The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-05-22
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OVER THE TEA CUPS. 7
Observation-Disclosures

UILit I'LL LII UUl U, e
Observation-Disclosures
Not many evenings since a certain
household received warning straight
from Natures workshop. 1t brought
pain and fear for awhile TO the one
who received it, and taught the other
members of the family a lesson not
soon to be forgotten.
The message came over an innocent
looking cord attached to an incandes-
cent lamp, with a yellow shade You
think, perhaps, that the yellow shade
is a trivial detail, but 1 cannot leave
that out of my story. Nor should I
fail to make mention of an ordinary
white pin which also helped to trans
nit the message. But more of that
anon.
The message was received by a
young woman who was dressing for
an entertainment. Now when a mirror
and light assist at making an even
ing toilet, the light should fall on the
certain rays. And a yellow shade is
superfluous. So thought the woman
in the case. Naturally enough, she did
what she had done several times be-
fore, and pinned back the intruding
shade to the cord.
Straightaway so many things hap
pened, and all on the instant, that she
was half dazed. Little wonder! A
swift pain in her hand and arm and q
flash of light on the cord, a burnir"
shade, a broken pin falling to the
ground, three singing finger-tips,
great trembling in all her limbs and
darkness in the room that refused to
be- light, Evidently something unus-
ual had taken place. She went to the
stairway and spoke, and her call
brought some one to help her down
stairs to the family.
The first one to touch her felt dis
tinct shock from the electricity which
two flights of stairs had not been
enough to carry off. Not all the wis
dom of the assembled family was equal
to this emergency. 1t was evidently a
case for the ear of the sympathetic
family doctor. and in a trice he had
the details by telephone. His words
were reassuring. His prescription was
The white face called
for a stimulant. So a dusty bottle was
brought forth from a distant closet
and it duly impaired some of it's
strength to the quivering nerves. The
charred fingers were bandaged in a
poultice of cooking-soda and water,
and the pricking was soon relieved.
Poor girl, She paid a high price for
that lesson in physics, but the family
thought she was fortunate in escaping
as lightly as she did. They speculated
for the rest of the evening on various
electric experiences. They half feared
that a larger pin might have been an
instrument of death, and Shuddered as
they realized more wildly than ever
before the dangers Of modern houses,
equipped as they are with the subju-
gated forces of Nature. 1t may be need
less to say that the blackened fingers
were not the ones that carried the
large white cake to the church social.
although the cake went in other hands
When the case was referred to a
family friend, who is an expert cleo
trician, he explained what had hap
Dened. The pin must have touched
both insulated wires at once, thus
making a short circuit of low resist
ancp. In1S WOU10 cause du IHCItdSt III
the current to the full carrying ca
pacity of the fuse-wire above, but just
as soon as the current grew too great
for the fuse-wire to carry, the fuse
would melt and shut of all currents.
The whole thing would take place in
an infinitesimal part of second.
With the burning of the fuse, the
deed was done. No more danger from
that lamp-no more light, either The
could not be fatal, my electri-
cal friend assures me, even If large
metal bar were TO connect the wires.
4 fuse is put in every fixture to pre-
vent just this accident, or even very
severe shocks.
Surprising one is fortunate enough
TO escape with slight burn and shak-
en- nerves, there is yet the doctors
bill to consider, as we'll as various
items in electrical supplies, tO-wit: The
new fuse the new cord, the new shade,
if not the new lamp. 1t may not be
officious in me to warn all persons
a gainst putting pins into electric wires,
and TO bid them remember that Ma
ture may talk in black-letter script to
the uninitiated who handle her light
nings with careless hands. SIBYL.