The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-12-11
DANGER FROM ELECTRIC LIGHT.
The Electric Curren Heating Wire
q White Heat---Dcafh In h I'm
.een Ropt

stcn BOIL a
cincinnati Commercial GaEette1
Beware Of the electric light wire as you
would of the jobberwock. One is just rs
mysteriously terrible as the other. John"
the janitor and champion wrestler Of ths
gymnasium, got an electric scare the other
day that he has not yet recovered from 1t
was during the rainy spell In the midst OF
one Of the heaviest showers he was seized
with establishment on seeing that the electric
light wire running from BoutilIer's roof Mt
the rear into the gymnasium was on fire, as
DO expressed It A telephone message for
help was at once sent to the Office Of the
Brush Electric Light company, and In the
meantime John undertook to drown out the
fro. He got on the roof, and stumbling
three feet from the wire, which
YVES in a whits heat, he ladled a
cup Of water from a pail AID threw
1t upon the radiant metal There was a
'tsizz.r and John AYERS that some OF the
wator splashed on his arm, sending a shock
through him that would have laid out any
less athletic Individual He then moved
three feet farther back, and from there
played fireman There really appeared Inn
minent danger Of the roof catching fire, as
the wiro, near where 1t was heated, passed
through the wooden frame Of a skyltght
When the expert from the Brush company
arrived. he donned a pair of rubber gloves,
and standing on a dry board he cut the wire
In two.
Tho electric light people affect to think
little Of such an occurrence, but several
scientific people, to whose attention 1t has
been brought, say that it Is but c warning OF
a terrible accident that will one day happen.
The worknen who came to the relief of John
at tho gymnasium say that tho wire got
heated because OF striking against a piece OF
tin, thus forming a ground" He admits
that had the wood been wet-thus making a
good conductors fire would probably have
occurred Tho officials of the Brush Electric
Light company claim that they cover their
wires with the best insulating material
known, but outside electricians say that the
Insulation is exceedingly poor and that the
feast rain affects It
Such an enormous current Ii employed 70
generate the Brush electric light that to pass
II through the human body means death as
J instantly as by heavens bolt It will be re-
| membered that two weeks ago the superin-
tendent of the company at Dayton-who, of
course, was thoroughly posted as to the terri
BILE dnnger-was killed as by a fash in taking
hold Of a wire. He was fixing a lamp, and
to save 1t from falling he thoughtlessly
grabbed the wire. 1t had been raining, and
the current passed right through him
The firemen are more afraid of the electric
light wires than they are of fire itself. So
far the accidents that nave happened In this
line In Cincinnati, while they have been
startling, nave not been fatal. 1t hns often
happened that an electric light wire in cross
ing a telephone wire has formed a connection
in wet weather, resulting In melting the
machinery of either the instrument at the
Subscribers or at the exchange-sometimes
both. An accident of this kind happened a
few days ago on Race street, causing the sub
scribcr of the telephone to call out the fire
department What would have Happened
had that current, which was sufficient &c
melt brass. got inside a mans earl
Frequently the attention OF passers-by Is
attracted to a spark emitted from one of the
electric light wires running across Fifth and
Vine streets.