Charleston, WV Lightning Strike, Jul 1919

WV Charleston lightning strike 1919

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

J. H. Sell, cattle dealer, of Hanover, had the remarkable experience of escaping uninjured when lightning hit a machine in which he was riding, and so seriously injured the driver that the man will die. Mr. Sell had gone to Charleston, W. Va., last Thursday, and stepped from his train in a driving rain and thunder storm. He engaged a taxi and was driven to the home of a man whom he wished to see on business. The man was not at home and Mr. Sell told the driver of the machine, a Negro, to drive down the street to a hotel. As they were on the way a bolt of lightning struck a church that stood across the street. The tower of the church fell in ruins and the debris partly covered the machine. The Negro hastily ran his car down the street in a zigzag course, pulled up before the hotel, stepped from the car and fell senseless on the pavement. A physician was called and found that the man had been struck by the bolt of lightning that demolished the church, and had in his semi-conscious condition, ran the machine to the hotel.

New Oxford Item, New Oxford, Pa 17 Jul 1919
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Transcribed by Audrey. Thank you, Audrey!