NOTES ON TWO LIGHTNING FLASHES. 141 



church had been struck and was on fire. What happened 

 was that at about 6*30 p.m., a man passing saw some light 

 inside and smoke rising from the roof ; he immediately 

 warned the Rectory and the fire engines were called. 

 When an entrance was made it was found that the church 

 was full of smoke, and that flames were running down the 

 inside of the roof along the nave and as far as the junc- 

 tion of the principals of the transepts with those of the 

 nave. It was the custom to leave the gas on at the meter, 

 and it was found as soon as could be that the gas had been 

 lit at a tin pipe leading down to a bracket on the south 

 transept wall, and that a yard or more was gone; after- 

 wards I found the spattering of tin on a seat below. It 

 seems certain that one of the two flashes referred to 

 above had done the mischief. The effects were as follows: 

 the lead valley joining the roof of the nave and transept 

 on the southern side was melted for some distance above 

 the guttering and a way opened into the interior close to 

 where the tin pipe crossed over a principal on its way 

 down from its junction with the iron pipe which ran along 

 that principal. That pipe being the best way to earth, 

 carried off and disposed of part of the charge, but the tin 

 pipe being melted through and the gas lit, the further 

 melting of the tin pipe resulted from the heat of combustion, 

 and the gas flame also set the roof lining and the principal 

 on fire. It must have been burning an hour before the 

 discovery. The damage was considerable, but was soon 

 limited by the engines. Owing to the tightness of the roof, 

 the fumes of steam and carbonic acid gas must have 

 helped to save the whole roof from destruction. There 

 was no system of conductors, and none of the rain spouts 

 reached the ground. 



Here the flash dived into a hollow to attack the lead 

 gutter instead of going for the prominent ridges. But the 

 tin gas pipe about a foot from the valley was the nearest 



