National Republican., 1884-01-17
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
How the Light Is Generated and Who Are
Supplied.
Opinions OF the superintendent In Refer
cnce 10 the Underground Wires.

ut full speed, setting in motion by broad belts
several lines of shafting and countershafting.
These in turn transmitted power to tho
dynamos by maze of bclting extending in
different directions through the station.
Three roaring furnaces kept the iiremen busy
endeavoring TO satisfy their insatiate craving
/ for coal The steam from the boilers and
exhaust pipes puilcd out i'll feccy clouds,
while the many dynamos. whose armaturos
were revolving ut tho.spced of 1000 rovolu-
| tions per minute, gave out most dOleful
humming and whizzing. One forty-light
monster dynamo was speeding at the rate of
| 1,1O0 revolutions per minute. 1t maSo the
concrete flooring fairly trcmble. Over the
whole scene the CLEAN of electric lights cast
an intense and seemingly weird and plutonic
| glare.
The reporter made his way through the
/ labyrinth of machinery, and met MIR. A. NJ.
| Renshaw, general manager of the company.
| II Observe" said tho reporter addressing tho
manager, that you have made some addi-
| tions to the station"
"Ycs," was the roply, 1--WE have recently
enlarged the station by adding new engine,
/ boiler, and several dynamos. We have
power now for nearly two hundred arc lights,
besides several hundred incandescent lights.
! The latter We propose to furnish the govern
ment departments, with day circuit"
DO your lines extend to all the important
points in the city?" asked the reporter.
"Yes," replied Mr.. Renshaw, they en-
brace nearly AL the principal business ave-
nues. Wo reach the capitol, government
printing office, interior department, postoitice
department, treasury, presidential mansion,
war and navy departments the depots, mar
kets, and all the principal hotels OF the city
81 OBSERVE" said the reporter, that you
have great many wires running into the
station. Are they not dangerous to come
into contact with"
"Oh, no. was tho reply; 81 find that the
public generally have q very exaggerated
| idea in regard to the danger of electric wires.
Here is II limo (taking hold of Il wirc) through
which powerful current is now passing and
sustaining forty arc lights upon the circuit.
You can handle it with perfect safety as we'll
as any Of our insulated lines that traverse
the city. These wires are of fine copper,
which has the greatest conductivity of any
metal, except silver. The resistance in one
mile Of No. wire is but one and one-third
ohms Electricity will not readily pass
from a good conductor to a poor
one, and unless l separate this wire
and take one end in each hand,
thus making myself part of the circuit, |
would not experience any harm. Sometimes
a telephone or telegraph wiro will drop upon
our wires and portion of the current may
be diverted, and perhaps q telephone magnet
burned out. Such magnets are also fire.
!
| From current Of high tension, such rs we
use for arc lighting, there is really n danger OF
| the wire heating, and consequently no danger
! of fire. In my experience | never knew u
fire to occur, life TO be lost or even person
TO be injured by high tension current, al
though l have known acurrent from fifteen
light dynamo to pass through person with
out serious effect"
do you think il would be advisable TO put
all lines under ground" asked the reporter
"As matter of utility, economy. safety,
and convenience should say no; as a mat
ter of appearance yes, was the managers re-
ply. As matter Of utility and convenience
we certainly could not desire more simple
method of carrying our lines through the
city than by suspending them in the air from
poles, with glass insulators. The lines are
thus separate and apart from conductors,
easy of access readily reached in all kinds
of weather without delay, and at all times
available. AS matter of economy there is
vast difference between the expense oi
aerial and underground wiring Probably
S2000O0 would not put the lines We have in
present use underground. Such expenditure,
of course, must enhance tho price of light
ing, which all companies are now striv-
ing to reduce instead of increase. A
few years ago Paris was abazc with
electric lights At the present time they can
scarcely be found upon the streets of that
city. From the first the conductors there
were put under ground and, as was pointed
out at the time, the expense was fatal to any
commercial success in lighting. As long as
the city was willing to pay twelve times as
much for tho electric as for the gas lighting
it could be DONE but when the novelty wore
of and matters came to a business basis the
electric lights went out and the gas lights
We're rclit. In Chicago, st. LOUIS, and Mil
waukec where ordinances have been passed
requiring conductors to be laid under ground
no progress has been made in street illumin
alton. From experience IL would seem that
electric lighting on paying COM
morcial basis with underground lines
As matter Of safety, official records in New
York city show by actual experience that the
entire damage worth reporting was caused by
, low tension systems supplying incandescent
lamps, and that nearly of this was due to the
Edison underground conductors. Where thu
conductors enter buildings under ground de
fccts in insulation are no not So conspicuous
and a fire starting is not so quickly dis
covered. or course, as far us the use ant
safety of electricity within building
are concerned, II manlfestly cal
make no difference whether the con
dnctors are above or under ground OF
their way to the building, except that th
, underground wires can more readily get ou
of order and cause fires or become grounded
the fire department records at New Iorl
show that more than seven times as grea
loss has occurred from the sixteen miles o
underground than from the $50 miles of aeria
wiring
From an aesthetic standpoint it would un
doubtedly bG advisable to place all electric
| wires out of view. They are not beautiful h
the eye; / think we all agree upon that score
Are there many kinds of underground
conduits?" asked the reporter.
There are many of them" was the reply
They all claim some essential merit emi
nently satisfactory to their inventors, bu
they are usually found wanting when brough
into actual use. The United States Electri
Lighting company, of New York, is inter
csted in more than sixty subcompanies 10
catud in the principal cities of the United
O States, and the company has made ever.
1 effort possible to secure u reliable under
; ground conduit, but without success. Severa
n of these subcOmpanios have tried variOu
systems, but without II satisfactory solution
of the problem, The Western Union TelC
graph company has spared no pains nor OK
penso to obtain something suitable for THE
purposes. | think it is not exaggeratiOn /
+ say that they have had at least fifty ditferen
systems under adviscmcnt, none Of whic
met the requirements necessary"
8 "What are the obstacles TO be overcome
asked the reporter. Ii
"They are numerous" was the reply. "Un
dergrOund wires work satisfactorily at th
beginning, but are not durable. In the cit
of Toledo our folks put down what was sup
: posed to DO Il perfectly insulated cOnductC
s that they expected to last for an age. IL WI
Z copper wire first covered with dOub
braiding and paratinc, then heavy layer
IL Il 4 ~ L.