[D9214AAB], Letter from Thomas C Harris to Thomas Alva Edison, January 21st, 1892
https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D9214AAB
Transcription
Jan 21st 1892 Received Jan 25 1892 Ans’d Jan 30 92 Prof Thos. A. Edison Menlo Park Dear Sir: Referring to a recent article in the World, in regard to a jet of water being made to carry a current of high potential, I beg have to call your attention to one experiment of the writer, come 10 years ago, in that live Back of our room was on open but communicating with a beer saloon next door. In said lot and next to the fence was a small shed holding a urinal frequently used by patrons of the saloon. The urinal was a wooden though lined with zinc and the ground under it was always vry wet. We connected the zinc through by a [letter ripped] when an old [illegible[ was seen to go that way we would sometimes start the vibrator of the [illegible] and the victim, standing on the [illegible] around and with damp damp gut + shoes, would feel a very uncomfortable sensation at a tender spot as his stream of urine struck the though. The shock would generally cause a spasm of the muscles and cut off the strain only to begin again when the stream was resumed. The experiment caused much amusement and the victims never “caught on the trick.” Very Respt Tho C. Harris.