The Great Falls leader. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1888-1900, 1889-10-29
Death on the Wires,

Little, indeed, man knows as vet of
the al-pervading deadiness of that i'm
ponderable agent he is using SC freely in
this century of electricity. Within few
months twenty men have been killed
horribly by electric wires. They were
mostly "inemen" who climbed the poles
on which the wires were strung to ad-
just them. A few met their death from
live wires falling upon them in the
street. Six of the twenty deaths have
occurred in New York city since Sep
tember That of Lineman Feeks, with
his body lying across the wires in full
sight of hundreds below, fire and smoke
issuing from the flesh where it touched
the wires, and blood dripping from it
into the street below, spattering the null
titude, was the most horrible and sick.
ening event Of generation. The only
grain of comfort in the shocking tragedy
is that, in the judgment of Edison, Line
man Feeks died so quickly that he prob
ably did not endure much torture.
Lineman Feeks was adjusting the
wires-"dead" wires-at the top of tel.
egraph pole. Somewhere in the hun.
dreds of miles of electric light wires that
hold New York in murderous network
there was one in which the insulation
had burned off, or else never was fight
In the first place. It crossed the tele
graph wire at some other point that will
be now forever unknown, and poured it
death dealing current along the who'll
length, past the pole which Feehl
climbed. For one instant the inema1
touched the telegraph wire. The mex
instant a burning corpse lay across tn
network Of wires. with an awestrickel
throng gazing up from the street. TIL
story was ended.
Then the cry went up from horrife'
public--Bury the wires. But Ediso
says even that would not insure safety
The imperfectly insulated wires woul
only be put out Of sight. The currer
could come through the ground, throug
an Office floor, anywhere, and still wor
its work of terror What would the
insure safety? an Evening Sun reportt
asked the inventor. Only a knowlede
and regulation of the strength of tt
current, he answered Perfect insul
ton could not be accomplished. If
current too strong for them
carry were forced over the wires, hig
O heat would be instantly produced, whit
would set fire to the insulating substan
and consume it. The only security wou
: be in not sending over the wires CT
rent strong enough to kill. An amou
strong enough for this, as Edison has
ready testified, is 1000 volts. The ne
step in the progress of electrical scien'
therefore, will be the proper regulati
of the strength Of the currents. at It
same time there must be redoubled cs
r in insulating the wires. An electricis
. after the Feeks tragedy, made an exa
- ination of some of the wires strung o.
= New York streets, and found not |
; than fifty miles of them improperly
= sulated
'e There has been criminal carelessn
III even in taking the precautions for saf
y that were understood perfectly. t
Y haps more care will be exercised.
III far, though, the only result has b.
that bitter quarreling and recriminat
have broken out among the elect
49, lighting and telegraph companies.
~ ~ nothing can bring back the lives OF
- brave fellows who were sacritie
49, 49, Grisly death dances on the wires
criss-cross our streets.