Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 193, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1912 — LIGHTNING BURNS FUSE IN CENTRAL EXCHANGE. [ARTICLE]

LIGHTNING BURNS FUSE IN CENTRAL EXCHANGE.

Hello Girls, Frightened by Blinding Flash, Tarn in Fire AlarmCompany NoT Needed. y ■ For some time this afternoon considerable excitement was aroused when a stroke of lightning burned out a fuse in the Jasper County Telephone Exchange office. At about 1:45, shortly after the most of the storm had gone over, lightning struck a fuse that was back of the operating board. The blinding flash that resulted threw the hello girls into almost a riotous tumult, and for some time chaos reigned supreme. The girl who was the first to regain her vision, instinctively turned in the fire alarm and in a few short moments Chief Montgomery and his bravecorps of fire fighters had swung around the corner at a deadly speed and hooked the hose to the hydrant directly in front of Murray’s store. Just as they started to empty the yeel of hose, Tom Hoyes leaned far out of the second story window balcony and in a clarion voice cried out, “Too late.” There was no fire. The great multitude of morbid sightseers who had gathered to the scene of the supposed disaster turned reluctantly away; the hello girls went back to work, and it is still raining.