Morris tribune., 1889-10-23
Death on the Wires.

Little, indeed, man knows as yet Of
the all-pervading deadliness of that inn
ponderable agent he is using so freely in
this century of electricity. Within few
months twenty men have been killed
horribly by electric wires. They were
mostly "linemen" 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, scattering the null
titude, was the most horrible and sick
ening event of a 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 o: 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 right
in the first place. 1t crossed the tele-
graph wire at some other point that will
be now forever unknown, and poured its
death dealing current along the whole
length, past the pole which Feeks
climbed. For one instant the lineman
touched the telegraph wire. The next
instant a burning corpse lay across the
network of wires, with an awestricken
throng gazing up from the street. The
story was ended.
Then the cry won't up from Mortified
public-Bury the wires. But Edison
SAYS even that would not insure safety.
The imperfectly insulated wires would
only be put out of sight. The current
could come through the ground, through
its work of terror. What would then
insure safety? an Evening Sun reporter
asked the inventor. Only knowledge
and regulation of the strength of the
current, he answered. Perfect insula-
ton could not be accomplished. If a
current too strong for them to
carry were forced over the wires, high
heat would be instantly produced, which
would set fire to the insulating substance
and consume it. The only security would
be in not sending over the wires cur
rent strong enough to kill. An amount
strong enough for this, as Edison has al
ready testified, is 1000 volts. The next
step in the progress of electrical science,
therefore, will be the proper regulation
of the strength of the currents. At the
same time there must be redoubled care
in insulating the wires. An electrician,
after the Feeks tragedy, made an exam
ination of some of the wires strung over
New York streets, and found not less
than fifty miles Of them improperly in
sulated.
There has been criminal carelessness
even in taking the precautions for safety
that were understood perfectly. Per-
haps more care will be exercised. Sc
far, though, the only result has been
that bitter quarreling and recrimination
have broken out among the electric
lighting and telegraph companies. But
nothing can bring back the lives of the
brave fellows who were sacrificed
Grisly death dances on the wires that
criss-cross our streets.