TO those of my readers who have Within a few minutes more, and oftnever seen a large or destructive fire, en as soon as the bells begin to ring, the the picture above may be of some ser- noise of the fire engines and the firevice. It is not however the picture of men begins to greet your ears. The such a fire as you might sometimes wit- engine carriages rattle, the little bell fixness in a city, where 20, 30, 50, or 100 ed at the top of the engine begins to buildings are destroyed. It is only a ring, the men who drag the carriages single building on fire, in a plain Eng- begin to assemble more and more, fornlish country village. ing long trains, so long as almost to fill the whole of some of the principal streets, and the spectators begin to throng the side-walks. I have seen half a dozen or a dozen engines, several hundred firemen, and several thousand citizens collected together in about half an hour from the time of the first cry of Fire! Fire! When a fire happens in Boston, or any large city, the noise and tumult are sometimes very great indeed. Fire! Fire! is the first thing you hear. Fire, Fire, Fire, many voices-sometimes hundreds-from almost every part of the city, quickly reply; and in a very short time, sometimes in a minute or two, the bells begin to ring; first one, and then another, till almost all the bells in the city join in the concert. Sometimes the whole proves to be but a false alarm. When this turns out to be the case, the firemen, with their en 254 WHAT TO DO IN A THUNDER STORM. gines, often retreat almost as suddenly as they made their appearance. When their services are really needed, they are sometimes on the spot for several hours. WHAT TO DO IN A THUNDER STORM. Do you remember Grandfather Sagely? He was a very old man when he used to write for this magazine; but his pieces used to interest the most of you. He was a schoolmaster. Though more than 80 years old, he was teaching a ladies' school when he died. Well, as I was going to say, Grandfather Sagely thought it very useful to the young to think over, in our quiet moments, what we would do, if we were frightened, as when the horses run in a stage, when there is a hurricane, a fire, a thunder storm, &c. He said that if we would do so, we should not be likely to act so unwisely as most people do. I have seen people, for example, go under a tree-a green tree-in the midst of a thunder shower; and I have known ploughmen drive their oxen or horses under the tree, and stand there all together. Now this is one of the most dangerous situations in which a person can place himself. I will tell you why it is so. The electric fluid-the lightning, as we commonly call it-inclines first to metallic bodies especially polished ones; that is to say, these are its best conductors. Next to these, the best conductors are living bodies-the bodies of men and other animals. One of the next best is living trees, full of those rich juices or sap which all healthy trees contain. Now, if the electric fluid leaves the clouds to go to the earth, and before it reaches the surface comes very near living trees, it is very apt to run down a tree, to the ground. If there were metallic rods-lightning rods to trees, it would probably run down on them, rather than on the trees. But as there are no lightning rods, it usually follows the tree, unless there are living animals under it; in that case, it is apt to leave the tree in part or in whole, and go to the animals. This is the reason why so many men and oxen and horses and sheep, that take shelter under trees in thunder storms, get killed. Multitudes are destroyed in this way every year. It is safer by far to remain in the open air, than go under a green tree. You will ask, if it is safer to stay in the open air, than to go into a house. I should not say quite so much as that, especially if the house has a lightning rod to it. And even if it has not, wooden or brick or stone houses are not very good conductors of the lightning, and are not so often struck as living trees. Yet even these are sometimes struck. I will therefore tell you what parts of the house are safest. It is not a good way to sit down by the side of the room where you know there is a large post. Nor is it so well to sit close to the fire-place. The light FOOL-HARDINESS. ning seems rather more inclined to run down the one or the other of these than to go in other places. It is, I think, rather better to sit in the more central parts of the room. Some say, it is well to place a feather bed in the middle of the room, and get on it; because feathers are a very bad conductor to the lightning. But feather beds, in the summer, are not so fashionable as they once were, and are not always at hand. I should say, rather, that if you sit in the middle of the room and the house has a lightning rod, you are pretty safe. FOOL-HARDINESS AND ITS CONSE. THE following story is from the Boston Daily Advertiser for the 19th of June last. "An occurrence of a novel character took place in this city on Monday last, which has before been briefly spoken of. Christopher Jones, an Englishman by birth, upwards of 40 years of age, who, we understand, had been attached to the Equestrian department of the Lion The atre, before its occupation by Cooke's company,-undertook to perform a feat, which it is said he had previously performed elsewhere without inconvenience, but which on this occasion cost him his life. 255 was about eight feet deep, in the presence of a number of spectators. While under water his intention was, to dress himself as a female, and then make his appearance above water. He came above water once or twice, supposed by most of the spectators for the purpose of taking breath, but by others he appeared to be struggling. "After having disappeared for some time, the spectators came to the conclusion that all was not right, and took measures to bring him up. He was got up in about twenty minutes, lifeless, and endeavors made to resuscitate him, but without avail. When taken up one of his arms was found thrust through the sleeve of a woman's gown, and the rest of the garment was entangled around the rope. It is supposed that in endeavoring to disengage it, or to free himself from all these incumbrances, he became exhausted, and perished." When will people leave off risking life and health, so much, to little or no purpose except to see foolish people gape and stare? There are feats performed at this same Lion Theatre in Boston, almost every day, which are exceedingly dangerous to say the least. In one instance, as we were told by a gentleman who witnessed the performance, a man walked along the ceiling of the room with his head downwards. He had barbs or claws attached to his boots, so that by thrusting them into the ceiling, he was pretty secure from falling. But it would not have been at all strange had he been seized with a fit of apoplexy by having the blood thus forced into his "About two o'clock in the afternoon, provided with a rope about six feet in length, having at one end a loop, which was passed around his neck, and at the other a stone weighing 25 pounds, securely fastened, he jumped from Boston South Bridge into the water, where it head. What do such people mean ? |