St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-07-18

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power before which natural gas pale.
into insignificance." That night they
stopped in a hustling mining town in
the interior of Pennsylvania. Early
next morning Mr.. Tapton secured q
conveyance and drove his companion
out along a wild and lonely mountain
road. After half dozen miles had
been traversed the carriage was turned
into long lane leading through the
forest, and at length came to . stand.
still before tight board fence fully Of.
teen feet in height, inside of which
could be seen the upper portion Of .
farmhouse. A vigorous knock upon
the heavy door brought to the spot q
Waterman who, recognizing Mr.. Tap
ton, admitted the travellers The man.
ager unlocked the front door Of the
farmhouse and led the way into the
principal room. Around the sides of
the apartment were great variety of
secondhand machines, such as printing
presses, lathes, sewing machines and
even = small thresher; while to the
walls and ceiling were fixed arc and in
candescent lamps. call bells, fans and
other electrical contrivances. A small
motor occupied one corner of the room.
Projecting through tho floor were .
number of tubes, from the ends OF
which dangled loose wires, the n.
ran9ement being similar to the insu-
lated wires laid in city conduits- One
tube, however, was apparently nothing
more than an ordinary twoinch pipe.
Now, before going further" re-
marked Mr.. Tapton, 'tallow me to
state that one of the most va2pa BILE
properties of natural electricity lies in
the fact that we are not compelled tA'
use q return wire to complete the cir
cult, as in the case of the manufactured
fluid. You. of course, are aware that
the telegraph and telephone companies
use only y single wire, completing the
circuit by means of the ground con-
hection, but on account of the graf
Of electricity wasted when the
forcA. of the current is brought up to .
uuint available for illumination or for
motor purposes it has been found nee
essary to resort to return wires, thereby
mourning double expense for lines
or method is exactly the reverse Of
the Geographic arrangement Getting
our electricity from the ground, we
complete the circuit with IN air con-
nection-or, in other words. run . wire
to the top of tin house similar to .
rod. You will notice this up
paratus is wired in that Manner" and
the connections were carefully pointed
cu4s
Mr.. Tapton then proceeded 70 demon
strate the practical workings of the
plant Taking the usual precautions
Of liueuen in handling live wires he
connected m arc lamp with one Of the
looee lines. Instantly the light haFed
ND With = Kissing sound. Another and
another sse lamp was connected until
all were shfSlpg with dazzling bril-
liancy. Yet smother wire was CON
nected with q cosspsex little machine
which Mr.. Taptm termed . reducer.
and at once all the candescent lights
shed . soft radiance from their bulbs.
what do you think OF that queried
Mr.. Tapton. The representative
Of the British syndicate could only
shake his head in amazement. The
manager now busted himself in adjust
ing a belt conuccting the motor with q
line Of overhead shafting, which was
in turn connected with the machinery.
Affixin9 . single wire fFum one OF the
tubes to the motor, he turned on the
current and the wheels began to re-
volve. Little by little pressure was
added until the full force of the current
was on. Then one by one the sewing
machines and presses were brought
into action until all were humming
merrily. Seating himself beside hts
guest, the manager talked about the
details of the work and how it was ex-
pected q machine then being con-
structed would carry electricity into
stores a,d dwellings and there trans
form IL into heat A specimen OF
peculiarly insulated wire was then
produced which he stated would carry
a current five hundred miles without
the slightest loss Of force.
Now, Mr.. Noblin," he continued. Il
will give you an overwhelming proof
of the genuineness Of our discovery.
Here, as You see, is hollow tube. AN
ordinary piece of pipe. running down
three hundred feet 20 the top OF the
cavern whose floor furnishes this mys-
terious current. To the end Of this
coil of insulated wire will fasteu this
astractor, and with your aid will
measure of enough wire to reach the
bottom The Englishman lent .
willing hand, and, when the requisite
length had been unreeled and cut on,
one end was connected with the
motor. from which the other wire had
teen removed. and the loose end was
ulaced in the tube. The weight OF the
wire soon caused it to descend rapidly.
and finally, when the entire length
had been paid out, the motor began to
move. By degrees the current was
added and the machines connected.
until all were revolving rs before
The Englishman expressed his entire
saHisfaction with the tests. and. Is the
morning had worn swsC. the manager
cloeed the current and led the way 70
the cssriage. stopping in the yard to
call his companioa's attention TO the
new well betsy drilled 1--WE propose
to give you conclusive evidence" he
added, that our Representations are
based upon facts" When the pair re-
turned TO the hotel the Englishmaa
Lost no time in cab9n9 home taaS