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Show 82 Coal oil lamps were not without danger, to be sure, and we had some explosions. Once Macel lit the lamp and fire followed a defective wick into the bowl of kerosene. Mama grabbed it from her, threw open the outside door and pointed it outside in the nick of time. Its explosion licked at the curtains of the glass door, and the top of the lamp rocketed into space. With the new electric lights we never tired of pressing the button to flood the rooms with light that equalled day in our estimation. When our parents left us home alone we formed human chains of potential victims and shocked ourselves by the end one putting his finger into a live socket. Macel tried it from the stove and got knocked across the room. It was a wonder we were not all electrocuted without benefit of Sing Sing. Mama was ironing in the bathroom at the same time Papa was taking a bath. The disconnected iron plug fell into the tub and Papa came out feet first with a mighty yell. The burns on his body followed a zig-zag pattern like lightning Other people, some of them we knew, were killed by less contact with the wonders of the modern age. Before electricity we had a little ABC Wonder washer with a dolley, powered mostly by me. This was a step up from the wash tub and scrubbing board. Mama still boiled the clothes, put them boiling into the washer for the second time through before rinsing them, then bluing, then starching. The plug was a mere cork, and my little skirt, switching back and forth across it as I operated |
