Omaha daily bee., 1888-11-04


line up the Burgenstock has achieved
that ieat under he superintendence Of
Mr.. Abt, the Swiss electrical engineer.
The rails describe one grand curve
formed upon an angle of 1l2 degrees,
and the journey is made as. steadily
and smoothly as upon any of the straight
funiculars previously. constructed. a
bed has been cut for the most part out
OF the solid rock in the mountain side,
from the shore Of the Lake of Lucerne
TO the height Of the Burgenstock-l 800
feet above its level, and, y, $50 feet above
the Level OF, the sea. The total length
OF theline is 938' meters, and 1t COM
imences with a grandient OF SO per cent,
which Is increased to IS per cent after
the first 400 meters, and this is maia-
tanned for the rest of the journey. A
single pair of rails is used throughout,
with the exception of. a few yards at
half distance TO permit two cars to pass.
Through h opposition of the. Swiss
government each car is at the present
time only allowed the half distance,
and they insist upon the passengers
changing. in order, as they say, to
avoid collision or accident. / have
made a number of Journeys up and down
the mountain in company with an en-
gineer, and the experience is sufficient
to prove that the prohibition is alto
gether unnecessary. The motive power,
electricity, is generated by two dyna-
mos, each of twenty-five horse power,
which are erected upon the River Aar
at its mouth at Buochs, three miles
away. Only n man is required to
manage the train, and the movement Of
the cars is completely under his con-
troll. One dynamo is sufficient to per-
form the work of hauling up'and letting
down the cars containing fifty or sixty
persons. At the end of the journey,
completed in about fifteen minutes, at
an ordinary walking speed, the car
moves gently against a spring buffer,
and is locked up by a lever, without
noise and without jolting the passen-
gers, This interesting undertaking
has been carrie d out at a cost of eos, 1000.
A New Electric Disease.
Chicago Journal: Not a little uneasi-
ness is said to have beer caused in GER
tain manufacturing regions by the. out
break of a peculiar disease in persons
whose duties necessitate constant work
ing under electric light. The disease &,
which is known as electric prostration,"
lays siege to the subjects throat, face
and temples. Some very severe cases
of it are reported from Crensot, a town
in France, a large number of men being
kept at work in that town in a factory
where metals are heated by an electric
furnace. The strength of this furnace
is oyer LOG, 900 candle power, and, while
the heat il not in itself sufficient to hurt
the men, the intense brilliancy of the
light brings On the electric prostra-
ton" The first symptom is said to be
a painful sensation in the throat, fol-
lowed by irritation and Inflammation of
tho ny-nc Thn yiptir,fo ,1y;n n,,
while takes on a copper-red color, while
the pain in the eyes is followed by copi-
our discharges of tears for forty-eight
hours . After o or five days the vic
Tins skin peels off in places and he is
otherwise made to feel the unpleasant
nature of his situation.
The general outbreak of such a dis
ease as this would involve serious con-
sequences. The number of men whose
employment brings them into contact
with the electric light is enormous, and
is calculated to increase at the same
rate as the comparatively new agent
supplants the old means of illumination
and becomes used as a motive power.
destined ultimately to supercede gas
as lighting power entirely, and should
this be the case Il malady s%pringing di-
rectly from contact with the new power
would be a grave matter. The only
remedy so far applied in cases of
electric prostration" has been the
wearing Of a shade over the eyes by the
person affected by 1t. This, however,
while it relieves the direct strain on
the eyes, does not mitigate the gravity
of the other symptoms.
The great minds that gave the cleo
trio light its being are naturally the
p,n n. Ia,k nnIn,,1ntAl 60 ,,N.l. - 40.
of %remedying any unpleasant conse-
quences that may be entailed by its use.
To u mind like Mr.. Edison's the discov-
cry Of a cure for electric prostration"'
should be a simple matter. The malady
bears an evident resemblance in some
respects to the disease known as ''color
blindness" the victims of which are
workmen whose duties entail a constant
scanning Of partl-colorod lamps at
night. The entire subject is one that
demands the attention of scientists. The
electric light is far too valuable an
agent to be retarded in its advance
mem by a drawback which a little care
.ul study by those most familiar with it
ihould remedy.
Electric Railways.
Electrical World: The discussion
which took place ut the American insti-
tute of electrical engineers on the
paper read by Mr.. Frank J.. Sprague,
made it evident that electric railway
practice is yet far from the point of be-
ing standardized; and from the state
ments made it would also seem that uni
formity of practice, such as exists in
other systems of traction, is still far in
the future. 1t is not necessary for us
to take up the criticisms that were
made on the electric railway in Rich
mond, as Mr.. Sprague was amply able to
take care of himself and defend his
work. His acknowledgements, how
ever, of some weaknesses, as we'll as
the revelations as to the cause thereof.
pointed directly to the fact that in cleo
trio r~ailroading, as in electric lighting,
or any other application of cleo
tricity, hasty work is apt to
show itself in the very shortest
time. On the other hand, much of the
trouble caused at Richmond, relating to
the cars, must be sought for in the great
lack of regular attention, and as Mr..
Sprague states, probably no other piece
of machinery in the world could be
maintained in operation with as little
care as an electric motor. Mr.. Sprague