The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1894-07-12
a MAD ELECTRIC EEL.
The Creature Get Frantic and Caused Ter
Tor in the Market.

Tor In the Market,
A ferocious eel attacked crowd of |
people in Center Market the other day.
The furious fish created panic, but
fortunately no lives were lost. The
police were called out, and responded
promptly but fortunately the intense
excitement subsidized.
At one of the large fish booths in
Center Market the other afternoon
speclxled trout were swimming in the
aquarium, large-eyed Goldfish were
yawning on the counter, catfish were
winking and blinking, and delicate
perfume of mackerel pervaded the air.
Bon vivants were buying salmon and
black bass, boarding house keepers
were purchasing halibut and sturgeon,
while porgies and herring were selling
like hot cakes.
A large box of fish, which just ar
rived from Savannah, was brought to
the booth and opened. 1t was full OF
rare southern fish packed in ice,
"What fine fishF' said lady, with
market basket on her arm
At this moment an eel raised his head
from the box and calmly looked around
at the spectators He was an electric
eel, and the crowd thought that his
eyes glittered like two incandescent
lights. Every one stepped back in as
constituent
Then the eel began to get angry. The
spectators declared that his eyes
snapped, and some said that they blazed.
The more the eel looked around the
angrier he got At last he wriggled
out of the box, jumped to the floor and
charged on the crowd of spectators.
The cells blood was up Every one
turned and ran. Ladies screamed and
sought refuge on chairs and boxes. A
red-faced man weighing two hundred
pounds stood on a fish counter with
one foot on a mackerel and the other
on halibut and shouted for help,
The electric eel got fairly frantic
with rage lie ran hither and thither
like wild bull at bull fight, glazing
at the frightened spectators with his
incandescent eyes Two or three bold
clerks made desperate charge and
one of them grabbed hold of the eel.
He received a violent electric shock
and fell over against Ssh barrel He
estimated that the eel was charged
with about eighteen hundred volts Of
electricity. The eel seemed to have q
continuous current of electricity strong
enough to light small city like Ho
boken.
The eel felt that he owned the mar
lzet, and he charged right and left like
a bull in china shop. He was almos
as destructive as trolley street car.
81 have it." said rcd-faced man
who was standing on the mackerel ant
halibut 1.-THE reason that we cam
catch the eel is that we are not insu
lated The electricity in that eel i
about four times as strong as that sup
piled to the electric chair at Sing Sing
Let some one put on a pair of rubbe'
gloves"
That's WISDOM" said everybody
IF that eel keeps tearing about her
, much longer none of us will ever leav
the market alive"
A courageous clerk put on a pair o
rubber gloves and attacked the eel /
made the spectators think of the com
bat between st, George and the dragon
The struggle was thrilling. At las
the clerk grasped the eel firmly wit
both hands In vain the electric &c
tried both the continuous and the in
termittent current The brave cler'
lifted the rampant, living dynamo fror
3 the floor, dropped him into gold ifs
; Jar, and placed wire net over the to
of it. The eel was four and one-hal
I |, feet long. Then the spectators re
gained their presence of mind an
: went away.-N. Y. Journal