A NARROW ESCAPE. A Man Struck by Lightning and Not Killed.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 286, 1 August 1888, Page 4

A NARROW ESCAPE. A Man Struck by Lightning and Not Killed.

Tm; narrowest escape from death by lightning of which 1 have ever heard came to my knowledge while lecturing a few weeks ago at the Forida Chautaqua. The drug store, which i* u=ed as a post office by the good people of l)e Funlak, stands- between the raihoad station and their beautitul little lake At the time to which 1 refer it was ' protected' by a common-sized twisted copper band lightning rod, with iron core, fastened to the house by glass insulators in the old fashioned way. Several otber houses in town were ' rodded ' in the same way, but after this one was badly shattered they were torn oft' by their owners ' to lessen their chances of getting struck, yon know,' they explained. About 100 feet back of the post-office stood two fine specimens of the tall pines which grow so abundantly in that region. On the afternoon of the 18th of last ; August, at about 1 o'clock, a number of boys and men had collected under the postoffice porch, thinking, on account of the lightning rod, that they would be safe from the lightning, which was playing rather treely from an only partially cloudcovered sky. Among them was John (Jhisholm, a merchant of De Funiak, who was sitting about half way between the corner-post of the porch and the nearest window. ; The lightning struck the two high pines, and after shattering their tops, leaped to the rod, completely melting its points, and I then running along the comb of the loof to the gable and down a coiner. Mr Chisholms only recollection of the stroke io a sensation like that of a heavy blast of hot air striking him between the shouldeis. He was tin own forward upon his lace, and taken up foi dead. His shoes were new, and hi*- trousers nearly so, yet they w ere left looking \ery much as it they had been attacked by an army of hungry rats. How a man could have his clothes chewed oft" from him by lightning in that style, and still live, is a mystery. His shirt was torn entirely in two. His body was badly blistered, especially from the knees down. Becoming conscious, he experienced a terrible feeling of suflocation and ' headache, as though it would burst.' Ho re mained helpless for four months, suHeiing tetribly fiom aching in the bones and a stinging sensation, 'as though a thousand needles were being stuck all over my body.' Now, after a lapse ot over nine months, Mr Chisholm has gradually lecoveicd the use of his limbs, only suffering from an occasional violent involuntary jerk in the back. He attends to business and has le covered much of his former health. Several others sitting near were, of course, more or less shaken up. Dr. Alfred caught a paic of Mr Chisholm'b charge in his foot, and went on crutches lor some days. The jewellei, Mr Cochran, who was at work in the window nearest the corner, had his hair and breast badly singed, and the artist who took these photographs had hi& pipe knocked out of his mouth and broken to pieces. — Professor Demotte in the 'Scientific American,'