In the summer of 1926, David Lillie, from the Glenburnie-on-Lake George area, had an unusual experience with lightning. That firebolt would dramatically change his life.
Most American school children can tell you the story of Benjamin Franklin’s 1752 experiment with lightning, a kite and key, and electricity. Yet, lightning is a very scary thing. It is a powerful spark of electricity that happens between the skies and the ground.
Lightning over the ages has been interpreted in many different ways. Up until the mid-18th century, church bells often had the Latin inscription fulgura frango, meaning, “I chase lightning” or “I break up lightning.” Back then, bell ringers would scurry to bell towers during thunderstorms as it was believed that ringing bells would scare lightning away.
Those who study lightning, a science known as fulminology, will tell you that statistically, 44 lightning strikes happen around the world every second. Further, over the past few decades, the USA has averaged 43 deaths per year from lightning occurrences.
In 1926, David Lillie was working in a building near Lake George during a fierce storm. Suddenly, lightning flashed down from the darkened sky. The bolt of lightning struck a tree next to the structure. The heavenly “calling card” then ripped through a window in the premises where Lillie was tinkering. Lillie was abruptly knocked to the ground and he lay there unconscious for a time.
With this type of lightning strike, the person acts like a “short circuit” for some of the thunderbolt’s discharge. This “side flash” occurs when lightning strikes a taller object and a portion of that lightning then hits a nearby object. In this case, David Lillie.
Eventually, Lillie stood up from his harrowing experience with lightning. To his surprise, he said the electrical shock from the bolt-from-the-blue had amazingly cured his severe rheumatism, a malady that afflicted him for many years. That disability had been so severe that David Lillie had little use of his left arm. He had been unable to even raise that appendage above his head.
However, there was one downside to Lillie’s newly found euphoria. He soon discovered that his pocket watch was the actual victim of the weather incident. The timepiece that was in his vest hanging on a wall in the building, had its crystal broken by the celestial impact. Literally and figuratively for David Little, time stood still.
Remember, never be on open water or above treeline when you hear thunder.
A version of this article first appeared on the Lake George Mirror, America’s oldest resort paper, covering Lake George and its surrounding environs. You can subscribe to the Mirror HERE.
Photo of lightning courtesy NOAA.
Source link
