Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-02-16
THE ELECTRIC WIRES
SHOULD THEIR CONSTRUCTION A"o
USE BE BETTER REGULATED
to BE Controlled BY
State Board.


bill to prevent danger from electro CUT
rents.
1t seemed to be the opinion of the com
mittee that this matter should be left W
the control Of municipal authorities.
The interest felt by our people in electric
matters was fully attested by the large
number OF them who attended the meet
ings of the committee while the supJeo'
was under consideration.
One of the most expert electricians III
this State is Mr.. M. Il. Leonard. superin-
tendent Of the Chesapeake and Ohio raii-
way telegraph and member % the Aine-
rican Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Thinking the views of this gentleman on
this subject might be OF interest 70 ,no
readers of the D,spdcs reporter YESTERDAY
called upon him and asked his opinion as
20 the expediency OF better regulating lno
use of electric wires.
NR. LZosAgD's VIEWS.
"The testimony given before the Senate
committee on last Tuesday and Wed1fs-
day" said Mr.. Leonard. must have con-
WINGED the ordinary citizen that while IL
was inexpedient to limit by Legislative en-
actment the electric pressure conveyed Oy
means of wires or conductors, yet some
method OF regulating the manner III
which such wires are constructed. wletner
overhead. underground, or within buld..
ings, IS an absolute necessity III we" VI
the rapid development Of electrical enter
prises in this Commonwealth. =.
" Realizing the importance of this SUD
iect. the English Society Of Telegraph
Engineers and Electricians so lone ago vs.
1882 drew mp n set Of rules and regulations
for the prevention of fire risks arising
from electric lighting. which was adopted
by the Board of Trade. and by the British
electric lighting act of 1888 made appDca-
bic to the entire kingdom.
ACTION IN THIS COUNTRY.
I'm few cities OF the United states,
Mr.. Leonard continued, the municipal
corporations or local boards of fire under
writers have formulated certain rules or
safety regulations governing this matter:
the most important of which are those Oh
the Boston Underwrters' Union, the New
England Insurance Exchange. the BOARD
OF Electrical Control of New York. and the
electric-light laws of the cities of Chicago
and Cincinnati. But as the use OF cleo
tricity is extending with great rapidly IN
tho towns and villages as well az the larger
cities. and as the smaller places are as
rule unable TO cone with the subject IN 80
thorough manner as the great cities, the
necessity Of some legislative action looking
TO the enactment OF adequate provisions
for the proper installation OF electrical
plants and wires throughout the state mas
become very apparent.
Measures have already been introduced
in the Legislature of the State. of New
York for the appointment Of board OF
electrical control charged with the super
vision throughout the entire State OF the
use of electric currents. Maryland, 1t IS
SAID has a like proposition under consid-
Grafton, and it is only q question OF time
before similar boards will be established
in every State of the Union"
PROTECTION OF PROPERTY.
ITO such a board of competent men
composed of electrical experts and repre-
sentatives of the insurance companies;
clothed with the power to prescribe Gnn
enforce such rules and regulations as VIII
best prevent fire risks and danger to hu-
man life from electric-light and other
wires. not the slightest objections can be
uroperly advanced. To the ordinary citi-
zen il would obviate the liability of per-
sonal accident from improperly construct
ed overhead wires, To the property -owner
reasonable immunity from fires caused by
the faulty installation OF electric-plant5
and wires, and to the general public IL
would afford a sense of security from what
is popularity believed TO be the unseen dan
gers Of electricity.
=" Contrary to the general belief, the laws
of electricity are well understood. its cur
rents ndpressures can be positively de-
termined and measured, and its effects
under given conditions accurately pre-
djcted and restrained. That it has caused
the destruction of life and property is en-
tirely due to the neglect of perfectly we'll
known cautions and safeguards. As has
been aptly stated. people are Killed ana
property destroyed not because electricity
is unmanageable. but because the average
American takes TOO many chances aud is
more anxious to reach his point by the
quickest and cheapest than by the safest
and best route.
EFFECT on INSURANCE.
"As il was stated during the hearing be-
fore the Senate committee at the Capitol
on Tuesday that the insurance companies
charged a higher rate where electricity Is
used III Virginia than on other similar
risks. il NAV be of interest to know
how this subject is regarded else
where" Mr.. Leonard said further on.
Tho New England Insurance Exchange,
one of the ablest insurance bodies IN this
couutry. in referring to the lighting by
electricity declares that the system, pro.
perly guided by knowledge of electrical
laws and guarded BY the various we'll
known automatic safety device and current
regulators, STANDS prominently as the
safest method OF artificial lighting III
vogue
"On April Q, 1888, a reduction in the III.
surance tariff rates in New England was
made under certain conditions when cleo
.ric-lights are used. while on January A.
1890, after many years of experience. the
statement was made by Dir. S. Il. Barton
/ chairman of the Committee on Electric
Light of the New England Insurance tx
/ change:
/ 49, am of the firm opinion that we could
/ secure profit to our companies II we were
to extend the granting Of rebates for tntt
| exclusive use of incandescent lights to al
classes of so-called mercantile or store
risks, and thereby Danish tho gas-let:
which ignite goods in showwlndow!s, anG
the kerosene-lamps hich explode Ill Gel
lars
/ "In this connection it NAV be pertinent
TO observe that the rules of the Boston I'm
derwriters' Union and the Insurance Ex-
change prevail in New England, while
similar risks in Virginia are not governed
by any code of this kind.
ELECTRICAL BOARDS.
with the establishment of STATE
board of electrical control on the lines
above Indicated added Mr.. Leonard, II
conclusion, the expense of which cou!d
be borne pro-ra'd by the various companie:
operating electric-plants in the State, NJ
such proposition as the Senate bill TO regu
late the pressure of electric currents coulc
be brought forward. which, in the event o
becoming law, would have actually pro
hibited the use of all telephone instru
ments in this State, inasmuch as the alter
mating current by which they are operated
is of very much higher pressure than the
200 volts, to which this species of electric
current was restricted by the proposed
bill-a result hardly contemplated by 1t!
most jealous advocates"
Letter from Mrs. Davis.
Secretary Dunlop, of the Chamber o.
Commerce, recently received letter from