The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frictional Electricity, by Max Adeler

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Title: Frictional Electricity
From "The Saturday Evening Post."

Author: Max Adeler

Release Date: October 24, 2007 [EBook #23179]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRICTIONAL ELECTRICITY ***

Produced by David Widger

FRICTIONAL ELECTRICITY

By Max Adeler

Reprinted by permission of the author, Charles Heber Clark, from "The
Saturday Evening Post."

I happened to visit the accident ward of St. Paracelsus' Hospital
because a friend of mine who is interested in the Flower Mission asked
me to stop there during my afternoon walk and give a few flowers to the
sufferers.

When I had arranged the last half-dozen of the roses in a vase upon
the little stand by the bedside of one bruised and battered patient, he
looked at me gratefully, and said:

"Oh, thank you, sir! And would you mind, sir, stopping for a bit of
talk? I'm so lonely and miserable."

I sat upon the chair by the bed and with my hand smoothed the
counterpane, while the patient asked me:

"Do I really look like a burglar, sir, do you think?"

I hesitated to reply as I examined his face. It was really covered with
bandages, but his nose seemed swollen and there were bruises about both
eyes.

"I don't wonder you don't like to speak your mind when you see me here a
broken wreck, smashed all up and not looking a bit like myself, sir. But
if you would see me well and strong and all fixed up for going to church
you'd say right off that I don't favor no burglar in looks."

I asked the unfortunate man his name.

"Mordecai Barnes, sir, and I'm a journeyman plumber, sir, with a good
character, and don't take no second place in that business with no man.
How did I get here? What banged me all up into a shame and a disgrace
like this? Well, I'll tell you, sir, if you have the patience to listen,
for it does me good to talk who has been used so hard, and can get
no attention from the nurses or nobody in this here asylum. Do you
understand about frictional electricity, sir? No? I thought not; and
well had it been for me, for this shattered hulk that you