Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-12
GIRLS AT THE KEYS
|.Matrimony Is the Great Drawback 1
Employing the Fair Sex.
EXPERIENCE IN THE WEST INDIES
Utility Of Electricity in Forging and 1
Soldering Wires.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SMALL THING
WRITTEN FOR THE D1sPArcB.I

under the supervision of an English Govern
mental staff. The island was long yav h,
hind the times in its method of commune,
ton and everything else, and the establish
ment of postal telegraph stations a
round the island was looked upon as il
augurating more hopeful and progressiv
era. The chief of the department foun
that women were cheaper than men, so tn
stations were placed in charge of brieE
and promising Corps of deft-wristed youn
ladies, who to9k kindly to their new tasl
and for while everything went smoothly.
Presently, however, an epidemic fell
many OF tRese island towns, and il invar
ably took The same form. The clerk from
merchants office or store would be missfn
in the Yiddle OF the day when the ferc
troptceI sun was beating down on the whit
glar1Ug streets, and driving every white ma
within the jaIousies of his coolest piazzs
or rhe horse of the young planter, who ha
ridden into town from the coffee mountain,
or the adjacent sugar estate would b
'hitched up for an unconscionablet time unde
the heavy-shaded mango tree, the fruit
which could be plucked from the window
of the spick and span station, which cor
tanned the whole secret of these unWonte.
phenomena. In u single year the servic
went to pieces, and the chief had to face til
fact that nearly every member of his sta1
had either resigned already, or was about t
resign in consequence of approaching uatri
mony.
The officers of the Western Union Com
pany seem to De having q similar exper,
ence. They complain that the innate prC
pensity of telegraph girls to get married is
source of constant disarrangement an.
change in their offices. just as soon as
woman gets broken in thoroughly and ca,
handle a heavy wire almost as well as
man, If she is bright, or pretty, or has any
thing attractive about her, she falls in Low
with some telegrapher and marries I
most cases the women quit work and 90
housekeeping, while the husband has
thump the key twice as hard to stave o.
bankruptcy. This, however, makes no di-
ference, not single one seems to be dc
tered by the experience of her predecessoI
and the old story perpetually repeats itsel
In point OF fact, the business of matrimon
seems to flourish better in telegraph office
than in the bureaus where men and wome
are supposed to meet their fate at so muc
per head: and so seriously is the routine Z
the telegraph offices disturbed thereby, tha
the companies declare they would give
women operators altogether in the larg
offices, if it were not for the sake of economy
Electrical Forging and Soldering.
Electricity is now being applied to tn
forging of metals with great success. Tn
metal is first softened'to the proper 9egre
by the heating effect of the current, an
then fed to the forging dies by the auto
matte action of the machine, which gives t.
the softened piece the desired shape. Th
current is regulated by automatic devices s.
as to give the required degree of heat to bar
or rods that are of different dimensions. :
small bar of metal may be worked, and th
dies can then be changed, If necessary, 70
those capable of doing heavier work, tn
heating of which is accomplished by ir
creasing the volume of the current. An In
portant advantage of this method is that
every piece is heated to exactly the same dc
gree, it is forged or shaped while in tn
same degree of softness. Another advaGi
age is the saving of time required in th
heating of the metal as compared with tn
old method of heating in q forge. 4 piec
of metal that requires, say IL minutes to pre-
pare in the forge, is heated and shaped b
this machine in less than 40 seconds, and
much less cost. The forging Is hrmer an
better and will stand wear much longer tina
that done by the old method.
Another modification of electric heating
which has been turned to eXcellent accoun
is the electrical soldering furnace Th
total weight Of the furnace is only l3 pound
and its height is 1l1S inches. 1t has been dc
signed especially for the use of linemen il
wires. The furnace is recessed at both bac
and front, and is consequently both safe an
durable. The usefulness of this little de
vice to the lineman is hardly less than tina
of his pocket cutting pliers.
Small Things in Electricity.
A writer on the subject of the degree tt
which the successful application of elec
tricity is dependent on small things say
that in a telephone exchange a wrong con
nection or a loose contact, or q man working
with magnet 20 feet OF, will make ever.
attempt at observation a delusion and {
snare.
A pinhole in the lead covering of a 100 con
ductor cable will cause all those 100 con
ductors to fail in their mission. a minutr
crack in the gutta percha core of a sub
marine cable worth q, COO, COO viii cause tina
cable to relapse into silence and render use
less the costly array of instruments at etthel
end.
When a cable is being laid a watch is con
tinually kept on its electrical condition from
the testing room on board ship, refiectins
galvanometer being used for the purpose
On a certain expedition, a rather unexperi
enced "spot-watcher" was in charge of the
testing roOm and slight accident having
happened while the cable was being laic
out, he was cautioned to keep a sharp look
out on the spot, as it was feared that the
cable might have suffered some damage
Soon after going on duty, the young electrt
clan turned from the testing table for mo
ment to light his pipe, and when he looked
again ut the galvanometer scale there was
no spot to be seen. Without moments
hesitation he rushed out on deck and gave
the word to the engineers that the spot haC
gone of the scale and that something was
wrong with the cable. The ship was put
full speed 8stern, paying out was stopped
and the chiefs made for the testing room II
try and localize the fault. Then it was dis
covered that the galvanomeser lamp het
gone out for lack of kerosene. 1t wa.
trimmed and relighted, the spot reappeared
the paving out again went on merr1ly, and
the spot-watcher was richer by g valuable
lesson.
Electric Pile Drivers.
One of the latest applications of electrical
energy is to pile driving. An annex to q
paper mill was being built and no means
was Immediately at hand for driving the
piles. The old section OF the mill happened
to be provided with an electric light plant
which was lying idle during the day, and
the engineer decided to try what the current
would do in operating pile driver. One Of
the great recommendations of an electric
motor is it's handiness of application, and
on this occasion that quality was conspicu
ously shown
A motor was mounted on the lower par;
OF the pile driver frame. 1t transmitted
power to a chain drum, fitted with fast and
loose puIleys and the current was taken
from a generator about 100 yards off. The
experiment WAS most successful, and the
work was finished in a shorter time and
with much greater ease than by the ordin
ary method of pile driving.
Rudimentary Technical Knowledge.
1t is not always that a little learning is q
dangerous thing. There are conditions un
der which even n slight acquaintance with
electrical apparatus will save considerable
Inconvenience and loss. Engineers and the
public generally are urged to take advan.
tape of the many excellent text books on all
branches of electricity that are now availa-
BILE and to become acquainted at all events,
with the rudimentS OF electrical science.