317 were burned, or 53.6 per cent. This percentage is higher than obtains gener- 

 ally, because most of our reports originated in the newspapers, and naturally it 

 is chiefly the severe strokes that are thus reported. Amongst that 599 there 

 were only 18 rodded buildings, and of these only three were burned, which is 

 one in six or 16.6 per cent, as against 53.6. Hence we concluded that an un- 

 rodded building if struck is more than three times as likely to be burned as a 

 rodded one. This is the sum total of the results of our first ten years' study 

 of this subject. As there seemed to be no object in pursuing this phase further, 

 the original line of investigation was discontinued. 



On the three rodded buildings that were burned the rods were reported in 

 good repair, but whether the rodding was correctly done we had no means of 

 determining. 



Do Lightning Eods Prevent Strokes f 



But as early as 1906 we had begun to enquire whether lightning rods hadn't 

 a greater function to perform than save buildings that are struck. We had begun 

 to ask ourselves whether lightning rods do not actually prevent many buildings 

 from being struck! At first thought this looks preposterous, but seemingly pre- 

 posterous things sometimes turn out real and contain great truths. 



But how could we determine whether rods prevent buildings from being 

 struck? If 1,000 rodded buildings escaped damage during a storm, how could 

 we ascertain whether some of them would have been damaged if not rodded? 

 We knew that amongst 599 buildings that were struck there were only 18 rodded 

 ones, which is just 3 per cent. If we knew what percentage of farm buildings 

 in Ontario were rodded that w^ould settle the question. If rods neither prevent 

 nor induce strokes then the percentage of rodded buildings amongst those struck 

 should be just the same as the percentage of rodded buildings in Ontario. If the 

 rods cause strokes then proportionally more rodded ones would be struck than 

 unrodded, but if they prevent strokes, then proportionally less. 



Clues That Failed. 



To determine what percentage of Ontario buildings are rodded we first en- 

 deavored to have the township assessors make a record regarding the buildings 

 on each farm and to have them give a return showing the result. In this we 

 failed. We approached the inspector of insurance with a view to having him 

 make a regulation requiring fire insurance companies to report in every applica- 

 tion whether the buildings insured were rodded or not. Again we were disap- 

 pointed. We thought of endeavouring to have the census enumerators ascertain 

 the number of rodded and unrodded buildings, but this seemed impracticable. We 

 wrote every insurance company doing business in Ontario, about one hundred 

 and forty in all, but they were unable to tell us whether the buildings in their 

 risks were rodded or not. 



However, writing the insurance companies was the beginning of the solution. 

 It drew their attention to our work. Early in 1912 the writer accepted an invitation 

 to address the Mutual Fire Underwriters' Association on the subject of Lightning 

 Eods. After dealing with the subject from a scientific standpoint and giving the 

 result already noted of our ten years' investigations along the practical side, the 

 writer laid before the members of the Association the important question as to 

 whether rods actually prevent strokes from occurring, and asked their co-operation 

 in answering it. 



