Lightning Havoc In Farm House

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 169, 22 July 1935, Page 10

Lightning Havoc In Farm House

DEADLY FLASH KILLS MAN AND INJURES OTHERS. Pieces of wood and leather which had formed his clogs, and fragments of cloth which were part of his clothing, were exhibits in the Coroner’s Court ar Lythain, England, when the inquest was held un Edward Brathwaite, aged 53, of Clifton Farm, Warton (Lancs), who was killed by lighting. A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence that Braithwaite died from heart failure as a result of being struck by lighting was returned. His daughter, Doris, 21, said she had been collecting eggs in the field, and turned into a hen cabin ou account of the heavy rain, and there she saw her father, who said he was sheltering. She remarked that she did not care about the rain so long as the thunder kept off. The next thing she remembered, stated the gin, was picking herself up from the fluor of tha cabin, which had been wrecked. She saw her father lying un the floor with part of the woodwork on top of him and without clothing, except for part, of his shirt. She called “Father!” :fnd touched him, but could get nu reply. She went out ul the cabin and informed her brother .lames of what, had happened, and went to another cabin, where she found her brother John lying lace downwards, Id •eding from the nose and groaning. Miss Braithwaite added that she did not know what struck her. She was holding the metal handle of a bucket nt the time she was in the cabin, and sh • was burned on her right arm and left leg and her eyelashes wore singed. I’llic,e-Sergeant Henshaw said mfound the hen cabin, 24ft by 12ft, had been wrecked. Pieces of serge cloth which, he was informed, were part of the suit worn by Mr Braithwaite, were scattered in all directions. l-'ouriven windows in the hen cabin had been blown out, and a free 70 yards from the cabin had been struck. The. cabin in which the son was found was not damaged. The sergeant staled (hat the direction of the lightning seemed Io bo from the tree to the. cabin which was wrecked and on to the other cabin. He also slated that he examined the body at the mortuary and found it exten sively burned. The hair, cj clashes, and moustache were singed, and the only clothing was the front portion of his shirt. The clogs were loin and split. Barbed wire around the cabin was broken into small Another vv itiiemployed at the farm said he was in a building adjoin ing the farmhouse ami had n spade in his hand, when a. flash of lightning struck the steel portion and he was thrown on his back. The Coroner, Colonel 11. Parker, praised Doris Braithwaite for the way in which she had kept her head, and said she had acted with extraordinary