Morning journal and courier., 1882-07-14
A Living Electric Battery.
Ixentucky's Marvel Who Discharges Flee
 trictty and Foretelis Storms.


 trictty and Foretells Storms.
 From the Louisville Commerciall
 In Spencer county, about thirty miles from this city, lives one of the most marvellous cu- riosities that has ever come within the knOwi- edge of science. The marvel is Everett Gil bert, son of Dr. Robert s. Gilbert, who is known and honored throughout the State
 A Commercial reporter recently visited Wa terford, where Dr. Gilbert lives Everett
 was found at work in field He stands six
 feet two inches, weighs 195 pounds and has
 muscles as brawny smiths He has a singularly prepossessing face homely and
 honest and faithful looking. His story as told
 by himself is in substance as follows: Our ing thunder storm, four years ago, pick
 ed out my pocket-knlfe, and, opening the
 blade, began driving it into the top of the
 chair round. I remember distinctly that
 laid the little finger of my left hand careless
 ly across the upright knife, and that is about
 the last thing do remember. There came a
 binding flash from the cloud and that was
 the last l know. I awoke hours afterward
 with horrible pains in every part of the body.
 had been powerfully shocked by the elec-'
 tric discharge, and for weeks afterwards I
 was so sick as to be thought beyond recovery l
 One night inst before heavy thunderstorm
 I happened to be home from school, and was
 sitting on the front steps. I was suddenly
 seized with the most violent spasms and had
 to be taken into the house. Then my father
 noticed that these spasms and twitchings of
 the hands and arms always came before
 thunder storm, and he began to experiment
 to relieve He soon found that was sur charged with electricity. He began to
 devise means to draw the electricity off me, and has succeeded in some degree. My ef- forts at first were rude enough.
 1T remember one day I was out in this very wheat field and under this very shed we are standing under now. I was suffering such horrible agonies that I thought perhaps if I would strip naked and lie down in the mud the ground would act as a conductor and free me Irom my intolerable burden. T took my clothes of and thso-: myself down. The ef- feet was frightful never felt anything .iEAe It before and I hope that God may new
 er make me endure such an ordeal again. When I lay down on the moist earth, which made fine conductor, the electricity left my body like fash It was like an i'm prisoned spirit freed, and I felt as if my side had been rent asunder. It was though a red hot iron had been passed down my side with inconceivable rapidity. l felt tearing off of the flesh from the bones, and for sever- al moments imagined that I had been torn asunder. The agony for an instant was ter rife. afterwards went at it more delicately. By taking off my shoes and stockings and wading in the mud I found great relief when overcharged. l can foretell thunder storms, and during the aurora borealis a few months ago was awakened by the electricity in the air. Once met young friend of mine, 8 OellCdto "u1to 1dCSO youAS 1S1OW, aAu uS reached out his hand to and I seized it ! heartily, and he cried out, You burn me; let go.' did so and he rung his hands, saying he felt noumerable darting, needle-like sen sations pervading his nerves"
 Evsrett's bed is in neat little room on the second floor, and is between two windows Around one bed post, where he can lay his hand upon 1t at any moment, is a heavy mag netised wire which goes down the outside of ! the house and finds 8 resting place in soft ! basin of mortar at the bottom, whence it is | conducted to the earth. Everett seized the ! wire with his fingers and it began to tremble ! all the way down. ''There it goes now" said ! he. A moment later the reporter placed his | hand below and there very apparent discharge of electricity. He afterwards seiz- ! ed Gilbert by both hands and 8 circuit was ! established. In moment the electricity, in
 a weak form, however, began to circulate I tingling every nerve. ''An odd circum- 1 stance,'' said young Gilbert, is that whenever
 I am surcharaged my mouth begins to taste of sulphur can feel it in everything I eat, and sometimes for days together I cannot eat enough to sustain me. Whenever get ex- cited or hot also begin to have my mouth 1 filled with this strange taste. Do you see the l tips of my fingers? Well, they were burned by electricity passing through. When I was l first afflicted in this strange way the ends of l my fingers were nearly scorched off, but now ! the skin has hardended." :"