Lightning Spares Robert Wemple but Not the Animal He Was Riding, June 18, 1924

Lightning Kills Mule But Spares His Rider. . . Animal Killed by Bolt in Caswell While Robert Wemple Was Astride Its Back

Reidsville, June 17—Reports of another case in which lightning played a queer prank comes from Yanceyville. Friday afternoon lightning struck and killed a horse which Robert Wemple, negro, was riding, but Wemple himself lives to tell the tale, although he was painfully burned and shocked. Wemple’s clothing was burned from his back, one of his shoes was literally torn from his feet, and a sack of flour which he had just purchased, was completely burned when the bolt struck. The horse was almost instantly killed. Wemple had gone to a store to purchase the flour and was on his way home when the storm overtook him.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Wednesday, June 18, 1924

Headline says it was a mule, but story says it was a horse.