The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1893-08-17
What Electricity is Doing For Us.
] he Mysterious Force is Revolution
izing Human Effort.
COOKING WITH A CURRENT.

The Mysterious Force is Revolution
izing Human Effort.
COOKING WITH A CURRENT.
No Waste of Fuel or Unpleasant Heat in
the Kitchen of the Future.
A we'll known electrical expert said the
other day: Anything in our line now
adays to attract attention must be little
short of marvellous"
But there are a great many things
which an expert might not consider
marvellous at all, but which the public
would like to know about. For instance,
the latest development in heating and
cooking by electricity.
One firm now has three manufactures
running and is totally unable to supply
the demand for electrical cooking uten-
sils and heating apparatus.
The model kitchen of the future will
be any superfuous heat to make life a
burden for the cook, and yet she will
be able to prepare your dinner in half or
at the mos. two-thirds of the time it now
takes, and wholly without dirt and ashes.
This model kitchen will contain heat
service boiler. It looks just about like
the ordinary boiler, except that it has
two wires entering it, These wires are
connected with an electrical coil on the
inside of the boiler, and it is this coil
which, when a current is passed through
it, becomes hot on account of it's resist
anoe, and brings theswater to the boiling
point.
The next arrangement is the oven and
grill. This is on top of the oven and
your steak or chop sizzles over it until it
is beautifully 'done," while the fumes
are carried away by we'll arranged
smoke fue. The grill is the only part of
this electrical outfit from which any
thing is carried away by a fiue. There
is no smoke from the coils because moth
ing is burned-only heated.
The oven is a good deal like the one
used with an oil or gasoline stove The
heat coils are placed inside, one at the
top and one below, and are SO arranged
that the heat is all directed toward the
center. Thus the outside of the oven
never becomes hot, while your bread or
cake or meat is baked or rosted quickly
and clearly.
Instead of the ordinary stove top to
put Your teakettle, coffee pot, chatting
dish, etc, ON, the electric kitchen is sup
piled with a plain, fiat topped table.
Above it, on the wall, is switchboard.
into which the street wire is led, and
-fram- whieh2rnn tho small loops, or
''cords, to the different cooking utens-
lis. These are exactly like the ones or
dinarly used, except that each has coil
under it which applies the heat directly
to its bottom without waste. One of the
greatest advantages of this system is its
economy. In an ordinary wood or coal
stove only about per cent. of the heat
generated is available for cooking. Nine
ty>fiye per cent, therefore, is wasted.
1t takes a long time to build fire and
get the oven hot enough for baking, or
the Goals in a good condition for broiling.
and then there is the intolerable heat
radiating from the stove and frying the
cook at the same time 1T bakes the bread.
With the electrical arrangement 95 per
cent. of the heat generated is applied di-
rectly to the use for which it is intended.
There is practically no waste, and when
you are through with the teakettle, the
grill or the chafing dish you can switch
off the current and let them get cool.
You don't have to keep the fire up" till
you want to use it again. A steak broiled
on this electrical grill will not burn, be-
cause the cook with little experience,
will learn inst how much heat is required
to broil without burning and has the
heat entirely under control. Beef can
be roasted in an electric heater at the
rate of seven and one-h half minutes to the
pound. The heat is applied so uniform
ly that it is not necessary to basic meat,
nor to turn bread or cake while cooking.
1t takes the usual time to broil, except
that the grill is always ready and you
don't have to t'wait till the Goals get
red." Tea and coffee can be made from
the cold9 in from six to ten minutes.
Electricity for cooking purposes can sue
cessfully compete with coal at S.. so ton,
and for heating with the best hard coal
used economically at IS per ton.
The electric heat coil is wonderful
thing. The following tools and utensils,
to which it is attached, will give and idea
of what we are coming to before long;
Pressing irons, soldering irons, chatting
dishes, coffee pots, kettles, enclosing
plates, sealing wax heaters, curling irons,
griddles, tailors', hatters' and laundry
irons in all shapes and sizes; crucibles,
muf1iers and cigar lighters.
There are many forms of apparatus
designed for the heating of buildings.
Of these the radiators are not unlike
steam radiators, except that the place of
wire. There is, of course, no danger
from leakage, and the substitution of
cheap wire for the costly pipe is great
advantage 1t has taken great deal of
time to solve the problem of heating cars
by electricity, but this method, it is said,
makes it not only practicable but econ
omical.
NOTHING DANGEROUS ABOUT IT.
The question may suggest itself to
To no
these purposes sufficient to cause death
to a human being? The currant res
FqIired is SO light that child could take
the full charge without the least danger
of death.
1t is possible, with the aid of trans
formers, to use an alternating current
of the highest tension-one that would
instantly kill any animal body through
which it passed-and so change it that a
person taking hold of one of the wires
leading from it would not only be entire