River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-04-02
m THE ELECTRICAL WORLD.

The Greenwich Eng authorities
have found that the exact period of
transmitting an electric signal to Mon
treal. Canada, is about three-fourths of
second.
The telephone line between New
York and Buffalo, distance of 4s0
miles, which has worked admirably for
long time, is built of copper wire
weighing about 125 pounds to the mile.
1t is proposed to run cars between
Boston and Lynn by electricity, and the
company mas asked permission to in
crease its capital stock $500, 900 to carry
the improvement into effect.
In the Wheatstone automatic
method of telegraphy, when transmit
ting at the rate of 900 words minute
there are $4,000 currents per minute
sent out, each having duration not ex-
&C cding 002 of a second.
Many explosions in Touring mills
are said 10 have been caused by electric
ity generated by belts. Even ordinary
belts are found TO generate sufficiently
strong currents to perform the common
experiments for which electric machines
are used.
Only three persons were killed by
electric light plants in Massachusetts
last year. Eleven persons lost their
lives by not turning off the gas. Now
if we knew how many persons We're
killed by kerosene explosions, and how
many died from sunstroke, we could
readily judge what kind of life is the
most hazardous
The statistics of the Postes ct Tele-
graphes, which have just appeared,
give 1000 as the number of submarine
cables in use all over the world. The
cost of these cables is about 500, 000,-
900. OF those which belong to govern
ments. Denmark owns 36; England,
lo4; Germany, 35; France, 45; Greece,
As: Italy, %; Spain, 8; Brazil, 10; India,
~, and Norway, no less than $50.
Electricity is now being much used
for the unloading of lumber and other
freight from vessels in conjunction
with a whip hosting drum. The power
used is an electric motor, which is con-
nected by a belt with the shaft which
operates the drums. Each drum is
operated by lever and can be stopped
in an instant When the lumber is
drawn from the vessel large hook
from the wharf derrick is attached and
the sticks are transferred to any part of
the yard. The entire pulling, twist
ing and transferring is done by electric
power.
The erygmatoscope is an instru-
ment designed by VI. Trouve for the ex-
animation of geological strata pierced
by deep boring. The apparatus consists
simply of powerful electric incandes-
cent lamp inclosed in a cylindrical case,
one of the curved sides of which serves
as a reflector, while the other, made OF
thick glass, permits the illumination OF
the bore hole. An elliptical mirror, set
at the bottom of the case, throws its
images vertically upward through the
open top of the case to the observer,
who examines them with a powerful
telescope. II is said that the apparatus
works satisfactorily ito depth of zoo
feet" and that the Portuguese govern
ment supplied it to its Mozambique ex-
petition. Electrical Review.
Two immense travelling cranes, op-
Grated by electricity, have within a
brief period been in operation in the
erecting shops of the Baldwin locomo-
tive works. The shop covers almost
the entire block space of 3S7x156 feet
Each crane is of TWEEN weight feet span
and fitted with two trolleys, each OF
which is capable of lifting fifty tons,
the capacity of each crane thus being
one hundred tons. tits the largest pain
of cranes in the world, and but one
crane, that in the gun works at the
arsenal in Washington, excels either OF
them in power The electric power is
furnished by two ne-hundred-horse
power generators, driven by Westing-
house compound engines, which are
placed in separate apartment, partly
walled off at the western end of the
erecting building.