| OCR Text |
Show Points of Danger in Severe Thunder Storm In general, rocky ground Is struck by lightning more often than meadow land, and rocks near water, especially especial-ly If they are high, are commonly struck. Large groups of persons caught out In the open by a storm should scatter and He down In the mud It is better to be muddy than sorry. Similarly, If one Is caught out In a lake In nn open boat a very bad place to be It Is best to He down In. the bottom and drift than to try to row to shelter. Another rule for safety In the country Is that It Is better not to yield to temptation and seek shelter In exposed buildings. It is better to get wet than to Btand on the porch of such a building. Wood houses are Just as safe (or as dangerous) as stone houses. IIome3 made entirely of metal or of metal framework are very safe. It Is well to notice that many commonly com-monly accepted beliefs are ground less. A bed Is no safer than a chair, or the floor,-for that matter.. x It makes little If any difference If the. windows are open or shut, although al-though closed windows will keep out the rain and some of the noise. Small steel objects such as scissors or knives are perfectly harmless. The essence of a thunder storm Is th&t lightning la simply the visible part of an electrical discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth. It always follows the path of least resistance. If you stay out of dangerous places yoi are perfectly safe and, anyway, you have 250,000 chances to one of being hit and 1,000,000 to one chances of being killed. |
