The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-26
STREET CAR CABLES.
Big Item of Expense in Main
tanning the Lines.
HOW THEY ARE MANUFACTURED.
Steel Wire Rope Wound Around .
Hempen Core-Thefr Life and
what Wears Them Out.

/, the subject OF cable road, and the newspapers
! throughout the country are discussing taea-
! TIE B. ggest item in the operating EXPENSES Vi
| s1ca ro4d IS Of course. tie cost OF the cao.es.
/ Zach one involves Girsct expenditure o:
/ from 23.003to sl1.0o3, depending upon .engih and
! quality, anu ne very first qg=s! on ask i %
/ TIE manufse rurer s: .H5w itng VIII The cable
( lastT' Iae frequent renewal o. the cable
I means By outlay Of money. VII oh increases
the running expenses very materially. As a
/ cable manufacturer put = the otoer day. says
! the Sew York sGa & board OF directors
/ accustomed 70 paying small bills ior hay and
1 feed VIII grozn over e cable bill for many
/ thousand dollars II comes in q lump, ami
/ makes a deeper impression on the minds Of tie
directors than larger aggregate OF tBe small
i bills towhich they have keen accustomed.
Cable roads have multiplied so asst IN the last
| i've years that the business OF manufacturing
/ wire rope Tor their Use has become sn Industry
II Itself The process Of manu- acture is simple.
/ II the wire he On hand an order for six miles
/ can BE- flied inside OF two weeks in the factory
| that has the bulk Of the business. The rope for
cable use in most Eastern cities is now an inch
and G quarter 81 diameter. such q cattle
is run IN Seattle only On the James
street line; the other cables are an eighth
OF an inch smaller. They all have
six strands OF wire around & hempsu core. 81,
/ including Ihe core, being Of the same size.
/ Each OF the strands is made OF nineteen tenn
perei-steel wires. The strand Ct hemp in the
middle adds nothing 10 the strength OF The
cable, but Il increases its fsxIEiiIIy very much,
and that IS very important consideration, BE-
cause the cable in us travels is bending con-
siantly II il were Uns fielding it would soon
lose It's strength. Az experiment has been tried
recently II the East with "a solid steel cable
with electric welding, but x proved 70 be OF no
praciIea! vslGc for street railway uses. It's
rightly increased with Use. and u showed
tendency 70 develop into something lITt.e better
than al iron bar. After three Of the cables had
failed, the ordinary cable with henpsa core
Was substituted
The handling Of one OF the long cables L
almost hercu.esn TASK i cable from Trenton
Tor tie Tenth avenue line il New York city
Z weighed on lis ree more than aity tons. Il was
3},e1 leet IN length, or ab5G; SIX miles and
hail. The longest cable IL seattle for the Yes
feE avenue line, Is 25,S51 .eet long: Madison
street has two cables each OF 100 o feet: Front
two, one 10 10 feet, the other about 1850; and
James street one, between 1000 and 500 Zee.
long.
Special freight cars have 10 be built 70 trans
poIt such an enormous weight A series 0.
heavy iron tGsses, resting on specially built
trucks, form TIE bed for the reel The freight
on Car load OF cable is no small item. The
freight OF one reel II san Francisco. which leads
the world II the number OF miles OF caoe roads,
Is about $40. To get them here from the East
costs 80 or $50. but they are brought more
chesply from san Francisco, where excellent
cables are now made
To SEND those great reels BY ship would be an
impossi bility. There sre several cable lines in
Australia aud New Zealand, and they are pro-
yidei with wire ropes OF American make. The
cables were coiled in the holds OF the ships that
took them there
The length OF cables life is dependent on q
great variety OF circumstances. The life Of
cable in constan, use may vary from few
weeks TO period of more than three
years In California the cables last
longer than anywhere else in this country
and the comparatively Iigh. loads
that are drawn. In seattle the
1rosts are not severe enough TO damage the
cables materially, but the great cause OF their
destruction is the unpayed streets. The mud
and water are constantly being carried into the
slot and dripping on the cable. The water and
the small grains OF dirt work their way in be-
tween the wire strands rusting and cutting.
and taking the lie out of the rope. At the
power-nouses constant stream OF linssed oil is
played on the cable TO protect il from the water
and mud, but in spite Of the oil the damage
is quite considerable. The cable men estimate
that the life OF cable here is not over q year
the last one in the Yeser line wore Tor S44 3ays
but that Il the streets were paved the cables
would last from SIX months 10 s whole year
longer
In Chicago, where one grip is used to drag
train OF cars, the wear and tear on the cables is
very great During the winter season there an
additional strain Is put on them, for the frost
contracts the narrow slot through which the
cattle is reached, and the bar Of the grip is he'd
so tightly that the cable tears Itself from the
grip. Al such times q strand of the cable is a.
most certain 20 part, and then careful splicing
IS necessary. Such accidents are unknown
here
The splIcers who have 10 patch q cable tina,
has parted must do IL so neatly that it vii! Ore.
sent the original smooth sur ace TO the grip
ami 10 accomplish this they must make splice
al least 10 feet long. a careIessy spliced cable
can work a great deal OF destruction in a few
moments. The grip OF car may catch the end
OF loose wire and unrayeI strand for 1000
ieet causing hopeless tangle snd delaying
traffic along the line.
The greater the length Of cable the longer II
VIII last. as rule. one of the cable roads of
thIcago runs under the Chicago river bv sharp
grades. short cable i used Tor that section OF
road, and il has 10 De renewed every few week.
The plunge OF the cars on the down grade aud
the resistance on the up grade very destruc-
tive 70 the cable.
speed has much TO do with the Life o. a cable
Gable railroad men agree in saying that cars
may oe run with safety snd advantage in cities
a. speed OF seven or eight miles an hour.
while suburban cables frequently s.tAia q speed
OF fourteen miles a. hour
GA roads that are straight or Level cable. last
longer than 81 other roads. and IN an economic
sense they give mora satisfactory resu.:s The
steep grades snd tie curves IL the Seattle cao!e
roads give the cables much wear and tea-
"hen the cable goes over hill there must ba
crown pulleys 70 support Il, anc the
tendency OF the eao.e 10 draw down
l. great strain on the pulley Thea. when 8
cable goes down lnio a depression sud
up sgala, the rope i inclined
- pun straight up ont o: the SLOT. snt h.avv
depression pl!llys are placed on TOP q. the
cable 20 ho-l Il down- sgcl Vu..eys NAV D..
seen v here me Madison cable crosses second
ana also Irous streets. since the pulley lnust
GET olt o. the Way for tbs grip. q snr.ag a, A.
ranged - that y Zen TIE gfiq shayes the pulley
e. &C the sprlug drives u o.cG AGAIN over t.e
rope A. tae depression pu.cys tae-e is also
much Stan sad wca-. Is az the curves
WEe-e tht CsS.c pa..s Jews very pows-....v
Re first tab.s Tor e lew road does not, A. Il
r-.e. sav- ye.y long lie. " aile the cr!t-aen
ere being broken II :hc cables TEMPER = very
s.-e-y t-lct. !. ar Re started suddenly, ths
: iieA strain on The cable IS harmful. As tna
g-tpuea become more exper; tuey leara 70 take
tae cabs gradually, and taIs 5 easier OF pa>ssa.
sy-s AMI Cao.e alike
aew cable, when put in, VII stretch three or
fear hundred feet ~ - many moths. and
t2is stretching has - be taken up from tine 10
time.
Illustrations OF service, from observation
t@7o.ga tie country, were given ~ James c.
Robinson tetgre the recent convention OF
street railway .Cea IL P.t:shu-g On the
Temple street cable road ~ lbs Angeles.
Cal, the record showed. Tor cable lesSa
let II length, period OF three wears
ara two months Of continuous wear, during
watch ti1e mas niles were run. The A.-ket
street slc ti.ary street ro-ds, in san Francisco.