River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-10-10
A TERRIFIC SHOCK.
How 1t Feels to Receive Electric Cur
rent of 9. 500 Volts.

rent of 9. 500 Volts.
Apropos of the debate on electricity
as applied TO capital punishment, the
following details of workman's SEN
stations from shock on the Sutro Tun-
mel level of the Chollar incline are in
teresting:
81 was in the employ of the Califor-
MIA Electric Light and Motor Com
pany as dynamo runner in the DYNAMO
chamber On the 1850 level CT the Chol-
lar mine. where the auxiliary power
for operating the Nevada mill by the
electric transmission of power is situ-
ated In the dynamo chamber are a
number of small incandescent lights,
some of which have long wire attach
ments so they can be carried to any
part of the room for the convenience
of the workmen. Those lights are at
tached to a 125-horse power dynamo
used for transmitting the power to the
mill. One of these lights was tempo
rarily hung over dynamo that was be-
ing repaired. The light not being close
enough, reached up my right hand
and grasped the wire for the purpose
OF pulling in the slack. At some pre-
viOus time this wire mad been wound
around nail. which had broken the
/ insulation and left part of the wire
bare. |, not being aware of this, I'M
fortunately grabbed the wire at
this place. My risht-foot boot was
a little damp. and. in turning.
the toe happened 20 touch a piece Of
. iron running to the ground. Imme-
diately | was struck. my right hand
grasping the light wire aud toe of my
right-foot boot touching the iron lead
ing TO the ground grounded me (c0n-
. nected me with the ground), and in
consequence the current in the cleo
trio wires. or at least a good portion
of it, passed through my body. Elec-
triciJy viii always run to the ground
first if it gets the opportunity, so when
l made the connection the current
passed through me to the ground
1T is very hard to define my feeling
First. ] received a most peculiar sensa-
ton that shook my body and complete
/ ly paralyzed me, and yet at the same
time | was fully conscious. l tried to
let go my hold of the wire, but of
| course found that impossible, for the
harder the shock the more contracted
the muscles become. and consequently
the firmer the wire is held l. tried to
shout for aid, and although a fellow
workman was but five or six feet dis
tant from me. | could not emit sound
or make the least movement TO attract
his attention. 1t seemed as if l was
being irresistibly drawn up, with a
| horrible feeling of being consumed by
the electric fluid. fully realized my
position and believed that my time
had come. While receiving the shock
my eyesight was good until I became
unconscious. OF course, l was unable
to let go my hold of the wire or move
my foot from the iron that grounded
me until became unconscious. Then
the weight of my body loOsened my
hold on the wire, and ! fell to the
ground. lay like dead. my heart pull
Stations entirely ceased, and also the
CIRCULATION. Two IellOW- WOPhDleQ saw
me drop. They carried me to the fresh
air, stretched me on the damp ground.
applied ice-water dOuches to me. and
worked my arms to promote circula-
ton and artificial respiration. After
| the lapse of twenty minutes, when I
was about to be given up for dead.
signs of life returned. At first / was
dazed. could not understand what had
happened; in a few minutes. though, l
remembered every thing distinctly. and
got up feeling very weak, particularly
in the stomach. After a few days,
/ however, the weakness from the shock
wore away. and / regained my usual
health. There was no actual pain
during the shock. but where the wire
touched my hand it burned to the
bone, and the ends of the three small
err toes were burned to the bone, also.
Il have since fixed the time l sus-
tanned the shock at six minutes. The
dynamo to which the wire was at
tached generated a direct current of
$500 volts and So amperes. IN. Y.
Mail and Express.