Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-11-27
ELECTRICITY MADE HARMLESS

Electricity Is dangerous, 1t Is said /:
the majority of us dread the very name,
People are killed and knocked down
right and left in our streets, and in our
very homes, and no one dares to call
his life his own This state of things
surely must have an end; We are not
state criminals to be eeNperimented upon
As fit subjects for the alternating or high
electro-motive force of the arc light
and other systems
Tue most harmless telephone wires
even, are made dangerous, and We are
liable TO be cooked alive In our inno-
cent desire to have q friendly chat with
a neighbor. The explanation for these
trifing casualties as submitted to the
bereaved relatives, is simply to the eff
feet that certain Electric arc light
wire got crossed with your telephone,
etc.
The magnitude and prevalence of
these occurrences Is due to the fact that
we have sanctioned the Electrical trans
mission of power and light, as conveyed
by the deadly high tension current, or
h gh Electro-motive force used In our
cities That this system of lighting is
fraught with the deadliest peril no one
can well dispute in face of 10 electro
tember last Unfortunately, however,
the misconceptions which prevail re-
garding the varied applications of the
Electric Fluid, tend TO bring the entire
science into dlsrepute, and to efface the
existing and vital points of divergence
The masses of the uninitiated, are una
ware that they have n their command a
perfectly harmless system of electrical
lighting and transmission of electrical
energy of such a nature that child
could handle the wires without any DIS
agreeable consequences.
In the reduction of the terribly high
electro-motive force, TO a minimum
pressure with the retention, practically
of the same results We have the out
come of Thos. A. Edison's creative gen
ius- By q series of exhausted ex-
periments extending over a period of
II years, he has perfected the use of
n low electrical current in connection
with lighting 1t susceptible of the most
varied adaptation and absolutely devoid
of danger.
As an exemplification of the latter
point, l may state that whilst standing
IN the large Edison Electric Light Co.'S.
Station, of New York, / closed my bare
hands firmly upon the huge copper ca
bles, used to conduct the current under
ground to theatres, business houses
public buildings and private homes,
and did so without experiencing the
smallest inconvenience.
The pear shaped Incandescnnt lamp,
with the outline of which We are SO IA
miliar, is extensively employed by the
mercantile classes of Europe and Am
erica, and noticed, in the course of
some transatlantic wsnderings, that the
Edison Electric Companies were max
ing installations even IN gunpowder fac
tories, a circumstance, which, IN view
of the twin dangers OF fire and shock,
offers as convincing a proof of conf
dence as could well be desired.
The Sprague Electric Railway and
Motor Co, so Justly renowned for the
perfection of its system of Electric
propulsion, derives its current princl-
pally from the low tension Edison Dy-
namo. 1t is impossible, in view of these
and thousands of kindred facts to with
hold from the great inventor a feeling
of honest admiration, II is equally i'm
possible, not to recognize In his safe
and efficient system of lighting and
power, the only methods worthy of
popular endorsation-
If we are content with the elements
of legitimate interest, which the hum
blest career affords, and If We desire, as
the basis of our external life, an under
living sense of comfort, peace and secur-
itv, we shall bring this senseless discus
sion to a close, and adopt the pure,
potent and benefcent principles of the
Low Tension System