/Q.utaL Sa-ketu loplci 



By C. M. SEAGRAVES 



i\uluri>'K Arlillrr.i 



Last month, a Richland county farm- 

 er was killed mst.intly while eni;.i^ed 

 m plowing. He was struck by light- 

 ning. 



In Mercer county, lightning stunned 

 ■s yoting 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. 



Wlien it .strikes with the effect noted 

 above .... we all hear about it. 

 What we don't alw.iys read of is its 

 most frec]uent prank . . lightning is 

 the number one cause of farm fires. 



The Farmers Mutual Reinsurance 



Company reports that last year -)0^^ 

 of all claims received were the result 

 of lightning tires. 



There are no complete and authori- 

 tative data on property losses from 

 lightning and estimates v.iry from 

 Sy,()(>0.00() to S20,()00,0()() as the an- 

 nual loss. About yo'^f of this loss 

 falls on farm folks. And yet there are 

 few causes of farm fires against which 

 such effective protection is available. 



hlectrical enj^ineers tell us that as 



storm clouds roll along, they gather up 

 a tremendous quantity of electricity. 



At the same time directly under 

 cloud .mother ch.irge is building 

 on the ground. As the tension 



the 

 up 

 the ten-lion 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 

 gre.it enough to bridge the gap be- 

 tween the two electrical bodies .... 

 We have the mighty tl.ish of lightning, 

 with which we .ire ,ill t.miih.ir. 



Inasmuch as nothing can be done 

 to prevent lightning, tlie only alterna- 

 tive is to provide a jiatli for the dis- 

 ch.irge to enter or leave the earth with- 

 out passing through aily 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 ago un- 

 scrupulous salesmen traveled through 



the country marketing sub- 

 rods, because, as a result, 

 feel that rods are of 



most of 

 standard 

 many people stil 

 no value. 



Fire inarshall reports from Iowa, 

 however, indicate differently. In that 

 state during a tive-ycar 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 ecjuipment! 



I'mli'iiiitii of Ituililiiigs 



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 

 ot 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 he at least twe) widely 

 sep.irated paths to the ground for the 

 lightning to follow. Insulation of 

 the conductor troiii the binlding is not 

 necessary. 



3. Cirounding ot the conductors 

 should be thorough and permanent. 

 If a water pipe enters the building, at 

 Ic.ist 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 grounel connection. Where 

 the soil is largely sand, gravel or 

 stones, thus liable to be dry in the 

 summer, more extensive artitici.il 

 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 tor 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 

 (copi->er, for instance, being one of the 

 most desirable materials for this pur- 

 pose). 



These four essential factors are re- 



cjuired in any system ot lightning rod 

 protection. There .ire, also, other im- 

 portant factors. The purchaser is ad 

 vised to deal only with res|sonsiblc 

 concerns specializing in lightning pro- 

 tection ecjuipment and to specify Un- 

 derwriters' Laboratories' iNListcr Label 

 as evidence of installation in accordance 

 with the (ode for Protection Against 

 Lightning. 



Lightning rods would have prevented this loss. 



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The 

 rules w 

 juries 



Do 



out d 



is absc) 

 a build 

 near tli 

 If tl 

 choose 

 1 



). 

 Dun I 

 mediate 

 Fl 

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If 



24 



L A. A. RECORD 



