Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-05-09
0alss and .skttfhts.
News About relemetry.
A NEW SYSTEM FOR RECORDING AT
DISTANCE, TEMPERATURES oTEAM
PREssUREs AND HEIGHTS OF WATER

/ DISTANCE, IEMPERATUREo- oALa"
PREssUREs AND HEIGHTS OF WATER
The French Society for the Encourage
ment of Industry tffered in November
last a prize tor instrument capable OF
transmitting to distant point the varia.
ltions of temperature of heated rooms !"
The need Of such an instrument was APP
preciated here BY two bright Americans,
Robert Hewitt, Jr. and Charles L.Clarke.
1.-The latter formerly the chief engineer OF
tine Edison Electric Light Co.. long before
1.-THE date of the French society's offer. and
while this foreign society was encourage
ling the construction of such an apparatus
by holding out the prospects OF prize 70
1.-The successful inventor. Mr.. Hewitt ana
Mr.. Clarke had already devised an appii.
aDce fulfilling all the conditions mentioned
4 and useful in many other respects.
| II is contrivance OF elegant simplicity
which solves a problem electricians have
been workings at for years. viz The d.
vision of the electric current. brewer
can now, Tor instance, place a thermome-
tier in any part of his cool storage room
and connect it by wires with an indicator.
graduated like the thermometer, in his
private office. II the dial hand OF the
thermometer in the storage room passes
over. say three degrees. showing CORE.
lspoudino rise in temperature, the dial
hand in the private office passes slmultane
Iously over the same number of degrees.
If you place thermometer at point IN
England and run your wires under the
ocean to an indicator in New York, you
can be constantly informed here OF the
exact temperature at the particular point
in England where your transmitting tner-
momeier is located. You can anchor your
thermometer at the bottom of the sea and
read on your indicator the temperature on
the bed Of the ocean,
The passengers of the ocean greyhound
Alaska, may soon have good opportunity
to STUDY the workings Of the tclether-
mometer. as the entire apparatus is nam
ed. Capt. Murray. having recently seen
one Of The instruments in operation. at
once recognized its importance to seafar-
ing men. Ever since the Arizona bumped
on an iceberg with little damage to the
berg and much damage to herself, navi-
gators have felt increasing dread of the
|icebergs in The North Atlantic currents.
One of the causes of their great apprehen-
sion has been that it is very difficult to
discover the proximity of these floating
mountains of ice. The most certain evil
dence of their nearness is the increasing
GOODNESS of the water, But it is difficult
to take observations of the temperature OF
the water. The constant dipping a Their
mometer into the sea is impracticable. be-
cause of the amount Of labor it requires,
calling rs it would. for the constant and
exclusive services of man. When, there
fore. Capt Murray saw telethermome-
ter. he recognized in it the instrument
which would record without flaw the
temperature of the water, warning navi-
gators of the proximity of icebergs. and
indicating besides, changes of cold and
warm currents in the ocean. On board
any of the great Atlantic steamers, the tel
thermometer can be so applied that the
transmitting thermometer will be placed
in the indention pipe, through which the
sea water for the use OF the vessel con-
stantly passes. while the indicator on the
bridge or in the captains room, will indi-
cate and record the temperature of the
| water.
Telethermometers can, however, best
be observed and the benefits of the system
studied in the offices of the company.
These offices being in one of the best APP
pointed buildings in the city, the Wash
ington building, the uses of the system of
telemeter have been applied in this build
ing itself for the safety, as will be seen
hereafter. of Its inmates. Several of the
noted electricians in the country have
seen the instruments in operation here,
and have acknowledged the scientific
beauty of the principles on which they
are constructed and their commercial
utility. The telethermometer may, in
the briefest possible terms, be de-
scribed as follows: The receiver consists
Of a metallic thermometer. in which the
contraction of two metals causes hand
to move over graduated dial. To this
thermometer is attached very sensitive,
delicate electrical apparatus. to describe
which in detail would necessitate the use
OF many technical terms. Suffice it to say
the thermometer acts on tie electrical ap-
paratus. connected bv wires, which may
be Of any length-an inch or thousands oil
miles-with the indicator or recorder
As the hand moves to and fro over the dial
l-plate of the thermometer, with the
Expansion or contraction of the metals,
certain magnets are vitalized in series and
can cause the hand on the recording dial
to move with absolute unison and precis.
ion with the hand on the transmitting
thermometer. The recorder thus always
shows the temperature at the point where
the transmtter is placed.
1t is obvious that such instruments have
various commercial uses. Some OF the
practical tests which they have already
stood are highly interesting. A telether.
mometer is in the contagion ward of one
of our large hospitals. The physician
can read in the consulting room, connected
by some 800 feet of wire. the temperature
of the ward. And even further-for 8
simple mechanical device unwinds roll
Of paper upon which the temperature
Is constantly recorded by pen. so that il
the physician is called out he can discev
er on his return if the ward temperature
has been kept at the point he directed
Moreover there are two alarm hands or
the receiving dial which can be placed al
the extremes above or below which the
temperature should not be allowed to rise
or fall. When the main dial hand reache.
either of these alarm hands an alarm i:
instantaneously sounded
This alarm system and recording appar
atus is. of course, applicable in all the va
rious uses to which the telemeter is put
Thus if Mr.. Blacktord, the Fish Commits
sioner. hears the alarm ring in his Office
in Fulton market, he knows that some care
less employee has lefl the doors of the ice
Il.