On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:01:37 +0100, Adam Funk wrote:

James Thurber's story "The Car We Had to Push" mentions an aunt (I
think) who worried about electricity leaking out of fixtures and
sockets that didn't have lamps or plugs in them. It includes a funny
cartoon of her looking at a light fitting for leaks.

Someone's mother, but not his is how I recall it, in "My Life and Hard
Times".

http://standby.lbl.gov/Humor.html

IIRC that's the same story where his uncle dies of the disease that was
killing the elm trees.