Dead Horses Standing Erect

Scientific American, Vol. XXXVII.—No. 2. [New Series.], July 14, 1877 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. Dead Horses Standing Erect.

Dead Horses Standing Erect.

The Danville Advertiser of the 7th inst. says: Mr. Smith was in town on Saturday with his hired man, and the two tell a singular story about a lightning stroke. Mr. Smith was on a grain drill in a field, and his hired man was about 12 rods from him, dragging. Suddenly Smith heard the noise of thunder, and became unconscious. The man also heard the noise, but neither of them saw any flash of lightning. The man went to Smith, and in about twenty minutes he was restored to consciousness. Then attention was given to the horses. One of them was standing erect, with one foot lifted a little way from the earth, and the other was kneeling with his nose in the earth, and both were stone dead, and retained their positions until they were pushed over. The supposition is that in this case the electricity went from the earth to the sky.

The Berlin correspondent of the London Times states that General Berdan, of the United States, has invented an instrument which will greatly improve the art of killing. He calls his invention a "range-finder." It consists of a telescope and other instruments, all of which can be carried on a dogcart, and which enable the engineers to measure with perfect accuracy up to 2,000 metres, or 1,500 yards. The time needed to ascertain distances, is only two minutes, and the General believes that his invention will double the accuracy of artillery fire, and quadruple that of infantry.

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This book is part of the public domain. Various (2012). Scientific American, Vol. XXXVII. —No. 2. [New Series.], July 14, 1877. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/38481/pg38481-images.html

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