THE LIGHTNING'S FREAK.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 15, Issue 1156, 5 February 1892, Page 5

THE LIGHTNING'S FREAK.

One of the best cat stories we have yet encountered in the whole teeming range of American newspaper literature ht.s just beeu furnished by tlie Boston correspondent of the St. Louis Republic. A freak of lightning, we are told— " probably more remarkable than any hitherto recorded " — occurred the other night near tbe small village of New Salem, Vermont, at the foot of the Heldeberg Mountains. Arent S. Vandyck occupies au old mansion, in the parlour of which hung a collection of revolutionary dwords, one of which was heavily plated wi»-h silver. On the night in question a teriffij thunderstorm burst, and one particularly fearful crash stunned every one in the house. Quickly recovering, the family hastened to see what damage had been done. Suddenly the younger V<itc I yck poi ited t> an old-fashioned sofa There lay what seemed to be a silver ci-t, curled up as comfortable as could be. Eich glittering hair was separate and distinct, and each silvery bristle of the whiske s described as graceful a curve as if in life. Turning to tbe swords on the wall just over the sofa, father and sou remarked that the plated sword had been stripped of all its silver; the scabbard was a strip of blackened steel, aud t>-e hilt had gone altogether. Tlio farni y cat had been electro-placed by lightning ! A round hole in a window pane, about tbe size of a half-dollar, showed where the electric fluid had entered. There was a charred streak showing the path of the lightning as it made its way to the sworqi, down which it passed to fche sofa, carrying with it tbe fused silver, which it swiftly and scientifically deposited on that proverbially magnetic animal — the cat. » Of course, the cat was instantly killed, just like the five men recently electrocuted in the chair at Sing-Sing, and therefore remained exactly in the position in which the lightning found her, peacefully sleeping It is thought the plating of the cat's*, surface will prevent decay, and that she may be retained permanently among the curiosities. Local scientists, the Boslonian says, are quite puzzled by tho occurrence, and the electro-plated cat is being investigated by a member of the Albany Institute.