Posted by Pete G on April 12, 2001 at 14:23:48 from 213.122.33.1:
In Reply to: Re: Electricity at Holly Howe? posted by Mike on April 12, 2001 at 02:07:03:
Nope, I reckon Dave hasn't got it!
On p 34 of WH, Dick notices that 'where there had been one steady light in the end of the white farm-house there were now two, and one was exactly above the other'. The 'steady light' cannot have been thrown by torches, unless you are saying that the Dixons sat in their living-room by torchlight. When the first Martian signal was seen (on p 37), when the upper light went on again, it looked like 'one spark on the top of another', i.e. the light sources in the upper and lower windows were observed to be identical. I reckon that a hanging oil lamp, and a hand-held oil lantern with the wick well raised, would look identical from a distance at night.
Finally, when the torch-whirling came to an end, we are told that 'the Martians perhaps felt that the battery of their torch was not to be trusted'. Note 'their torch' (singular).
I rest my case, m'lud. If this argument gets any more intense, we'll have to move to Club Hut!