Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1901 — Havoc of the Lightning. [ARTICLE]

Havoc of the Lightning.

The lightning hit in more separate places in Jasper county Tuesday than was ever known in one day before in the history of the county. That no one was killed was only due to a lucky accident. The latter part of the above remark refers to the case of the Jos eph Long house, in Rensselaer, northeast of the depot, the striking of which is described in another place. It was only a lucky accident that Mrs. Long, her two children and her mother Mrs. Joe Rowen, were not in the house at the time, in which case it is practically certain that everyone of them would have been killed, instantly, the extent to which the lightning filled and riddled the whole house, is proof of that fact. Mrs. Rowen who lives close by had intended to go to Mrs. Long’s to assist her in pitting a quantity of cherries, but just before Mrs. Rowen was ready to go, Mrs. Long and her children repaired to Mrs. Rowen’s douse instead. In five minutes more, Mrs. Rowen says, she would have gone to Mrs. Long’s. The house is frightfully wrecked, and not a room but shows in many places the fearful force of the lightning. Not only is the plastering knocked off, but the doors and window caseings are all torn loose, and in various places the side boards of the house are also. The house belongs to J. W. Meharry, now of Mt. Ayr. In Remington Mrs. Will Broadie had a narrow escape, The lightning entered on the telephone wire. She was paralyzed from her hips down, but recovered in an hour or two. Considerable damage was done at Fountain Park also, by lightning that came by telephone. At Parr, which gets all the bad storms, lightning struck a tree two rods from Charles Martin’s barn, and four from his house, and killed his two horses, which were under the tree. John Carlin, who lives right close to Parr als had a horse killed, that was in a pasture. Both are poor men and a subscription for their benefit is being raised, at Parr. George Conaway, on the Mark Hemphill farm, some 4 miles north of Rensselaer, had his best horse killed. The lightning entered the barn at the window and killed this horse and seemingly did not harm at all another horse in the same stall. The largest single property loss we have heard of, occurred to Martin Cain, m Jordan tp , about five miles northwest of Remington. He had a good new barn struck and burned. The horses and most of the other contents were saved.