[Table of Contents]

B. 1890s CASUALTIES BY TYPE OF INCIDENT

The following series of tables provides the detail of the activity and location of each death and injury in Kretzer (1895). They are ordered in the list by number of deaths, then injuries, then alphabetically.

Agriculture

Agricultural activities and locations involve working the land, crops, equipment, or being near farm-related buildings. Table 6 lists every entry, and Table 7 combines the major groups.

TABLE 6. Activity and location of lightning-related deaths, injuries, and number of separate events in agriculture from 1891 to 1894.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Agriculture Activity Agricultural 25 19 22
Plowing 14 3 12
Around animals 8 2 6
Weighing cotton 4 1 1
Near window/doorway 2 2 2
Picking cotton 1 6 2
Unhitching team 1 1 1
Covering hay 1 0 1
Loading hay 1 0 1
Preparing to put team of horses in barn 1 0 1
Retrieving a horse 1 0 1
Saving horses 1 0 1
Laying in the hay 0 2 1
Holding team 0 1 1
Unknown/not reported 14 12 16
Agriculture Location Open field 27 12 23
Farm 18 13 15
Barn 16 13 18
House/home 4 1 1
Under/near tree 3 1 2
Barn doorway 1 2 2
Barnyard 1 1 1
Garden/yard 1 0 1
Approaching/near a building 1 0 1
Pavilion 0 4 1
Near/touching wire fence 0 1 1
Unknown/not reported 2 1 3
Total 74 49 69

 

TABLE 7. Agricultural activities and locations in the 1890s combined into larger groups from Table 6.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Agriculture Activity

    Agricultural

 25 19 22

    Plowing

 14 3 12

    Horses/animals

 12 7 11

    Cotton

 5 7 3

    Hay

 2 2 3
Agriculture Location

    Open field

 27 12 23

    Farm

 18 13 15

    Barn

 18 16 21

    Under/near tree

 3 1 2

Indoors

Indoor activities and locations for the 1890s are in a house or workplace (Tables 8 and 9).

The large number of injuries in the church location entry includes Osborn, Georgia on July 29, 1891 where 200 people were "assembled." Lightning struck outside the church and the current crossed the ground into the building. Benches were thrown and many people were burned and injured.

TABLE 8. Same as Table 6 for Indoors.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Indoors Activity

    Bed/sleeping

 14 15 12

    Near window/doorway

 8 18 15

    Sitting

 7 2 7

    Injury/death due to house fire

 6 3 5

    Near chimney

 5 5 6

    House

 4 24 14

    Eating dinner

 2 1 2

    Praying

 1 0 1

    Operating telegraph

 0 2 1

    Getting dressed

 0 1 1

    Playing piano

 0 1 1

    Washing dishes

 0 1 1

    Working with telephone equipment

 0 1 1

    Unknown/not reported

 64 330 69
Indoors Location

    House/home

 85 136 107

    School

 6 4 2

    Work

 5 18 7

    Cabin

 4 0 2

    Store

 2 17 2

    Factory

 2 9 1

    On a bench

 2 0 1

    Church

 1 206 2

    Cellar

 1 0 1

    House near barn

 1 0 1

    Hotel

 0 6 2

    Business building

 0 2 1

    Telegraph business

 0 2 1

    Blacksmith shop

 0 1 1

    Jail cell

 0 1 1

    Train station

 0 1 1

    Unknown/not reported

 2 1 3
Total 111 404 136

 


TABLE 9. Indoor activities and locations in the 1890s combined into larger groups from Table 8.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Indoors Activity

    Bed/sleeping

 14 15 12

    Routine household

 13 29 25

    Near window/doorway

 8 18 15

    House fire

 6 3 5

    Near chimney

 5 5 6

    Telegraph/telephone

 0 3 2
Indoors Location

    House/home/cabin

 91 136 111

    Work/store/factory

 9 49 13

    School

 6 4 2

    Church

 1 206 2

Outdoors

A large number of cases in the 1890s involve people under trees (Table 10). Many of the incidents involve people traveling in wagons and on horses (Table 11).

TABLE 10. Same as Table 6 for Outdoors.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Outdoors Activity

    Riding a wagon

 13 10 14

    Riding a horse

 10 3 12

    Walking

 7 12 9

    Garden/yard related

 4 2 4

    Repairing ship

 3 12 2

    Sitting

 2 6 3

    Reclining on wire fence

 2 1 3

    Standing in doorway

 2 0 2

    Hauling/pulling something

 2 0 1

    Military related/training

 1 15 2

    Prospecting

 1 1 1

    Harnessing horses

 1 0 1

    Loading wood

 1 0 1

    Participating in outside event

 1 0 1

    Riding a pony

 1 0 1

    Standing on steel

 1 0 1

    Walking a dog

 1 0 1

    Walking a horse

 1 0 1

    Making brewing shovels

 0 4 1

    Eating dinner

 0 3 1

    Putting up telephone wires

 0 2 1

    Bed/sleeping

 0 1 1

    Digging

 0 1 1

    Unknown/not reported

 32 26 29
Outdoors Location

    Under/near tree

 25 10 18

    Road (travel related)

 13 19 18

    Porch

 5 7 4

    Open field

 5 1 5

    House doorway

 4 4 4

    On top of horse

 4 1 4

    Near/touching wire fence

 3 7 4

    Garden/yard

 3 6 6

    House/home

 3 0 2

    Railroad

 3 0 1

    Approaching/near a building

 2 3 4

    In water/under a boat

 2 0 1

    Tent

 1 15 2

    Near large ship

 1 12 1

    Mountain

 1 2 2

    On wagon

 1 1 2

    Bridge

 1 1 1

    Horse lot

 1 0 1

    Near a ditch

 1 0 1

    Tent under tree

 0 1 1

    Under wagon

 0 1 1

    Unknown/not reported

 7 8 11
Total 86 99 94

 

TABLE 11. Outdoor activities and locations in the 1890s combined into larger groups from Table 10.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Outdoors Activity

    Riding a wagon

 13 10 14

    Riding/harnessing horses/pony

 12 3 14

    Walking

 9 12 11

    Garden/yard related

 4 2 4

    Sitting/standing

 4 6 5

    Repairing ship

 3 12 2

    Military related/training

 1 15 2

    Putting up telephone wires

 0 2 1
Outdoors Location

    Under/near tree

 25 10 18

    Road/travel

 14 21 21

    Porch

 5 7 4

    Open field

 5 1 5

    On horse/horse lot

 5 1 5

    House doorway

 4 4 4

    Near/touching wire fence

 3 7 4

    Garden/yard

 3 6 6

    House/home

 3 0 2

    In water/near ship/under boat

 3 12 2

    Tent

 1 16 3

    Mountain

 1 2 2

Recreation

Outdoor recreation accounts for a small number of incidents in the 1890s.

TABLE 12. Same as Table 6 for outdoor recreation.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Recreation Activity

    Fishing

 2 3 2

    Camping

 1 7 1

    Picnic

 1 4 2

    Bathing in river

 1 0 1

    Hunting

 1 0 1

    Swimming

 1 0 1

    Unknown/not reported

 1 0 1
Recreation Location

    Beach/water

 4 3 4

    Open field

 2 0 2

    Under/near tree

 1 7 1

    Park

 1 3 1

    Unknown/not reported

 0 1 1
Total 8 14 9

Small structures

Only a few 1890s incidents involved people in small structures.

TABLE 13. Same as Table 6 for small structures.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Small Structures Activity

    Making ice cream

 1 0 1

    Getting dressed

 1 0 1

    Near window/doorway

 0 1 1

    Unknown/not reported

 0 2 2
Small Structures Location

    Pavilion

 1 0 1

    Shed

 1 0 1

    Bridge ticket office

 0 1 1

    Horse stall

 0 1 1

    Train

 0 1 1
Total 2 3 5

Sports

The only organized sport in Kretzer (1895) was baseball; both participants and spectators were involved. The number of events is small.

TABLE 14. Same as Table 6 for sports.
  Deaths Injuries Events
Sports Activity

    Attending circus

 8 20 1

    Playing baseball

 8 12 2

    At/observing a baseball game

 0 3 1
Sports Location

    Tent

 8 20 1

    Open field

 8 12 2

    Baseball stands

 0 3 1
Total 16 35 4

All activities and locations

The ten most frequent activities and locations for all types of incidents are shown in Tables 15 and 16. The order is based on the number of deaths, then injuries. Incidents with unknown or not reported activities and locations are excluded.

TABLE 15. Same as Table 6 for all types of activities.
All Activities Deaths Injuries
    Agricultural 25 19
    Bed/sleeping 14 16
    Plowing 14 3
    Riding a wagon 13 10
    Near window/doorway 10 21
    Riding a horse 10 3
    Sitting 9 8
    Attending circus 8 20
    Playing baseball 8 12
    Around animals 8 2

 

TABLE 16. Same as Table 6 for all types of locations.
All Locations Deaths Injuries
    House/home 92 137
    Open field 42 25
    Under/near tree 29 18
    Farm 18 13
    Barn 16 13
    Road (travel related) 13 19
    Tent 9 35
    School 6 4
    Work 5 18
    Porch 5 7

 

Next: Chapter 3, Sections C: Additional information about 1890s casualties and D: 1890s damages