Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-13
A GENEROUS PUBLIC RESPONSE.

Center street"
A GENEROUS PUBLIC RESPONSE.
Placsrds were tackled to the pole on every
side with the appeal, ''Help the victim s
widow" and Don't forget the victims
family" In six hours just S399 O4 had come
in. John Carroll, of the District
to it, making it lust S4OO.
o'clock there was in it S422 % more. max
ing 1922 20 for ten hours. The box will 90
up on the pole again at A. M. and again
on Monday as well. The money collected
to-day will be sent to the widow tomorrow.
As to Feeks' death, Mr.. Wheeler, the
city's expert, told the Board of Electrical
Control he had examined the pole and
wires. They were principally telegraph
and telephone wires on the pole, with two
wires of an electric power company. He
had visited the power company's plant
and found that their current as generated
by an Edison dynamo, was not danger
Gus to life, but he found that there was a
loop o. the United States Illuminating Com
pany's wire within half stretch of the
pole, and thought it very likely that the
wire that Feeks was handling may have
sagged and crossed it.
THE BOARD ENJoINED.
The board adjourned to meet Monday at
II A. M. The members were lust rising
from their seats when Commissioner Gilroy
rushed into the room in a state of considera-
BILE excitement and said: 'I am notified
that an injunction order has been issued.
ITO the corporation counsel. I would like
to ask whether that is a sufficient service or
whether 1 can go on cutting down wires"
On returning to his Office Mr.. GiIroy sent
out to all of the electric light companies
this notice: you are hereby notified that
in accordance with directions received by
his honor, the Mayor, this department will
proceed at once, beginning this day, to re-
move all electric light wires in this
city which are at this date improperly
insulated in violation of the rules and
regulations Of the Board of Electrical Con-
troll. You are further notified to Immediately
shut off the electric current from all such
electric light wires under your control, and
that you will be held responsible for any ac-
may be caused by the existence of such
wires.
TREATED WITH CONTEMPT.
The companies with injunctions of course
paid no attention to this letter, and the
Manhattan companies, which are under one
management, also served an injunction.
The East River and Mount Morris COM
panies were about all that Mr.. Gilroy could
touch, and the circuits controlled by these
concerns are small compared with the
others. The Brush and United States lines
were the ones that Mr.. Wheeler was aching
to get at. It was decided, however, to make
a raid upon bad insulation within the prov
ince left to them, and at 3 o'clock gang of
40 men started out on the work.
Contractor Hess went along with Expert
Wheeler and his gang locating badly in
sulated wires. They began their work
at Chambers and Center streets. right
at the scene of Feeks' death. Thev
had no trouble In finding bare
wires in plenty. At the northeast
corner of Chamber and Center streets all
the insulation was gone from a wire for sew
eral feet. Other bare spots were found in
front of % Center, at Duane and Center and
in front of "a Center. At these three points
the wire was found to belong to the East
River Company. Three men followed on
the heels of the city's employees, and hur-
riedly repairing the defective spots, Mr..
Wheeler found that the two power wires be-
longed to the Electrical Power Company,
whose station is at SO Center. He said that
THE INSULATION WAS DEFECTIVE,
and he ordered them cut down at once.
They were brought to the ground all the
way up to the station in Center street. Mr..
Wheeler pocketed several sections of the
wire, which showed careless insulation. The
station was closed at the time and the wires
dead. Mr.. Wheeler says there is nothing
to indicate that these were the wires which
had carried the current to the Western
Union wires and killed Feeks. Emburv
Mclean, engineer and part owner of the
company, which is not incorporated said that
its wires are strung on Western Union poles
through Center street. with branches
through Chambers to West Broadway, and
through Grand to the Bowery. They carry
the Edison current of 220 volts only, and
furnish power to Sprague motors
j. h. Vail, of the Sprague Motor Com
panv, said today, that the company itself
had no overhead wires iE New York. For
tomorrow Mr. Wheeler has borrowed six
linemen from the Western Union, who
will work with his four inspectors.
Two of the Western Union men
will start at the Battery and
work up Broadway to locate every spot in
the wires which shows danger. Two OF
these will begin at Park Row and work up
Center and Chatham streets, through the
Bowery to Fourteenth street, and two will
the wires on Fulton street from
river to river. Of Mr.. Wheeler's own men
one is detailed to Canal street, another to |
Grand street and third to Bleeker street.
All will begin work at Z o'clock |
sharp in the morning and continue |
until IL O'Clock, when they are to |
report to Mr. Wheeler at the Office of the |
board He expects that his men will locate |
the defective insulations on every block. |
Each of them will make an affidavit, and |
armed with these affidavits Mr.. Wheeler |
will 90 into court Monday.