Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-13

metal. 1t being evening, the arc lights were
all burning, and the wires were charged TO
their utmost. The moment the covering was
carried away, the electric fluid ran down the
| Jet of water until it reached the pipe nozzle,
and thence through the two pipe men who
were directing the hose, throwing them
heavily to the pavemSlt. A foreman OF the
United States Illuminating company, while
standing upon a board in a pool of water,
accidentally touched with his bare hand
Give" wire upon which he was at work.
Fad the board been perfectly dry, he prob
ably would have felt nothing, but the poi CT
water completed the circuit of which he was
part, and he was stunned and severely
| burned.
In 1883 Give" wire fell into a pool Of wa
ter on Madison square not far from the Fifth
! Avenue hotel For the next hour, or until
the current was cut off, it administered Sc
we're shock to every man and horse who stepped
into the pool where it lay. Edison is now util-
izing this quality of water by inventing
mechanisrns which will enable vessels to COM
municate with the shore or with one another
in mid-ocean Already he has been able to
carry on an intelligent conversation from a
boat in the lake of Menlo Park with ties a
hundred yardssaway.
The injuries inflicted by the electric cur
rent are almossnumberless in variety. When
very powerful current goes through the
body, in whole or i'll part, its first effect is
create a temporary paralysis. The man 81
orally has full POSSESSION Of his senses, bu
| unable to move. Added to this is a serie
racking sensations, which vary from simple
discomfort to unspeakable agony. Besides
/ this there is almost always an overflow of
| force upon the surface Of the body. This
! overflow burns more Indignantly than caUs-
tic, but so rapidly az to intiict little or no pain
at the moment These are the most common
results, but there are hundreds of others
equally terrible.
A Broadway inspector in 1885, while at
work upon a manhole at the corner of that
thoroughfaTe and John street, careiessly
touched a line of copper frame with one Of
! his fingers He was rendered insensible by
the current, which beyond this burned what
might be called the outline picture OF d tree
with boughs and branches upon his hand
and forearm. The burns were so deep and
wide that he was confined to the hospital for
two months, and was obliged to have re-
course to the transplantation of skin to the
raw surface before he could regain the use of
his arm.
! j. n. Oxford, the distinguished electrical
expert OF Bridgeport, Conn, on the other
! hand, received a shock from a Thompson
! Hueston dynamo that was at least fifty times
as powerful as the preceding, but beyond be-
! ing made unconscious for few minutes, re-
| ceived apparently no serious damage. Ii in
/ fact his figures be correct, he received with
| iInpunity a more powerful shock than the
| one with which they now propose TO execute
7 criminals iii the tate OF New York.
| Freeman Arlington is the proprietor of a
I fashionable billiard room in Augusta, Ga.
! On Feb 2, last year, he was fixing one Of the
! .incandescent lamps with which his hall is
/ illuminated, and received the full current of
the wires Although this is the weakest of
all the currents used for lighting it threw
him into insensihiltyand paralyzed all the
organs of the tongue and throat. When he
reg8ined consciousness he felt an unpleasant
nun1bness in every part of his body but suf-
! fered little or no pain. 1t was two days be-
/ fore he could again swallow with any amount
of ease, and a week before his voice was en-
/ tirely restored
On New Years day of the same year there
was fire at Nesey street. in New York,
at which FL erick SinrOns, lineman, at
temptedto GU n electric lighting wire which
was in the way of the ffremen. He was wet,
and touching q wet surface as he did, his
body became good conductor. As he cut
the wire the current passed through the nip
pers into his body, killing him and inficting
horrible burns upon his hand arm and shout
der. In this case the overflow ran upward
in fanlike lines, being, strange to say, deeper
and more serious toward the shoulder than
they we at the wrist or elbow. a similar
fate was that of poor newSboy at fire the
previous year in Brooklyn, excepting that he
! lay burned and agoaizsad in the presence o.
thousands before death put an end to his suf
ferings.
Very different were two experiences IL
1887 in New York city. On Feb. George
! c. jerks stepped upon live wire that was
! lying On the ground in Gansevoort street.
! The current ran up one leg and down the
! other, knocking him SenseleSS, but curing
him OF q rheumatic cold from which he was
suffering On May John II. Simpson, a;
! 80 Broadway, received a heavy curren:
through his body and was temporarily para
! lived When the fluid was turned off be
found himself If nothing had happened,
/ having neither pain, burn, nor even numb
ness
| Commissions are frequently produced by
these discharges, In December, 1888, teie
| phone wire which crossed lighting wire fell
| upon two horses Both tumbled down and
went into commissions. Their driver, an
| HishInan, sprang from his seat to their
/ assistance The moment he touched the first
! horse be was shocked, and, following their
example, went into commissions himself
These numberlesS accidents have begun to
/ teach the American people that their only
J safety lies in burylng the wires II has been
/ very slow lesson on very stupid people. Thus
/ far not one-hunGredth of the electric wires OF
the country have been put beneath the earth.
! Til this Is done friIEtful accidents to health,
/ limb and life are to be momentariiy expect
! Ell. L is oRly today that the authorities OF
the metropolis OF the continent have per-
! celved the truth OF this, and have gone 10
| work in good earnest To thair credit be s
said that they are now displaying the rarest
energy, and have selected the hsndsomeSt,
most durable and best subway and electrical
| conduit system known 10 the world.
WILLIAM & s. FALES.
Christine Nilsson may never sing IL public
! again During a recent illness in Paris she
was troubled with deafness and loss of mem
ory, from which she has not yet recovered
| The furniture Of her house In London has
| been moved 70 Paris, where she and her hus-
| band viii in future make their residence.
Consult the Children.