The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-02-01
NOT 4 GOOD NEloHsoR.



from the Trolley. ~
It now appears TINT the trolley system Of
transit in use In the cities Of this country
is not only constant menace to life and
limb, but that 1t has the additional unhap-
Ply faculty of annoying its neighbors of the
electrical kind to very serious extent
Telegraph and telephone companies,
wherever their wires are near the wires OF
trolley road, have been sufferers from the
proximity, in that the facilities for commu-
nication between different points have been
interferel with materially.
The trouble arises from the use by the
trolley companies OF heavily charged cleo
trical circuits and from the use also of the
earth for the return circuits. The earth is
also used by telegraph companies and to
some extent by telephone companies,
though the telephone people in the larger
cities are establishing the more expensive,
but more efficient metallic S,rcuits-that
is, making the complete circuit by means
of two wires instead of by one wire and the
earth-as rapidly as possible
1t has been found that where the lines OF
telephone and telegraph companies are in
the vicinity of trolley lines their satisfac-
tory operation has been prevented by In
duction through the earth from the latter.
The effect Of this induction may be more
experiments made by Mr.. NJ. NJ. Davis, one
of the electricians OF the Postal Telegraph
and Cable company in Harrisburg, where
there is u trolley line. It was found that
the ground between Harrisburg and Car
| Isle, which IRE eighteen miles apart, with
the Susquehanna river between them, was
SO thoroughly charged with electricity from
| the return circuits through the earth of the
trolley lines in Harrisburg that it was pos
sible to operate a wire between the two
cities without any battery.
The Atlantic cable of the Commercial
Cable company il brought to the Broad
street Office of the company in this city by
means of an underground line Ecross Long
Island. The line runs near the South
Brooklyn trolley line. The cable opera
tors noticed coon after the trolley road be
gun operations that their wires worked
badly. The current would first be very
strong and then very light. An fnvestiga
ton showed that the trouble was CAUSED by
the trolley lines.
The electrician of the cable company said
yesterday that he had found satisfactory
! remedy for the interference. He preferred
: not to say what it was, however.
One of tho Western Union cables, which
also crosses Long Island, has been affected
In the same way, and both the Western
Union and the postal companies have fell
bad effects in every city in the countr,
/ where there are trolley lines.
1t is also declared that the influences O
+ these heavy earth circuits Upon systems o
pipes are bad. In western town 1t is re
, ported that lead pipe running from a wei
to house was out of condition, and tina
! when it was dug up its appearance indi
Gated that 1t had been subjected to an cleo
/ trio current powerful enough to corrode 1t
1 The current unquestionably came from tn
r return circuit through the earth of trolle
road system in the vicinity, and it was sug
gested that If this effect was common
. might result not only In destroying lea
/ water pipes, but would also produce lea
t poisoning,
8 Electricians do not regard tho DANCE
J. from this source as very serious, however
$ But that gas and water pipes may becon
d charged with electricity by this mean
there seems to be no doubt.-New Yor
o Times