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.
* * * * *