is a subject of
lively concern to many people, the
facts in the matter seem to be that
the average person, on the best of
statistical evidence, is pretty safe.
1t has been said that more people
are killed annually in the city of
Paris by falling flower pots than by
lightning.
Simple Rules Observed
Nevertheless, it is we'll to remem-
Der certain simple rules. If caught
on a golf course during a thunder
storm, do not take refuge under a
tree. And stay away from wire
fences.
Properly installed lightning rods
are advisable for farm houses. In
the city, the network of electric
wires performs the function of
lightning rods. Speeding automo-
biles are more dangerous than light
ming in the city.
Power companies, operating long
transmission lines, have found it
necessary to protect them against
lightning. Their chief concern is
not a direct hit, which is rather
rare, but the creation of induced
surges in the lines caused by light
ming discharges in the neighborhood
of the lines.
Volcanoes Worst Peril
1t wasn't scientific curiosity alone
which caused Steinmetz to under
take his attempts to create artificial
llSIlGIllIlB. Ills DOlGS WeIS
needed in the researches to find out
what lightning did to the power
lines.
About the only thing to be said
about volcanoes is that 1t is well to
stay away from them. But when
fertile fields have been found nea
them, mankind has always pre-
ferred to take a chance.
Engineers are in general of the
opinion that much of the loss Of
life and property damage occasioned
by earthquakes a be prevented.
7 ~thquakes for the most part,
occur in certain areas Of the earth
where they have occurred in the
past. These are the ~so-called
seismic regions, localities where the
earth's crust is known to be weak
and unsteady.
In all such regions, engineers feel,
the territory must be carefully
mapped to disclose the so-called
faults or breaks in the rock layers.
1t is along these faults that move
-. $4,000 ~ ~ IN,1o II6c