Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-10
ELECrRIcAL PROGRESS.
The Many New Directions I'm which the
Fluid h Being iced.

me many New Directions In which the
Fluid 10 Being iced.
Prom the st. Louis Post pispatch
happears from French patent granted Au-
gust Z, 1852, TO Or. Albert Sonnenberg Of
Bremen, Germany. that the magneto-electric
machine and accessories forming the subject
matter Of this patent had actually been used
to produce q current for killing whales. Ac-
cording to descriptions the hArpoon line car
ried conducting wire connected with an
electro-magnet whose one pole furnished cur
rent by this means TO the hsrpoou. and whose
other pole was in electrical connection with the
metallic bottom Of the boat, thus completing
the circuit through the sea water.
The account Of this pioneer method OF cleo
trio execution adds that when the harpoon is
launched into the whale the circuit j. CON-
pleted, and me electric fuid passes through the
body Of the whale. and the latter receives al
each rotation OF the machine twelve heavy
shocks, and as the machine can make one turn
per second the whale will receive 720 shocks
per minute, or such a force as 10 stun or render
the whale unconscious"
There are no overhead wires al the worlds
fair grounds. An immense conduit, six and
one-haf feet square, has been built directly
under machinery hall. running across the
grounds slightly below the surface TO the
electrical building, from which branches are
carried TO other sections Of the exhibit Arms
arctic be carried on both sides OF this conduit
Just long enough 10 leave space in the center
Tor man 20 walk through conveniently
whenever 1t is necessary TO inspect the wires
or make any repairs.
Elihu Thomson is Of the opinion that tele-
phohic communication across the ocean will
never be possible. because in cables of snch
length retardation and obliteraiion Of the
uencate pulses of current which characterize
electrical speech serve 10 prevent the recep-
uon OF speech at the far end of the line
Electricify Is making great progress in Japan.
TOXIC has an electrical society having over q
thousand members and Nippon is forming an
electric light association. There are OLA tele.
graph offices in the country, and a telephone
exchange in Toxic having 1000 subscriber.
connects with long-distsnce line to Osaka
a distance OF about $50 miles There ar.
twelve electric lighting stations in the country
at present and two electric roads under con-
sideration.
The veto put upon the trolley system Of cleo.
trio traction. both in New York and Philadel.
phia. has turned the attention Of inventors
more than ever to the ong-hoped-for perfee.
tion of either the storage battery or the con
duit system. short line has been operating
In Chicago, using the new style of underground
conduit, which. after a few breakdowns has
been running successfully under varying condi-
lions, ard longer one has been successfully
operating under favorable conditions in Buda.
Pesth for some time past. Nevertheless, either
from the comparative cheapness of the trolley
system or its more pronounced success up e
the present time. ii seems to monopolize the at.
tention of the large manufacturing companie.
to the exclusion Of Its more theoretically per.
feet rivals.
A method Of testing the condition Of live arc
circuits has been devised which is stated TO he
entirely successful. Instead of waiting until
the station Is shut down TO locate troubles on
high potential wires they can be attended 20 AZ
once and large element OF danger and current
waste averted- A Boston man has invented a
glove having wire gsuze strips of copper and
zinc and contacts for keeping slight current
of electricity circulating through the wearer's
hand
Tests recently made by members Of the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers on
the life and efficiency of incandescent lamps
show that OF 127 lamps tested of ten different
makes the mean horizontal candle power was
only l45 instead Of l6, a. labeled; that candle
power diminishes fairly uniformly at the rate
OF about 10 per cent for each 209 hours the lamp
Is burned, and that ouly 90 out of the III
burned at any candle power longer than ! 100
hours.