Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1887 — Concerning Lightning Rods. [ARTICLE]

Concerning Lightning Rods.

Lightning rods, as they are placed upon houses at present, are a useless expense and a more useless appendage to the buildings upon which they are placed. I have traveled miles to inspect buildings struck by lightning, and by far the largest number were protected, or said to be, by lightning rods. True, the rods convey a portion of the electrical fluid to the earth, but a thoroughly wetted house will convey it to the earth much better than ordinary lightning rods, whereas a dry, wooden building, being a poor conductor, becoming itself thoroughly electrified, repels the stroke. Out of thirty buildings examined that had been struck by lightning, eighteen had lightning rods, and twelve were not protected. In five of the unprotected buildings the electricity was concentrated by the lead sink spout, where it passed into the house and down the lead pipe of the pump into the well, where it disappeared without doing much damage. In one house the lightning was attracted by a horshoe nailed to the corner of the house and used for fasteniug the clothes-line. It passed down the corner to the earth without doing any especial damage. In three houses the lightning was drawn from the wet building by the sheet lead joining the Lto the main house. The lightning in three instances passed along the eaves spout, where it made use of the water in the spout as a conductor to carry it to the ground. Once again the lightning was concentrated in the interior of the house by a hand-saw hanging on a hook in the ceiling of the room. The owner of the house was a carpenter, and when he came in from work he hung his saw up on this hook, and sat down to supper. The lightningpassed from the saw blade to his head, killing him instantly. In several other instances the lightning struck the chimney, where it was attracted into the rooms by the stove pipe, or perhaps some metallic ornament upon the mantelpiece. Deaths caused by lightning in houses are, nine times out of ten, of people standing in the doors or shutting down windows, they being, much better conductors than the building itself.

Now let us consider the lightningrod. Great masses of iron or copper conduct lightning off without danger to the building which contains them, no matter whether they are inside or outside. Who ever heard of a factory or machine-shop being injured to any extent by lightning? One may pass a copper rod or bar through a barrel of gunpowder, and, if the bar is three inches in diameter, it is doubtful if a lightning-bolt passing through the bar would discharge the powder. Often I have received sharp shocks from the machinery in a mill during a thunderstorm, but I never heard of a mill or any of the machinery or operatives being injured from that cause. Lightning is generated at various altitudes from one-quarter of a mile to four miles in height. . When generated at great altitudes it is usually disseminated among the negative vapor of the upper air. Rain conveys vast quantities of electricity to the earth. It is only the surplus electricity that passes as a thunder-bolt. My theory of What a lightning-rod should be is as follows: Two-inch pipes laid along the ridge-pole and uniting in one two-inch pipe at either end of the building, where it may be bent off from the building it is intended to protect. Such a lightning conductor would be strong enough to withstand any ordinary shock, and of sufficient capacity to conduct off the greatest lightning-bolt. It needs no spikes or points to draw the electricity any more than a telegraph wire. The points in this case are nonsense as well. I have frequently measured the mark made by the lightning in its passage to the earth down oak trees, and I find it pretty uniform in width, and usually about two inches, often less, but seldom more.— H. H. Veitch, in Boston Cultivator.