| Show at sea an electric storm at sea is one of the alarming experiences to which a mariner is exposed but as a matter of record it is ona that is least fruitful in disastrous results As a rule few precautions are taken to guard against a strobe of lightning especially in tho merchant ships of war are usually fitted with lightning conductors a precaution made necessary by the explosives stored away in their magazines bat these safeguards are seldom seen oa a merchant vessel and judging by the extreme rarity of the basea where they have been struck jacks claim that he is safer on the ocean than oa shore during an electrical disturbance disturb anca must be admitted it is well established theory that one caught in a thunderstorm should not take shelter under a tall tree especially if it stands in a clearing why lightning should strike an isolated piece of timber on shore and spare it after it haa been converted into a vessels mast ia yet to be satisfactorily explained new york times |
