Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-30
ELECTRICITY AND STORMS.
What Experts Think of the Effects of Electric
pyaamos Upon the Elements

What Experts Think of the Effects of Electric
Dyaamos Upon the Elements
New York Star.
The unusually heavy rains that have
fallen during the past few weeks have
attracted the attention of many through
out the country, who attribute the me-
Theological storms, in part, to the large
amount af eseetrleity generated by the
npSasa DTS dynamos in operation at pres
= A Star repor ter interviewed Mr.. West
of the New American electrical arc lght
company relative to the cause OF the
heavy rains, and in response to questions
about the dynamo electric effect upon
the elements, he said:
81 cannot see how the electricity gen.
Grated by the dynamos could affect the
elements sufficiently to induce the fall
ing Of such heavy rains as we have
had of late People out in Nebraska
and other Western states argue that
the enormous quantity of steel rails lald
over the thousands of miles of surface in
the United States have, in a great
measure, exercised an influence on the
elements, through their power of attract
ing heat. and conveying the same over
great extent of territory, the rails also
acting as a perfect chain OF
lightning rods. 1t IS also
claimed by many of the agrl-
culturalists of the West that steam gen.
Grated by locomotives, and the great We
locity of railroad trains IN traveTslng the
country has much to do with changing
the electrical current. OF course, can
not, from scientific standpoint,
authoritatively speak as to the absolute
truthfulness of such statements.
Mr.. Robert Grimshaw, the well-known
scientific expert, of No. 81 Park row,
upon being asked to express his OPINION
! in regard to DYNAMO electricity having an
effeetznpon the natural elements, SAID:
Y fzse amount OF electricity used for COM
Esfiercial purposes in the United States
would, as compared with the amount OF
! energy represented by a single storm, be
! but as drop in the bucket, even sup
! posing that it ran TO waste and became APP
| parent in the work of storms. AS matter
| of fact, - said Mr.. Grimshaw, ''of all
| the current generated in any dynamo
! every fraction of its per cent. Is fully.
| accounted for, either as work done by e
motor or light in the lamps supplied by
! the dynamos, or friction and resistanee
! in the machine and the wires carrying
| the current. II is not all recovered, of
course, but it is accounted for as Work
or waste of some sort III the system, ana
therefore does not 20 wandering about
trying to disturb the elements. If it did
there is not enough of it to amount to
| anything.
''These heavy storms continued Mr.
Grimshaw, ''arlse quite frequently and
can only be accounted for through
| natural causes. There was some years
ago an idea held by some people that the
numerous metal rails which gridiron the
| country had an effect upon the elements
and climate Electricity is generally put
down as the cause OF whatever ignorant
or half informed people do not under
stand-as for instance the cause Of boiler
explosions If II is not electricity, il is
vacuum, that gets the credit or the
blame for mysterious or unusual occur
rences.
In discussing the subject Of annual
rainfalls, Mr.. Grimshaw said that the
average depth of rain falling over the
earth amounts to about yard year
''Out of this, - he said, g New York
gets about sixty inches, some places
getting 100 and others only five. In q
recent rainfall in this vicinity about
three inches fell in half an hour-that is
TO say one-twentieth of the entire rain
fall that we are entitled to in 1889 drop
ped in less than thirty minutes.
Mr. Benson Wright of No. lis Liberty
street, weu-known Boston expert
said: 81 90 not care TO express my
opinion upon the subject, but l can en-
phut!eally say that the electricity gen
eraSei shy dynamos has nothing whatever
togio WITH the storms that have followed
each other so rapidly within the las
moatA, Il e..