The Opelousas courier., 1886-11-13
ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
Perils OF the Attendants in
Thunder Storms.
Treating a Sufferer from St. Vitus' Dance
With Electric Shocks.

Treating a Sufferer from st. Vitus' Dance
With Electric Shocks.
"Put few people realize the dangers
attending the work of an electric light
lineman and lamp attendant" remarked
one of the corps to an Item reporter, as
he shot down one of the circuit poles
Sunday night, in the pouring rain, and
exhibited a badly blistered hand, the re-
suit of j shock received from a 'leak"
in the wire.
cit is particularly dangerous. he
added, '.just before and during a thun-
derstorm, and extremely vexatious in
wet weather. During the storm OF Fri
day morning almost every flash of light
nlng was attracted to the wires, and the
way it went swapping up the circuit was
enough to make one shudder. During
the height of the storm a ball OF fire
was seen to shoot along the wires on
Westminster street, and when in the
midst of the 1000 wires that run into the
Butler exchange, it burst with a report
like that of a cannon. The next flash
saw forty-three of the lights out, and it
was evident that something had gone up.
We traced the break right to the works,
where, to the surprise of all, it was
found that the lightning had struck the
first light on the circuit outside OF the
works, and followed the line into the
room where the 'arreseers' are, and
burned them in such a way as to make
them assume the appearance of a piece
of burned brown paper. When the light
ming struck the 'arrester' a terrible re-
port followed.
'tBut then, while it is dangerous to
mount a pole duringa thunderstorm, the
men become accustomed to it. The
most a~ggravating work is to tackle a
pole during o storm, as there are many
which will give you q shock the moment
you touch them. These poles are all
marked by the men, and the worst
among them are those at Turks Head,
the car depot and two on the Westmin-
ster street circuit, where, if you get up
you will have to dance to get down
again, that is, if you are not knocked
down, as several circuit men have already
been. The shocks received in this way
are due to 'leaks' in the wires,
which are only detected by a line man
getting in contact with the nearest pole
to the leak. NV
ibid you ask about inside work2
There is nothing fascinating about it.
and one must have a great faculty of
keeping his hands at home. The men
who work about dynamos, as a rule. have
worse looking hands than baseball
catchers, but they think nothing of a
small shock. Zone of the worse cases
at our works occurred quite re-
Gently, when our superintendent
went to attach the wires
positive and negative to the post at
tached to the dynamo, not noticing that
the comb was down and the dynamo run
ming full force. He attached the wires
all right, but the instant the connection
was completed he was knocked across
the room. 1t was a wonder the shock did
not kill him instantly. He was a terribly
scared man, and it was fully two weeks
before he fully recovered.
Just at the present time we have at
the Rhode Island Electric Company's
works quite a rare case, that is attracting
no small amount of attention. It is that
of a 10-year-old girl who, until recently.
was a terrible sufferer from St. Vitus's
dance. She could not stand still, and
SO was in a sad state. Some one sug-
gested that she be treated with electric
shocks, and accordingly a medium wire
such as is used for the inside incandes-
cent lights-was run from the works to
the street circuit wire. The girl daily
comes to the works and will seize the
wire with both hands and hold it as
though it were a piece of wood. The
shock that this wire will give is enough
to knock a man out, yet the girl laughs
at the idea, and is rapidly improving
under the treatment. "-Rrogidence Item.