Lightning's Frolics.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXI, Issue 8835, 15 July 1905, Page 3 (Supplement)

Lightning's Frolics.

(By Francis Warrington Dawson.)

! Paris, May 11.—(Special Correspondence).—"lt would seem that lightning is a subtle being whose nature comes between the unconscious force of plants and the conscious force of animals. It is like an elementary spirit—eccentric or rational, clever or silly, far-seeing or blind, headstrong or indifferent, passing from one extreme to the other: It wriggles through space, it moves among men with surprising agility, appearing and disappearing like—lightning." The speaker was Camille Flammarion, the world-famous astronomer and scientist, who has devoted much of his recent time and study to exploring the mysteries of lightning which have baffled the ages. "Then even the freaks of lightning follow determined laws?" I asked. In answer to the question, he pointed to piie of papers of his desk. "Each year I receive from the Ministry of Justice official accounts of all accident; from lightning, as described in police reports. Here lightning kills, there it passes without injuring. Further on, it sccui: absolutely frolicking. I have under my eyes hundreds of examples. And yet it i" not, possible to draw from them any con elusion as to a law. Sometimes it" gives rise to the hypothesis, that it is a thought which, instead of being attached to a brain, is attached to an electric current. "All that can be affirmed, for the present, is that in spite of its apparent independence, lightning does not act as freely as we might be inclined to believe. It obeys c:-r:ain laws still undetermined, and its actions, seemingly so unregulated and so capricious, are not the result of sheer | accident. The plea of chance is sought 1 ms a refuge for our ignorance, but it cannot explain these fantastical phenomena. I "The only sure way to reach general facts is by consulting particulars. This is the method I invariably adopt in investigating any scientific subject. Now, here are a few of the strange freaks of lightning which I have succeeded in bringing together t "Abbe Spallanzini relates that on August 29, 1791, a peasant girl was in a field during a storm, when suddenly a globe of (ire, the size of a billiard ball, appeared at her feet. Gliding along the earth, this little ball reached her bare toes, which it appeared to caress, then rose under her clothes, opening out her skirts like an umbrella, and came out by the middle of her bodice, leaping into the air with a great noise, having retained its globular form. The girl fell backwards. Two witnesses ran to her assistance. She was uninjured. Medical examination proved that there was only a superficial erosion stretching from the knee to the middle of the chest, and that her clothes were cut through where the ball had passed out. "in 1397. at Ligny, France, a husband

ml his wife wore sleeping quietly one

night when z formidable noise awoke them suddenly. The chimney had fallen, filling the room with debris. Within the house", the effects of the bolt had been as terrifying, but remarkably eccentric. Just beneath the ceiling, near which hung a harrow with kitchen utensils hooked on it, the stones of the wall had been projected horizontally with such violence that they stuck in the wall opposite. While all the glasses in the windows were smashed, a mirror was detached from the wall and laid uninjured on the floor. A chair, with clothes thrown on it, was taken up and set down near the entrance' door. A small lamp and a box of matches were found on the floor, undamaged. - "Harmless enough arc such little pranks as these. But it must not be forgotten that some strokes of lightning arc veritable catastrophes. One day during a religions ceremony at Carpcntras fifty persons were killed or injured by lightning. On the sloop Sappho, in February, 1820, six men were killed and fourteen seriously injured. At Grosshad, near Duren, Germany, on July 11, 1857, 100 persons were injured in a church and six killed. At Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, on July 12, 1887, nine persons were killed under an oak during a storm.

"As a rule, those killed by lightning maintain an appearance of life, staying hi the attitude which they had when struck, but if touched they crumble to ashes. Many mysterious historical disappearances may be attributed to this phenomenon, notably that of Romulus, while reviewing the trooris in the Caprian Marsh.

"An Ensrlish minister named Butler witnessed the following fact.: In the town of Everrlon ten harvesters had sought refuge under a hedge during a storm. Light-

ning struck and killed four, who „were left as if pefrifW. f'ne was found holding in his friers tip r-,\y;F which he was about to take. . Another had a little dead dog on his knees and had one hand on the animal's, head while holding in the other some bread with which he had been feeding it. A third was sitting with his eyes open and his head turned toward the storm.

"On May 24, 1904, at C'harolles, France, Mile. M'jrer'i was stricken while sitting at the fireside with some friends. They were unhurt, but she was killed outright, the lightning burrowing under the right ear and passing out by the left.

"We sometimes find lightning taking a part in judicial matters. On July 20,

1872, a negro named Norris wa6 to be hanged for murder in Kentucky. Just as he was stepping on the platform a formidable stroke of lightning killed him. The sheriff was so impressed by this occur-

rence that he resigned. "Or, again, it may play the physician. In September, 1898, at Romaines, France, a tavern keeper named Finot was standing on his doorstep watching the storm when a stroke of lightning upset him and threw, him to .the end of the room. He remained unconscious for a time, and blind for ton hours. Having had rheumatism for some years, he could not take a step without the aid of a stick. Since then he no longer' requires a stick, but can do what he likes. "Politics also appear to have their power of attraction. When M'Kinley ran for the Presidency with Hobart a large barn had been built by an ardent Republican named Abner Milikan and decorated with lithograph pictures of the two. During a storm the building was several times struck by lightning and seemed wrapped in flames. No harm was done, but it was found that the pictures had disappeared and silhouettes of them were traced on the wall. "Ball lightning is the most mysterious form of lightning. It sometimes behaves like a small animal with the most evil nature. And yet its cruelty is not neces-

sarily' pushed to the extent of death; fainting, fright, looting a house or destroying a building somoti?ne3 suffice to quiet it.

It shape is not always spherical, though generally so. Sometimes oval, sometimes it h.as a frame like a shell, or else is quiet as a. shooting star. It is often like an orange, and moves so slowly that one can follow it for several minutes. "Once at Marseilles it entered a. house like a ball of fire the size of a- plate, struck the foot of a girl who was kneeling terri-

fied. rebounded to the ceiling, and bounded thus three or four times, with perfect regu-

larity, and finally went out through the keyhole. The girl had the feeling of a slight cramp in the legs and could not walk alone for several weeks.

"'One day at Secondigny two boys, one aged 13 and the other 15, were playing in the- street, when they saw a ball just like an orange rolling towards them. One touched it with his foot. It exploded, killing him instantly. His comrade was thrown down, but was not hurt.

This goes to prove that people should not plajr with lightning. It does not like to be interfered with, and the lessons which it reserves for the imprudent are cruel. "One of the strangest fancies of lightning is for undressing its victims. Once a woman dressed as a man was caught in a storm, her clothes and shoes were torn off by lightning and thrown afar, so that she had to wrap up in a sheet in order to resell the nearest village. Shoes or clothing may be destroyed, or neatly unsewn, and the wearers left unhurt.

"On July 5, 1883, at Void, two workmen who had sought shelter under a willow were hurled more than four yards without being injured. On August 2, 1882, at the "Prince Eugene barracks, in Paris, lightning fell while the soldiers were going to bed. Those in bed were jerked to their feet, while those standing were thrown down.

"Dr Gaultier de Claubry was one day struck without having other injury than his beard destroyed to the roots, so that it never grew again. Laure Lelour, a 20-year-old girl at Presnaux, had a furrow cut

in her hair, as if shaved with a razor, where the lightning had passed. "Sometimes it splits a man nearly in two, as with an axe. This happened to a. miller's boy at Groix on January 20, 1868. He was cut straight up from the legs to the top of the head. "In 1889 lightiiining struck a mirror, making ten holes in the gilt frame, volaiising the gilding and transporting it to the face of the mirror, while the quicksilver on the back was traced in the meet J beautiful designs. "We call such things freaks, but they are rather apparent than real, for they are determined by causes. So it is with the prettiest woman; without knowing it, being internal facts or external causes, 6he is less capricious than we believe. Thee curious facts show us once again that our knowledge of the universe is incomplete, and that its study is interesting in all its phases. "It is certain that electricity has in nature a part more important than we generally think, and that in human life it has I an almost perpetual part which is nearly ' unknown. Sensitive beings notice this at the approach of storms, and feel the most extraordinary relief when the storm has passed. We have heTe a physical influence followed by a moral influence, the two coming very near together with the residents of our planet." "And what," I asked, "seem to be the causes for the most frequent accidents? If no general law can be deduced, are there not at least evidences of the principal causes of attraction?" "Hot summers jjarticularly abound in mch accidents," M. Flammarion answered, 'and more especially the months from May :o October inclusive. It is furthermore no:iceable that more men are killed than wonen. "In Franco alone more than 10,000 people were killed by lightning during the nineteenth century. For 3573 men there were 1462 women, or about one-third. This has sometimes been attributed to differences of nature, to organic electricity, or to " clothes. It is probably due to the simple fact that there are less women, than men in the fields, and they are consequently lees exposed. "Even in France, small as the country is, the distribution of accidents from lightning is irregular—rare in some places and Tecurring every year in others. Mountainous Tegions are the most exposed. In Paris there are few accidents, because people are comparatively little exposed, and the lightning strikes trees or buildings. The electric charges empty into metal works, such as balconies, lightning rods, etc. The Eiffel Tower is often struck, but is not impaired. "The victims may be divided by the order of frequency into five classes : "1. Under trees. 2. In the open country, especially if they are holding tools in their hands or aTe leading an animal. 3. In churches, especially if holding a bell rope, and invariably those ringing a bell in a storm. 4. Track-keepers' houses. 5. In towns. J

"GTeat gatherings of animals generally are dangerous in thunderstorms, often entire flocks are destroyed. They naturally run together from fright, and, being wet from rain, offer a large surface as conductors. Steam also rises in a column from this living mass and opens a channel for the electric current.

"The trees most frequently struck are oaks, then poplars, elms, and pines. Frait tres are about the mean, and those enjoying the greatest immunity are olive, maple, and aeh. Height count 6 for something in this, and also isolation, the dampness of the soil and the form of the foliage and of the roots."

"Is there any way in which protection against lightning can be found ?" "Certain precautions should always be taken during storms. The first and most important is to avoid standing under trees. Telegraph wires aTe dangerous on account of the spaTk which may act by induction. Disturbing the air opens a way for the electric fluid, and therefore one should not run in a storm, and on no account ring a bell. Herds of animals should be scattered. In the house, close doors and windows to prevent a- draught, stand away from the mantelpiece and do not touch metal objects which might act as conductors.

"But, in spite of all precautions, there will remain a certain fancifulness about lightning which renders its observation peculiarly interesting. One can only hope that its pranks may tend to grow less dramatic. Streaks of lightning are often from one to ten kilometres long; the longest known is eighteen kilometres; and yet some last only one-thousandth of a second. When we think of the instantaneity of these fleeting apparitions, aro we not amazed by their incomparable agility?' Are we dumb with admiration before the magic force of this celestial sling capable of hurling into space rivers of fire whose sinuous courses extend on vast spaces in a time almost unappreciable to our senses? Thunder is never heard at more than twenty-five kilometres, Tarely at more than twenty, and its general limit is fifteen. Cannon, on the other hand, are heard at forty kilo-

metres and bombardments at 100. Arago says that- the battle of Waterloo was heard at CreU, in France, 200 kilometres away. So the. thunder made by the hand of man is heard much further than that of nature. But then it is infinitely more vicious and makes infinitely more victims. "In the wild state, coming directly from the atmospheric regions, the electric fluid is the most dreadful: messenger of the air. Conquered by the genius of man, it has aided powerfully in the progress of modern civilisation. If lightning should bo tamed and its spaTks directed its services would be innumerable. And this is a possibility ■within the limit of science."