Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-01-07
LATEST TROLLEY PERIL
New Jersey Woman Severely
Shocked by the Heater.
SUFFERED THE KEENEsT AGONY.

Lock of Her Hair Turned Gray In a
Night Where the Current "Ham-
mered" Mt Her Temple - She Will
Suffer For Months.
1t is not often that such a concise de.
scription Of the torrents of a severe
electric shock is given. This narrative,
supplied to the New York Journal by
Mrs. Herbert Gerry of East Orange, N.
j., proves that the trolley car is versa
tile in the infection Of pain.
Mrs. Gerry is still an invalid, al
though ID is more than a week since
contact with a defective car heater
threw her into paroxysms of agony un-
like anything she had ever imagined.
The most striking visible trace Of her
adventure is a patch Of gray hair over
her right temple. 1t produces a star.
Ting effect, this patch Of gray among
the bronze, and is the more remarkable
as the face beneath it is young and
comedy.
eyes" said Mrs. Gerry, seeing that
the eyes Of her visitor were attracted
by this singularity, "that is one Of the
results Of my experience in the trolley
a i. Is it not strange and distressing?
And it only happened the other night.
l was quite startled the next morning
when I saw the change. ,
1T was there on my temple that /
felt and feel yet one of the most violent
of the many symptoms produced by the
electricity. There is nothing I can com
pare it to except a heavy hammer, ham
mer, hammer, hammer here on my tenn
ple!"
She was resting in her home at Is
franklin street. East Orange, muffled
in shawls. It is a beautiful home, COM
manding a view of the mountains and
surrounded by lawns and flower beds.
Her face was pale and showed traces Of
pain. Mrs. Gerry's husband is a mem-
Der Of the firm Of S, B. Downs & Co.,
wholesale produce merchants.
II had been making some calls in
Orange" she continued, having been
asked to tell her story from the begin
ming. "A car of the traction company's
Bloomfield line stopped for me at a
street corner, and l entered it with the
intention Of returning home. ASH hap
pened, there was a vacant seat over one
Of the heaters which are placed under
the benches.
"There is a metal register projecting
several inches from the heater. I can't
tell you exactly why it happened, but
when I sat down this register came in
contact with my leg.
"That was when the shock came.
Describe it? Oh, dearl I can feel it
now 1t has been returning 10 me ever
since. Why, it was a complication Of
sensations. ! remember distinctly doub-
ling up. Ny chin and my knees were
pulled together by a swift and irresisti-
BILE force. 1t seemed to me that my
bones had melted. That's the only way
| can convey Tiny bones had melted,
and my interior was quivering like jel-
~. But the outside part-my muscles
was as hard az iron.
"But that was only the beginning.
My brain was quite clear, you under
stand. Feeling myself luroh over help
lessly, l made q strong effort to get to
my feet. As / did 80 I felt a frightful
pain at my heart. It was so severe that
I toppled over on the seat. This was
followed by an intense pricking sensa-
tion all over. Oh, it was very intensel
You know what children call pins and
needless Well, it was that kind Of sen.
~sation, but ever so much worse. I felt
it most on the soles Of the feet.
1T was then that the hammering be-
gan at my temple-the hammering that
has continued ever since and the other
night changed the color Of my hair.
But in spite Of the pain I had sense
enough to stop the car as it passed Dodd
street, where my sister lives, and to
reach her house somehow. She sent me
home in q sleigh, and ever since then /
have been suffering all those symptoms
in rotation Owe and over again. But
fortunately they are beginning to grow
fainter.
DR.. Davis Of East Orange said that
the electricity had not yet been dis
charged from Mrs. Gerry's system and
that It would be months before she was
relieved Of pain. AT the office Of the
trolley company the circumstances Of
the accident were admitted, and it was
attributed to q defective heater.
searchlight In q Policeman's Club.