Oddments #2 - a close call

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 25 December 1803

An almost unbelievable event was reported in the Sydney news in 1803, when one Edward Quin (sic) was preparing to sharpen a couple of razor blades. Edward was allegedly pouring oil onto a razor hone which he had placed near a window, possibly to make use of the natural light, when the full half-gallon (approximately 1.9 litres) bottle of oil he was holding was struck by lightning. The force of the strike which was supposed to have been attracted by the razor blades also lying near the window shattered one of the blades and caused lacerations to Edward’s hand. Incredibly for Edward the only other thing that was injured was his pride: the bottle of oil also exploded, coating him from head to toe. Lucky Edward Quin.

The full text of the article reads as follows:

“The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 25 December 1803.

During a thunderstorm at the latter end of last week, as Edward Quin was in the act of pouring a little oil from a full half-gallon bottle onto a Hone, near a window, the bottle was struck by the lightning, supposed to be attracted by a pair of razors that lay close to it, and knocked to pieces, some of which were driven with prodigious force against him, and cut his hand in several places - The accident, however alarming for the moment, terminated rather ludicrously than seriously, as the oil contained in the bottle burst directly upon him, and nearly covered him from head to toe.”