The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1893-10-28
IN The ELECTRICAL WORLD.


Lightning recently struck tho
British ship Oxford off Cape l1atteras
and ruined every compass on board
Tho Westinghouse company has
perfected dynamo which autolnatical-
" produces just the amount of current
needed for any number OF lights with
in the capacity of the machine.
THE telegra PHI and telephone lines
of Switzerland are owned and operated
by the government There are LII
telegraph offices and 1885 telephone
Offices. The profits derived from them
amount to more than $3.50, 900 yearly.
a party of eastern capitalists is
visiting the Grand canyon of Colorado
river to Investigate the feasibility OF
laying an electric ca BILE 500 miles along
the river, with which to drive small
boats through the Black Canyon and
other scenic points.
"A western inventor is about to ia Ike
out a patent on process for produce
ing aluminium from its oxide, al a cost
much below that of any present cleo
trical process. 1t is said that by the
new process aluminium can he pnt on
the market at price below that OF cop
per, bulk for bulk.
Some 200 buses of the London Cen
eral Omnibus Company have been fitted
with accumulators for the purpose of
running electric lights at night. Only
one lamp of six-ca ndle power is put
under the center of each bus roof, and
the cost of equipping and running each
bus is about S12 Il year.
The method adopted by an electric
lighting company Of London in laying
their connections consists of copper
strips conducted along their entire sys-
tenn in culvcrts under ground. \ ter
rier has been trained to do this work.
and carries the electric wires through
the culverts with the skill of an cNEc-
rienced workman.
An English medical journal *'u:s-
gests that the action Of electricity on
lead water pipes may sufficiently inn
pregnate the water with lead to cause
poisoning. Here is chance for some
experiments with a view to determine
ing whether water is thus affected. or
not, under the conditions named. If it
is, it might result in cases OF serious i'll
ness. the cause of which ordinarily
would be difficult to determine.
Artificial miniature auroras OF tho
borealis variety have been produced by
both De Ii; Rive. the French Savant,
and Lenstron1, the Swedish, aStroro-
mer. In Prof. LenStroIn'S experiments,
which were made in Finland. the pea k
of Il high mountain was surrounded
with a coil OF wire. pointed at Intervals
with tin nibs. Tii: wire was then
charged with electricity, w'iercupon a
brilliant aurora appeared above tho
mountain, in which, spectroscopic an
alysis revealed the greenisl'-vclloTv
rays characteristics in natures dis
play of northern lights"
"A German professor, Prof Braun,
has discovered that if a spiral OF wire
be elongated mechanically current
will be produced in it. The creation Of
the current is not due to magnetic or
thermo-electric effects. but is based
upon the fact that the bending OF a
wire generates a current in it. The
current generated in left~handcd
spiral has been proven by experiments
to move in a direction opposite to that
of a current developed in right-ha nd
ed spiral. Nickel wire is said to be the
best for making experiments in this tii-
rection.
1t is a noteworthy fact that post
mortem exam ina tons have been held
on the bodies Of e1ectrocu:ed criminal 5
in very short time after they were
shocked. Who, among lis all can posi-
lively and certainly declare whether
life has left the body after pa sS;l go
through it of an electric current? A
shock of 1000 volts will undou btedly
kill some men, and may only stun
others. Is there Il compete Mt pilysic in n
who will stat e upon his honor tina t the
criminals who have been electrocuted
in New York state We're dead whc Il
they were carried from the chuir?-
Electrical Review.
The projectors OF the $4,000, uao
interior canal, to be built parallel to
the coast of California. count on the
power produced by the flow of the
water from the level of the higher
locks to the lower to do great things
in the way of furnishing the territory
opened by the canal with electric light
and power. The canal. say they. will
be 175 miles long and will necessitatc Il
series of immense locks. The surplus
water will be first used to opera te eicc-
trio generating plants. and will then
be used for the purposes OF irrigation.
From the sale of the electricity the
projects tors count upon an income which
will do much to help pay interest on
the sum invested and help meet cN-
penses. The canal, as planned, will
run from Suisun bay, little to the
northeast Of San Francisco, in a south
easternly direction down the San 'oa-
quin valley to Tulare lake and then on
to Bakersfield. Several capita lists have
taken enough interest in the scheme to
look into it, but thus far the money
needed for constructing the canal has
not been raised.
They'd Never Get Through.
Mrs. Strongmind-Why should not
women do all the piano-tuning in the
country? Tell me that"
Mrs. DeWagg-Thcy might manage
with uprights, but they would never
get through with the other kinds.
When the lid of a square or grand is
vaised it becomes mirror,-Puck.