Prof. Olmstead, of Yale College, is confident in the generally expressed opinion that telegraphic wires have an important effect on electricy. He says:
“As the storm comes up, and especially when over the wires, say fifty or a hundred miles distant, the lightning is attracted by the wires, which can be proved by any one remaining in the telegraph office for half an hour. About the time the storm is coming up, the wires are continually filled with electricity. It is my opinion we shall never have very heavy thunder showers or hear of lightning striking, as long as we have telegraphic wires strung over the earth.”
The Lancaster Gazette, Lancaster, OH, July 30, 1847