THUNDERSTORM HINTS.

Waipa Post, Volume VII, Issue 331, 17 July 1914, Page 6

THUNDERSTORM HINTS.

A student of electricity offers tins advice to persons who are afraid of lightning I “If in a building which, is isolated in the open country or is higher than surrounding buildings in a 1 group, avoid chimneys or other flues, open windows or draughts, especially warm currents of air, directly below a high tower or flagpole, peak or angle of the structure. Keep away from overhead wires entering the building—although these are generally protected by lightning arresters, the current is not always ‘arrested.’

“If in the open, avoid trees, wire fences, or pales, and if you happen to bo the most prom incut object in the landscape, as in an open field or on a beach, do not raise a steel rod umbrella, or, in fact, any umbrella, as you may become a living lightning-rod without an approied ground connection.

“If you should happen to be caught in sudi open space, with lightning discharges coming very close, as may b. determined by the lessening intervalbetween flash and report, it is better t lie flat on the ground and risk a soak ing than to offer a possible path 1 the lightning. The reason for this is that the body, being warm, offers a better conductor than the surrounding air, and but a few feet rise is necessary to attract lightning on flat ground. “Having observed those simple precautions, take this additional piece of advice, with our compliments: Don’t, worry. The number of deaths from lightning is very small. Because they are usually dramatic, they are vividly reported by efficient and ambitious news writers, but there aren’t many of them.”