AN ELECTRICAL BOY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1737, 16 December 1887, Page 3

AN ELECTRICAL BOY.

« An American jonmal gives tho following account of the *' electrical boy " mystery : ' — Johnny Norton, who a few years ago was well known all ovor the "country as Bunnell's " electric boy," is now working m this city as a oompoaifor, In reply to the qcery of a reporter as to what hid become of the electricity, he said : "When I waa on exhibition I waa enclosed m a oblong stall about seven or eight feet long, the front of which waa like a narrow counter. Opposite the counter wbb a rail which only allowed the visitors to pass m single file. A long strip of cocoa matting served as a carpet for the passage way and also a* a cover for a sheet of zinc, which extended beneath it, running the length of the stall. My box was .similarly Invested with zinc and matting. Attached to the sheets of metal bnt hidden from view, were the two poles of a galvanic battery, one undor my feet and the other m the paßsage. Now, any* ono pa?sing over the z'no and touching me behind the counter completed the circuit and received a shock. So did I. The mufring of course had to be kept damp, water being the oouductor. It was surprising what intelligent people were duped by the trick' Why, ] waa kept (shaking bands and being fingered from morning until night. M.ny is the 2dol note 1 received from doctors and others for a couple cf drops of my blood for analysis, Thoro wab a lot of fun ln tho business ; but I had to give it up, aa tho oonßtant Btrain cauaed by tho battery was too much for me."