The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-19
A FRoLICsoME BUTCHER.
His Little Joke With Electricity Max

His Little Joke With Electricity Makes
 Trouble for His Neighbor
 The jury in the case of William
 Schultz against Nicholas Auth, tried be-
 fore Chief Justice Bingham, in Circuit
 court No 1, returned a verdict in favor
 of the defendant. The basis of the ac-
 ton was a practical joke perpetrated by
 James c, Nealon, a butcher in the Northeastern market. Auth and Neal
 on have adjoining stands in the market,
 and both are dealers in meats, Auth's
 speciality being those of the salted and
 cured variety Between the two stands
 the only partition is a double set of
 hooks and benches upon which the rival
 dealers display their wares.
 | It developed during the evidence in
 the case that Nealon is of a humorous | turn of mind and also that he is an en- | terprising merchant. Last summer he | installed an electric fan to drive away | the flies and keep his place cool and clean. The fan was manipulated by a small thumbscrew placed beneath the
 counter. Tn some manner the thumb screw became broken Then Nealon discoved accidentally one day that by | placing either his hand or foot against the place where the thumbscrew ought to be he would receive a shock of cleo tricity. He found it a very agreeable experience, and further, that his body was very good conductor of the mys- terious substance and that he could communicate a current to othar persons and things
 So it was that when his good-natured customers came up to inspect his meats he would place one hand upon the cleo tric wire and the other upon a piece of ham, and when a good, motherly old market woman came by and picked up the end of the porker, to inquire its price per pound she would, to her great astonishment, receive a shock of cleo tricity. She would then wonder If the animal was still alive. Then Nealon would disconnect himself from the cur rent, and picking up the meat, assure hi5 customer that 1t was all right, and convince her against her honest belief that she had been dreaming
 At other times when passing change in silver to purchasers at his stall he would establish himself as an electric current conductor and give the neat buyer real example of how money will jingle in a persons fingers Another trick which he employed was to get a good, strong current of electricity rum ming through his system and then ex- tend the gladsome hand to young lady customers, and laugh as they jumped and screamed as If mouse had fright ened them. No one appeared to have been hurt by the operation, and the meat dealer kept it up from time to time when in a jocuar mood, and as his | trick became gradually known he would watch carefully for newcomers who | were not aware of iA
 One day Schultze eame in hurriedly. | He is according to his own testimony, a ! nervous and excitahle man He keeps ' a grocery store near the Northeastern | market, and had exhausted his supply | of salt meat He came in to buy q | piece from Auth. Nealon recognized | bis rival butchers prospective custo- mer, and planned to give him a little electric surprise. Sc he seated himself | upon his counter placed one hand on | the electric wire, and the other upon 1 piece of salt meat which lay upon l Auths s counter near where the two |