Kutal Sa-kctu loplci 



By C. M. SEAGRAVES 



IMature's Artillery 



Last month, a Richland county farm- 

 er was killed instantly while engaged 

 in plowing. He was struck by light- 

 ning. 



In Mercer county, lightning stunned 

 5 young men, killed a hog and struck 

 down 6 horses on one farm. 



Leaning against a fence, a Vermilion 

 county youth was severely shocked 

 when lightning struck the wire and 

 passed through his body. 



In other words, lightning is danger- 

 ous. 



When it strikes with the effect noted 

 above .... we all hear about it. 

 What we don't always read of is its 

 most frequent prank . . lightning is 

 the number one cause of farm fires. 



The Farmers Mutual Reinsurance 



Company reports that last year 40% 

 of all claims received were the result 

 of lightning fires. 



There are no complete and authori- 

 tative data on property losses from 

 lightning and estimates vary from 

 19,000,000 to $20,000,000 as the an- 

 nual loss. About 90% of this loss 

 falls on farm folks. And yet there are 

 few causes of farm fires against which 

 such effective protection is available. 



Electrical engineers tell us that as 

 storm clouds roll along, they gather up 

 a tremendous quantity of electricity. 

 At the same time directly under the 

 cloud another charge is building up 

 on the ground. As the tension be- 

 comes greater, the ground charge at- 

 tempts to reach the cloud by mounting 

 trees, barn, roof, silos, or any point 

 of elevation. When the power is 

 great enough to bridge the gap be- 

 tween the two electrical bodies .... 

 we have the mighty flash of lightning, 

 with which we are all familiar. 



Inasmuch as nothing can be done 



to prevent lightning, the only alterna- 

 tive is to provide a path for the dis- 

 charge to enter or leave the earth with- 

 out passing through any wood, brick 

 or concrete part of our farm buildings. 

 The answer, of course, is lightning 

 rods, properly constructed, installed 

 and maintained. 



It's unfortunate that years 

 scrupulous salesmen traveled 



most of the country marketing sub- 

 standard rods, because, as a result, 

 many people still feel that rods are of 

 no value. 



Fire marshall reports from Iowa, 

 however, indicate differently. In that 

 state during a five-year period, it was 

 found that for every protected build- 

 ing destroyed by lightning, there were 

 29 unprotected buildings destroyed and 

 there was no checking to ascertain 

 whether those protected had standard 

 or inferior equipment! 



Protection of Buildings 



There are certain fundamental prin- 

 ciples which should be observed in 

 installing a system of lightning con- 

 ductors. 



1. All points of a building most 

 likely to be struck by lightning should 

 be provided with rods. The rod points 

 should be high enough above the struc- 

 ture to obviate danger of fire from the 

 flash. One rod placed at the highest 

 point of a building is usually not suf- 

 ficent to protect the building. 



2. The conductors from the rod 

 points should be arranged to offer the 

 least possible obstruction to the passage 

 of a stroke between the point and the 

 ground. The most direct path is gen- 

 erally the best and there should be 

 no sharp bends or loops for the light- 



ning to jump across. From each point 

 there should be at least two widely 

 separated paths to the ground for the 

 lightning to follow. Insulation of 

 the conductor from the building is not 

 necessary. 



3. Grounding of the conductors 

 should be thorough and permanent. 

 If a water pipe enters the building, at 

 least one conductor should be con- 

 nected to it at a point just outside 

 the foundation wall. If the ground is 

 moist clay or other soil of similar char- 

 acter as to electrical conductivity, the 

 conductor can be driven into the 

 ground for a depth of at least ten feet 

 to make the ground connection. Where 

 the soil is largely sand, gravel or 

 stones, thus liable to be dry in the 

 summer, more extensive artificial 

 ground connections are necessary. The 

 ground connections should be distrib- 

 uted about the outside of the building. 



4. Since a lightning conductor sys- 

 tem as a general rule is expected to 

 remain in working condition for long 

 periods with little attention, the me- 

 chanical construction should be strong 

 and the materials used such as are not 

 readily subject to rust or corrosion 

 (copper, for instance, being one of the 

 most desirable materials for this pur- 

 pose). 



These four essential factors are re- 

 quired in any system of lightning rod 

 protection. There are, also, other im- 

 portant factors. The purchaser is ad- 

 vised to deal only with responsible 

 concerns specializing in lightning pro- 

 tection equipment and to specify Un- 

 derwriters' Laboratories' Master Label 

 as evidence of installation in accordance 

 with the Code for Protection Against 

 Lightning. , 



Lightning rods would have prevented this loss. 



ago un- 

 through 



21 



L A. A. RECORD 



