Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-11-03

run for miles till it reaches an iron post,
where it touches, or q broken wire may hang
over it to the ground to complete
the connection. You may be on the tenth
floor of building, the wire may be holding
up picture, and yet by an iron rafter, q
girder, q gas fixture or a water pipe the cur
rent may easily be completed and you be in
stantly killed by simply touching it with
your finger AS general rule it is danger
GUS to stand on a wet floor and touch iron
fixtures at the same time. Above and below
you, hidden by ceiling or wall or floor. may
be the iron that conveys the deadly current.
There is no safety but in light tension or put
ting the wires under ground in a properly
constructed subway"
In one case it was shown that the wind had
blown an arc light wire against an iron roof,
and through the Orders, beams and tele-
phone wires the whole building was literally
charged with electric death Fortunately
the discovery was made in time 10 prevent
serious consequences The dangers may be
divided into two classes: There is the current
used for the arc light exclusively, and also
the one known as the alternating current of
the Westinghouse system, and though the
tension of the latter is weaker it Is far more
dangerous. This is the system that is to be
used to kill criminals; and it is grim satire
on law and science that half dozen men
should have been killed and many injured by
the current while the courts were deciding
whether that method Of execution was con-
stitutional-whether, that is to say, it was
not ''cruel and unusual'-and whether it
would kill If murderer Kemnller were in
any less gloomy condition, he might smile at
the horribly grotesque fact Of SO many inno-
cent men preceding him as victims of electro
cution.
little science may be borne by the reader
if it points the way to safety. Electricians
measure the force by ''ohms"-a unit of cleo
trio power just as ''horse power is assumed
as unit to measure the force Of steam. The
amount of force that can safely pass through
the human body varies greatly according to
the body's inherent resistance or electro
motive energy, but in normal conditions
1900 ''ohms" are the limits Of possible resist
ance. But force may be communicable to
the hands from badly insulated wire vary
ing from 10000 to 10000 ''ohms." The re-
sistance of the carbon filament in an mean
descent lamp creates the white heat-the
light The human body is scorched by
similar resistance, also by the electric arc or
line of reconnection which is established.
There is saidsto be no absolute non-conductor;
but fat, glass and some other substances ap-
proach it most nearly.
Mr.. Preece, the English scientist reported,
with some surprise, that his high voltage
combination" would not kill a pig, while
very small part of the force certainly would
Kill man. The pig was fat-that was the
explanation. Yet the "high voltage" Gt. is
sufficient translation into the vernacular to
call this great tension'1 is claimed to be per-
fectly safe with perfect insulation. That,
however, would destroy Its economy. Low
tension, very low, and a multiplication of
wires, would possibly be cheaper than insu-
lation.
Conspicuous among the tragedies Of the
wire, and specially important in illustrating
the way In which death may creep in at the
most unexpected places, was the fatal shock
20 Stage Manager James Mcconnell at Har-
ris' theatre, Cincinnati, on the 10th Of De-
cember, 1881 Receiving the signal for cur
TAIN" he turned away from a friend with
whom he was conversing and reached his
hand to the handle of the bell pull There
was flash as of lightning, peculiar hiss,
and he reeled away exclaiming: Ring down
the curtain" Not observing the falling man
ager, a stage hand grasped the handle and
was instantly hurled back against the wall.
But the bell had tapped and the curtain de-
scended, the audience only observing that
the eyes of all actors in the tableau group
on the stage were turned towards the wing
The next instant scream was heard from
the stage hand.
''The wire! The wire! I touched the wirel"
He was struggling blindly about, wringing
his hands together. Mcconnell, still breath
ing heavily, was borne to a dressing room
where he gasped two OF three times and was
dead. Meanwhile the stage hand recovered
consciousness, his worst injury being badly
burned hands. In a few minutes an electric
light repair man entered and made the mys-
terry plain. The insulating covering of a
wire across the ceiling had worn away and
the current had charged the metal tube lead
ing to the prompters stand as well as the
wires of the bell pull Mcconnell had com
pleted the circuit" by resting his left hand on
the zinc covered box from which the gas
burners are controlled The result was
death.
New York is at last fully aroused and the
universal cry is, The wires must come
DOWN. But as yet in a multitude of coun-
selors there is not assurance Of safety. In
functions, restraining orders and dissolving
of injunctlons, acts OF the mayor overruled
by the courts and virulent disputes as TO the
responsibility are not yet exhausted. While
mary claim chat perfect Insulation is enough,
and many more that subways are the one
thing needed, all agree that low tension is
safe-but very expensive.