240 



Effects of Lightning. 



we may suppose the distance of this flash to have been about 1 

 miles; this I think was as near as any to this place. 



At a distance of about four miles south of this place, the light- 

 ning struck the upper telegraph wire and passed off in both direc- 

 tions, giving reports as loud as that of "a pistol fired in a close 

 room," in the telegraphic offices in Boston and Providence. The 

 lightning split or splintered nearly all the posts for about one 



milej and broke several of the glass insulators. The most south- 

 ern post which was affected by the lightning is situated about 

 four miles south of this place; calling that post 1, and number- 

 ing all the posts which have been affected, I find the last one 

 split is No. 28. Nos. 9, 24 and 27 are not injured in any way. 

 No. 18 is split the most of any ; this post stands in a very wet 

 place, in fact it is surrounded by water. Nearly every post that 

 was affected had a long, narrow spiral groove dug out along its 

 whole length, corresponding with the grain of the wood. Post 

 No. 18 was split into three nearly equal pieces, the iron spikes 

 torn out and the upper insulator broken. Persons living near 

 the line of the telegraph say they saw the flash as it passed along 

 on the wires; they also heard several slight reports similar to 

 those of percussion caps. 



As the shower passed on to the east, the lightning struck a 

 house belonging to Mr. Ebenezer Draper, situated in the village 

 of Attleboro', known as *'Attleboro' City." This house was 

 struck twice, the second discharge beins: about three minutes 

 after the first. There was no lightning rod on the house, ana 



1. 



n:w: 



the nearest one to the house was situated about fifty rods distant. 

 There are, I believe, but three rods in the village, or within i mile 

 of the house. This house is a one-story frame building, stand- 

 ing upon a stratum of graywacke conglomerate soil of the red slaty 

 variety, and has been built 

 50 or 60 years. The house 

 fronts the road which runs 

 through the village in a N.E. 

 and S.\Y. direction. At each 

 end and within four feet of 

 the house stands a Balm of 

 Gilead (Populus candicans). 

 These trees are very nuich 

 branched, but the branches 

 of the tree at the N.E. end 

 of the house do not extend 

 over the house to any consid- 

 erable extent. There were 

 four persons in the house at 

 the time it was struck, viz., 

 Mr. Ebenezer Draper and wife and daughter, and Mr. Daniel 

 Barney. 



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