Thirty-first Annual Meeting 211 
both forenoon and afternoon on 63 days, on 9 days the storm 
began in the forenoon and ended in the afternoon, and on 2 
occasions the storm began on the afternoon or evening of one 
day and ended in the early morning of the following day. Note 
that the afternoon thunderstorm is about four times as fre- 
quent as the forenoon, that the number of days with thunder- 
storms both morning and afternoon is quite large, that the 
number of days on which the storm begins in the forenoon 
and continues into the afternoon is quite small and the num- 
ber beginning in the afternoon or evening and continuing 
beyond midnight is smaller still. 
The reports further show that at leats 31 persons were 
killed during the year by lightning, 70 others more or less 
injured; in addition, a large number of animals were killed and 
much property destroyed. We have no reliable figures as to 
how many times the lightning actually struck but we learn 
from the report of the State Fire Marshal that 215 fires were 
started during the year as the result of a lightning stroke, 
destroying property valued at about $370,000. The 215 objects 
damaged or destroyed were classified as follows: 137 barns, 
53 dwellings, 4 churches, 4 sheds, 4 warehouses, 2 haystacks, 
2 oil tanks, 1 dry cleaning establishment, 1 hotel, 1 livery 
stable, 1 school house, 1 straw stack, 1 manufacturing estab- 
lishment and 2 mercantile buildings. The Fire Marshal’s office 
takes no note of lightning strokes that do not start a fire or cause 
the loss of human life. These fires were distributed through the 
months as follows, viz.: February, 5; March, 6; April, 5; 
May; 33; June, 27; July, 45; August, 66; September, 17; 
October, 11; January, November and December, none. 
Another item of considerable interest, perhaps, is that 
about 95 per cent of the objects struck were wet at the time 
and rain was falling, leaving only about 5 per cent that were 
dry and struck when no rain was falling. In one case, the 
burning of a barn near Conneaut, Ashtabula County, March 
26th, the report seems to indicate that snow was falling at the 
time of the stroke that caused the fire. 
Another thing: The days on which thunderstorms are 
general over the State are relatively few. Of the 169 thunder- 
storm days in 1917, on 7 days only were thunderstorms general; 
on 11 days they covered about three-fourths of the State; on 
