Thunder and Lightning

owers place them in the first rank of conductors, and the innumerable cases of lightning w

ils, wire, bell-pulls, that it dotes on rain-spouts, leaden pipes, and telegraph wires, that it is ve

the church of Brexton, springing on the cross of the steeple at first and running down the stem, but, arrived at the masonry which supported it, broke

the mattress to pursue the iron of the bed, glances off the windows to glide over the curtain-rods, or th

ithout having been killed, had her ear-ring split. Wel

ack indented line in its place, which, however, soon passed off. The lady was struck, but recovered consciousness within a few hours, being none the worse. Her

ces were more dramatic, will show ladi

l fell in the domain of Castelou. A young girl of fourteen was fatally struck by the meteor. The gold c

broken, melted, partially or complete

in into a single lump in the pocket of

en precious stones are some

trical discharge, it has been remarked that the movement became slower. In some cas

of the passengers were injured, but all their wa

which are absolutely inexplicable. The following obs

Saint-Germain. His watch was in no wise hurt outside, but, although it

to take it to the watchmaker; but next day, thinking he would wind it up to make sure of

e watch is seriously injured, wh

as broken, some of the links soldered together. The cap had been perforate

ps the works of watches, it al

ered a room and broken the corner of a glass, set a

f Luxembourg, told me yesterday that on Sunday, April 8, at 9.35 in the evening, a watch (wound up), which had stopped

is rubbed off the metal, it is melted, bored thro

r is rare. Here is

having been killed by lightning, his silver watch

eces of steel are subjected. We have a considerable number of records concerning these magnetic properties.

lso by the spark. It often gives an energetic twist to the needles, or to the spring for

tning; here it hurls itself down like a fiery torrent, there it ma

corsets, melting the busks and the l

ticles which set off our garments, e

re of heaven: they are twisted, flattened, melt

he moment he put his key into the lock, the white gleam of a dazzling flash of lightning surround

ed out of the hands of the workers, and carried so

l on the workshop of M. Penon, a chain-maker. Five or six

it passed to a heap of chains which it did not damage much. All the links in a chain of about a metre long were, however, soldered together; the whole chain seemed to be galvanized, and the soldering was not easily broken by hand. Pieces of iron which had been cut and prepared for the manufacture, we

f a piece of furniture with a most amazing skill, without doing any harm to the material they kept

te end of the room, others were so solidly fixed in the partitions, that it was only with great difficulty that they were pulled out (Howar). At another time, close to Marseilles, lightning slipped into a drawing-room, one might

nobs are frequently p

nts, share the same fate. Violently torn out of the hands of their owners, they sta

themselves beneath a thundery sky, by carrying their implements with the point

nductor, darts from the clouds upon this centre of attraction, and runs into the ord

ork, they were thinking of returning home. Each carried an American fork over his shoulder. They had come within 150 metres of t

cases of this kind, from which I

ed forty, was sharpening a scythe in an orchard close to his house. Suddenly a

to get grass in the country. All at once he was struck by lightning, and his horse, which he was holding by the bridle

rille Bégin, who was driving a cart to which were yoked four h

. Silk, having the property of a veritable repulsion to lightning, one might really believe that umbrellas, whose covers are often made of this fabric, are protectors against the fire of heaven. But the records which we possess are not conclusive;

The man was killed instantly. His garments were in tatters, and the soles torn from his shoes. His pipe was thrown twenty y

, who were walking on either side of a schoolboy holding an umbrella, were killed by

but did not escape altogether, nevertheless. It may be remarked, also, that the chief victims were just

ng's most ordinary performances; it has oc

corn, must have been, if not actually melted, at any rate considerably softened. Indeed, the links were dragged downwards by the weight

ce during the swift passage of the electric spark, which

to transform the atmosphere into a veritable forge, in which

lump of sugar in a glass of wat

tempestuously into a kitchen, and, melt

other tools hanging from a rack on the wall were soldered to the nails with which the

. Nails, bolts, and divers small objects were soldered together in groups of

word-blade liquifies, while the scabbard remains intact. The ir

ite as unheard of, as those enu

g, though the paper in which

ast injury being done to the linen which en

delicate feelings; it is a pity the lightn

t agreeable playthings for the lightning, judgin

k of lightning by way of salvo. The mysterious hand which pulled the bell is already far away; but it has left its impress on the bell, and the guiding ray follows the

e fall into coffee cups, and become embedded in th

ften compromising to the safety of their neighbo

apes, propped on espaliers, we ought to see that they are so arran

out fifteen metres from a dwelling where there were four people; the meteor, conducted by the w

pleasure in looking at its diaphanous and fugitive for

the gilt frame. Then it evaporated the gilding, spreading it over the surface of the glass, while on

a great distance; and at times the fusion of the glass is so

y the lightning to a distance, and applied to the gilding of obje

he gilding on clocks, corn

mples coming under this c

More than five hundred were present; without any person being injured, the lightning took the gilding clean off cornic

ilippshofen in Bohemia, and went off with the gold

llege in Vienna, and took the gold from the cornice o

hat when a house in the Rue Plumet in Paris was struck in 1767, among several frames han

certain laws which are not yet defined, and its gestures, although apparently wild and capricious, are not the result of fortuitous circumstan

dies visited repeatedly by lightning? We

it took its departure. The traces of this disaster were removed with all haste, but twelve years later, on June 20, 1764, the lightning returned to the charge. It penetrated the church for the second time, but the most remarkable fact is, that it worked havoc similar to that done on its first visit. Again the sacred picture-frames were despoiled of their gilding, the niches of the saints blackened, the pewter vases scorched, and the two holes in the

rrence; they give us a chance of understan

following: amongst others, that of a piece of gold in a purse, which was silvered over w

! On our music-hall stages this

ot been said about ligh

rity communicated to objects in steel and iron, no matter what they be.

he accident he found his needles were magnetized: they clun

here certain objects, which were struck by lightni

one can understand the terror inspired by lightning in uncultured minds, when, after the passing of the meteor, they see common things suddenly animated by a fantastic vit

htning was, according to the belief then popular, at the service of heaven and hell! But, nowadays, sorcery is fallen into disuse; the ma

of electricity are

which the quarters of meat were hanging. From one of the hooks a whole ox was suspended. All at once the skinned carcase w

y breaking the panes in the window. On the upper storey it got into a lodging occupied by two old women, where it caused the following damage: one of the women was holding a bowl of milk, the bottom of the bowl was cracked and the milk spilled on the floor; some money which was in a wooden bowl disappeared

ough it often does a great deal of harm, it almost always spares t

wed. This perforation of the walls is one of th

he perforated wall

ten feet thick, and the cement was as hard as stone, so that it was almost impossible to break it. "One day," says Nollet, "a flash of li

e), the wall of a bakehouse, fifty-five ce

tning in 1761. Two furrows like those mad

ing considerable masses of stone and rock, broken or intact, to great dista

f the roof, and shot a stone, measuring thirty-five centimetres, to a distance of twenty metres. Rough stones, weigh

ne hundred and fifty feet long, by ten broad, and in some parts four feet thick; this it split into great pieces. One, measuring twenty-six feet l

acle of the edifice, and threw one of the stones, weighing at least a hundred-weight

und at 365 metres or so from the belfry; and a thi

ve brutality. For instance, a wall has been removed intact without being

ull of pestilential, sulphureous vapour. Above it was a cistern half full. Suddenly the edifice, the walls of which measured thirty centimetres in thic

d so rapidly moved by lightning, was

btle fluid has pulverized a hard stone

ightning makes them fly through the air. Sometimes it is

nence on the summit of the building, especially when they are surmounted by a vane. Again, the flue is often in cast-iron, and if it is bricked it is supported by bars of iron. The surface of the interior is covered with a layer of soot

ery frequently gets into a house by the chimney

the spark, and split or furrowed more or less deeply. A curious fact

struck the belfry of the church at Abres

swing doors bored two holes, each as big as a pigeon's egg, an

d on woodwork. Lightning works with wrought wood just as it does when the tree

d! When it is a question of robbing

etimes are thrown a long way off. Often

g struck a building full of hay; the windows had glass in t

ved at the Castle of Upsal, on August 24, 1760. Lightning visited this edifice and then took fli

terrific heat was generated

room. In the middle of August, 1887, a house at Francines, near Limoges, was struck by lightning. It fell in a room where the master of the house was in bed. He felt a terrific shock, and saw his

t a pillow on which one of them had her head was thrown to a distance. Finally, the meteor went

r). To start, it turned the clock tower upside down, broke a clock, then opened a

, and carried the enormous iron bar which supported them a long way off. The roof of the church was burst in and the tiles were pulverized in sever

ery often struck by lightning, doubtless owing

s and pictures adorning the sanctuary are often destroyed, and the altar itself shattered. Cases of priests struck

eant or an infidel, one is obliged to con

lightning observed in dwellings

me remarkab

ut was stopped by a heap of rubbish. Everything, in fact, of which the chimney had once consisted was heaped up in the middle of the room. The mantelshelf, violently torn off, had been partly melted, the clock had had the door of the cas

for some time, suddenly crashed down all at once about midnight with the most appalling

eir dwellings must be annihilated. Every one had the presentiment of disaster, which was only too real: t

ed and hurled to a distance; of the furniture there was nothing left but shapeless wreckage. But what was most extraordina

safe and sound, though the bed was broken to pieces. The father and mother were asleep on the ground floor, with two little c

k her lifeless on the floor. The husband, who was in the bed with another child, only felt a severe shaking. The lightning, having accomplished its work of

hrown to the ground and broken, the other disappeared. Then the electric spark ripped off a great part of the roof. All the tiles were scattered round the house. A young servant slept in a garret under the roof; the lightning penetr

, broke part of the frame; again left the room, entered a little room adjoining where six people were sleeping-the father, the mother, and four young children; pierced the wall to enter a locksmith's, scattered all the tools, tore out a drawer, broke it i

e struck. Terrified by the report they rose instantly; the smell of smo

looking-glass, and a clock badly injured by the lightning; which before retiring, an

f the caprices of the lightning, but what name could one give

and making in the place of the said hinge a hole right through the wall. Afterwards it lifted a pot and the lid from the hearth over to the middle of the floor, tearing up some tiles as it went. It broke the latch of the hall doo

cles were fastened together, the twine which served to hang up the chopper being rolled round the handle of the basin. Finally, the flash divided, and zigzagged off, one part carrying off a piece of the oak

many and various articles too

ng joins in the Nat

k a house, carrying off a corner of the roof. It knocked off the lower pa

aining various kinds of liqueur, only one bottle of spirits was broken, and this was do

les as it left the house, but soon returned by way of the chimney, three parts of which it demolished. Then it explored the kitchen on the ground floor, where there were three men by a fire. One, standing up, was thrown violently against the opposite wall; another was hurled against the door; the third, seated, was raised from his chair to a height o

and almost ch

little cot, and then depart quietly without giving any further cause for talk. Or this same lightning, terrible and ungovernable at times, will snatch som

Twenty-five out of a flock of sheep were struck. The shepherd was enveloped by a flash,

blew up the stone staircase, and did considerable damage. It grazed a woman who was sitting w

n lightning coming on unawares, stole his scythe and th

is truly amazing fro

und it, pass between a cow and the wall at a place where there was not more than 30 or 35 centimetr

h making a frightful hubbub, and breakin

he table, ran between the legs of an astounded guest, and then knocked a hole as big as a shilling in the neck of a bottle which was being filled at th

a pane of glass in the window, and passing within a few metres of them, went through the kitchen, and d

, went into the room of one of the officials, and cut clean in two a c

a hut, they had set out their provisions for breakfast. All at once the thunderstorm burst into the humble dining-room, snatched up the bread, cheese, etc

t a verit

st plate, leaves the second intact, cracks the next, spares the fourth, and so on to the bottom of the pile. Then its task finished, it becomes

various ways, espied a pile of plates in a cupboard, china and earthenware p

ightning does not explain.

filled with a kind of sticky water. The earthenware plates beside them were not even wet. I receive

the ancient prejudice which attributes a c

e. Suddenly a flash of lightning struck a plate in the middle of the table, threw dishes, glasses, pl

hirteen guest

bottles are altogether or partly melted. Boy

ing seemed to pass between them, yet neither was broken; one was slightly distorted, how

ost varied kind. Sometimes the wood, particularly of the butt-end, is sp

e top to get at the sentry and his gun. The barrel was blackened; the butt-end broken and

off with a f

he lightning. Soldiers are often enough struck when in th

ghtning has struck a loaded gun, melting the bullet and

ng up went off. The wall was damaged between each rifle. One was standing in a corner of the room; th

und floor. The muzzle was slightly melted by the spark, which ran along the barrel to the trigger, and which it soldered together in parts. There w

ide and outside, leaving a direct line of fusion, and yet, incredible th

tible with the usual theory of the combustibleness of gunpowder. T

lightning, which does not leave

t is one of very great interest; they are not always blown up, in sp

les which go to pro

and split one of the beams of the roof. Two barrels of powder were reduced to

s thunder can repul

contrary. The following observations are ex

ine containing a million kilogrammes of powder belonging to the Republic of Venice. The whole edifice was

vaults of the church of St Jean, at Rhodes, setting fire to an enormous quanti

rable. Well, it sometimes enjoys

ld it was not struck, but the shock sent him to sleep for four days; t

a ball; the room was plunged in darknes

the same thing has happened with pottery and tile-making furnaces. As a rule, it is extremely difficul

k place at the moment the gas caught alight, the gas meter, on the wall two metres above it, was dislodged, when a second explosion was heard. The thunderclap was truly terrific, and immediately followed the lightning flash. The chronometer in the meteorological bureau in the Observatory was stopped suddenly. The keeper of the square of th

a, Paluzzo. Under other circumstances, the accident might have been insignificant. But, fanned by a violent wind, th

ing set fire to twenty thatched cottages, which, out of thirty-two composing the village, were in

Innocent, at three o'clock in the morning. Seven houses

iller (C?te d'Or). Seventeen houses were burnt, and seventy-eight people found

park set fire to eighteen parishes in Belgiu

l than the fate of certain ships t

f one which was li

lightning struck the mainmast, and then downwards along it to the hold, cutting the vessel in two. She filled immediately. Crew and passengers were lost.

ogley, was struck by lightning and blown into a thousand pieces, through the explosion of her pow

dread meteor. Several examples are known of sailors being struck by the electric

mast, and went down the standing jib, to which the second officer was clinging. The unfortunate man had had both h

was the violence of the stroke that it was instantly reduced to shavings, which hung the whole length of the vessel, like rubbish in a carpenter's shop. The topmast w

nsversely in fragments, and flung to a distance. Sometimes they ar

llant-mast was in green pine, which was split into lo

ometimes curved, and of varying depth. Sometimes also, the electric current, far more powerful than the blast of the wind, seizes the rigging and carries it off. This phenomenon was observed on the Clenker, Decembe

l to another. Under ordinary circumstances it is usually local, and easily extinguished; but when it seiz

, grazed the mizzen-mast, and disappeared in the hold, after killing seven men. Seven hours later it was discovered with consternatio

f fire and large sparks, which set fire to the vessel. As it threatened the powder-magazine, the captain decided to abandon t

ven more terrible. Thus, in 1798, the English vessel the Resistance, was bl

, magnetic needle is often paralyzed by the electric current; sometimes its poles are reversed, or the points, disturbed

n lose all their m

ese ship which, about the year 1808, sailing for Marseilles, was struck a little way off Algiers. The needles of the compasses all made half a revolution, although the instruments did no

lar to attract the electric fluid. We have many records of vessels struck

, the Malacca was

titor was struck t

Mahon and Malta, the ship of a Russian admir

f Corfu, the Madagascar received fiv

n the subject. We have to discuss the interchange of sympathetic currents, and those which

ocean. These little excursions to our terrestrial dominions usually pass unperceived;

tive. Without being conscious of the fact, they are in correspondence with the sun, 149 millions of kilometres away, and any a

oon, the old world and the new were strangers to one another. Not a word nor a thought crossed the ocean; the submarine cables were paralyzed on account of solar disturbances. In France, communication between the principal towns and the frontiers was interrupted. During this

ires which will result in the vibration of the latter, accompanied sometimes by a flash of lightning. These phenomena may cause grave accidents to the telegraph clerks, unless they are on their guard against the trea

ghtning when they alight on the telegraph wires after a thu

man also, through th

r, when all at once they felt, at the knee-joints more particularly, a violent shock which made them bend their legs as if they had been struc

suddenly found themselves flat on the ground. Both had their hands burnt; one indeed, gave no sign of life; the other, in trying to raise himself up, fell back as soon as his arm came in contact with that of one of his comrades, who ran to his a

a certain part, and over a length of about twenty metres, the wire was cut in small pieces, three or four centimetres long, which were scattered over the ground,

houghts take wing. Thus, at Chateauneuf-Martignes, on August 25, 1900, lightning destroyed the telegraph poles on the outskirts of the railway-station. A severe shock, like an electrical discharge,

offices, curious results of the spark passing at a certain distan

a farm about a kilometre from the station, and at the same moment a globe of fire of a reddish brown, and apparently about the size of a small bomb-shell, rose as if out of a clump of trees. It glided through the air like an aerolite, and leaving behind it a train of light. At a hundred metres or so from the station, it alighted like a bird on the telegraph wires, then disappeared with the rapidity of lightning, leaving no trace of its passage, either on the wires or the station. But at Beuzevil

ected. The needle remained as usual

s sent me the following very

y of an electric light of twenty candle power. This voluminous globe followed the telephone wire towards the instrument. Arrived near the receiver, it burst with a terrific explosion. The witness of this phenomenon felt a severe shock, and dizziness. Recovered f

Not only does the lightning melt and break the telegr

are often to be seen alternating with others which are uninjured. Thus, on the line from Philadelphia to New York, during a great stor

unts, too, of lightnin

n Sorignac and Le Cloistre, saw lightning follow the train over a co

y lightning flashes which succeed each other almost without cessati

it actually wreck one, by breaking a wheel. The mutilated coach,

gers who witness this display of rather alarming magic. It spreads itself over masses of ir

on July 2, 1904, a cyclist named Jean Ollivier, aged twenty-one years, was rid

the fortifications at Lechfeld, near Ingolstadt. All at once the aerial skiff was touched by an electric spark, caught fire, and began to descend, slowly at first, then swiftly. The aeronaut had the good luck to get off with a broken thigh. The five assistants, who worked the w

e battalion of aeronauts was struck by lightning on the exercise ground