The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-11-10

up picture, and yet by an iron rafter, q
girder, 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 a general rule it is danger
Gus to stand on 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 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 girders, beams and tele-
phone wires the whole building was literally
charged with electric death. Fortunately
the discovery was made in time to 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 a 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-
Observation-Disclosures, that is to say, it WIS
not "cruel and unusual"-and whether it
would kill! If murderer Kemmler were in
any less gloomy condition, he might smile at
tho horribly grotesque fact OF so many limo
cent men preceding him as victims Of electro
cution.
A 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 n 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 a force may be communicable to
the hands from badly insulated wire vary
ing from 10000 to 100000 "ohmsn The re-
sistance of the carbon flament in an mean
descent lamp creates the white heat-the
light. The human body is scorched by. a
similar resistance, also by the electric arc or
line of reconnection which is established
There is saidEto 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 singh voltage
combination" would not kill pig, while a
very small part of the force certainly would
kill man The pig was fat-that was the
explanation. Yet the ''high voltage" tit is
sufficient translation into the vernacular to
call this great tension'0 is claimed to be per
fectly safe with perfect insulation. That,
however, would destroy its economy. Low
tension, very low, and q 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 unex pected places was the fatal shock
to Stage Manager James Mcconnell. at Har-
ris' theatre, Cincinnati, on the 10th of De-
cember, 1887. Receiving the signal for cur
tain," he turned away from n friend with
whom ne was conversing and reached MS
hand TO the handle of the bell pull. There
was a flash rs of lightning, a peculiar hiss
and he reeled away exclaiming: Ring down
the curtain" Not observing the falling man
ager, stage hand grasped the handle and
was instantly hurled back against the wall
But the bell had tapped and the curtain de-
seconded, 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.
1.-THE wire! The wire! | touched the wirer'
He was struggling blindly about, wringing
his hands together. Mcconnell, still breath
ing heavily, was borne to dressing room
where he gasped two or three times and was
dead Meanwhile the stage hand recovered
consciousness, his worst injury being badly
burned hands. In few minutes an electric
light repair man entered and made the mys-
terry plain. The insulating covering of
wire across the ceiling had worn away and
the current had charged the metal tube lead
ing to the prompter's 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 multitude of coun-
selors there is not assurance Of safety In
functions, restraining orders and dissolving
of injunctions, acts Of the mayor overruled
by the courts and virulent disputes as to the
responsibility are not yet exhausted While
many claim that perfect insulation is enough. |
and many more that subways are the one
thing needed, all agree that low tension is |
safe-but very expensive,