St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-21
That Would Be Supt. MeMieh-
ael'S Idea Of a So
luton.
The Harvest Home Festival
Preparations Move Along Fl
SWimmingly. "a
An Intellectual Feast Spread
Before the New Century e
Club. 81
7!
.
Several Accidents Lend Hor!
ror to the History Of One -
Day. n

Supt. McMichaels. of the Western
Union Telegraph company, was in St.
Paul yesterday for the second time in
response to request from Chairman
Gehan, of the committee OH streets. He
came first on Saturday afternoon last,
and. although special meeting Of the
committee had been called to consider
the advisability of ordering the over
head wires removed, the chairman was
the only member present. Mr.. Gehan,
chairman of the body, made an arrange
ment for special meeting to be
called yesterday afternoon, and re-
quested hlr. McMichaels to attend.
The superintendent was on hand,
and again there was no meeting. This
time the chairman himself was absent,
and the other members, after waiting a
short time, went home. 1t is extremely
improbable that thus late in the season
measures can be taken to remedy the
overhead wire difficulty, as the ground
will have frozen before the work can be
half completed. A GLOBE representa-
tive questioned Mr.. McMichaeS as to
the practicability of using the Dorset
conduit laid in st. Paul for the recep-
ton of its wires. He replied that in his
opinion the conduit in use now was not
pidCGlCci. ~ W Dt SuCCCSS
must afford perfect insulation to
the wires it carries. and the super
iIitendent is of opinion that the
material of which the conduit is con-
structed preeiudes the possibility of its
being perfect in that regard. The con-
duitS already laid down here are made
of a mixture of pitch, gravel and sand.
For time. the material thus produced
will resist damp, but It's power OF resist
ance is short-lived. The entrance of
any damp, sewer gas, or even illumin-
ating gas, into the conduit, is fatal to
the operation of the wires When asked
why the Dorsett conduit should be less
a success in st. Paul than
in New York or Chicago, Mr..
McMichaels replied that the
conduit laid here and that in use in
| Chicago and the East were totally DIFF
ferent in construction and utility. He
had no hesitation in saying that the
Western Union wires could only be
operated in such conduitS as those in
use here at tremendous expense, and
that very imperfect service would re-
| suit
| 1T must be remembered he said. ''that
| trouble is constantly occurring at different
| points in any complicated system of wires,
| Electrical management is still in It's infancy,
| and the only way is to K cate the trouble. re-
! pair the damaged wire and profit by expert
| euce. Now, suppose our wires are in con!
| duits. break occurs somewhere or for
some reason there is a leakage. We can, it is
| true, locate the trouble pretty closely by the
| use of the galvanometer. Then to remedy it
| we have to dig up the street and rip up q
| cable. In case The trouble occurs clnse to a
manho.e it's all right, but if it does not it can
| only be remedied with great difficulty
| When asked what he would propose
| in place of conduit, Ar. McMichaels
replied that he would place before the
| committee. proposal to carry all the
| compauy's wires in five or six cables
overhead. instead of the labyrinth of
wires it now operates. The latter plan,
he says, is practical and it agreed to
| the company will proceed to replace the
| wires with cables at once. IL is eX-
tremely doubtful. however, whether
! the committee would listen to
| such proposition, Judging from
| remarks made at its recent sessions,
| Judge FIandrau was in favor of order
| ing the wires underground Immediately,
| and, i'll case the company refused to put
! them there, he proposed to cut down
| all the poles and clear the streets at any
cost. He did not believe in any half
measures on the question. The place
for the wires was underground, and he
| for one was in favor of getting them
| there at once. When the committee
will actually come together for the con-
| sideration of this question is at present
not known. In all probability it will go
| over until the next regular meeting.