Omaha daily bee., 1894-02-11
THE OMAHA DAILY BEE. SUNDAY. FEBRUARY IL, 1894-SIxTEEN PAGES

much shatlower toward either shore Tho
high BLUFFS OF Cantiro and the still higher
land on the Irish side, from 900 to 200 feet
high, offer facilities for gravitating the ma.
terials requisite to form the lsthmus. The
superficial extent Of land required to form
the isthmus would be a little more than a
square mile, OF the average width and depth
OF 100 yards. The cost OF creating this
junction would be about $40, 900, 900, and II
would occupy about three years. II is
pointed out that the Importance and value
OF the results In the present aspect OF af-
fairs in Ireland cannot BE- overestimated. \
land junction of Great Britain and ireland
would create a more perfect homogeneity of
the united peoples. 1t would change the
Irish sea into a land-rocked bay-lessened
In depth by the cessation OF the Atlantic
current from the north, thereby serving to
aid the natural drainage of the adjacent
coasts. and make the marsh land of the east
coast of Ireland capable Of the highest de-
gree of cultivation. The Null of Cantire is
about 1866 miles in a direct line northwest OF
London, and about 1876 north of Dublin.
TEsLA's TEST.
The February Century contains an article
by Mr.. T. C. Martin, editor of the Electrical
Engineer. on the work of the Servian-A merl-
can electrician, Nikola Tesla. The writer
says:
Mr.. Tesla has advanced the opinion and
sustained II by brilliant experiments of
startling beauty and grandeur, that light
and heat are produced by electro static forces
acting between charged molecules or atoms.
Perfecting a generator that would give him
currents of several thousand Alterations per
second. and inventing his descriptive dis
charge coil, he has created electrostatic con-
d,tions that have already modified not a few
of the accepted not on5 about e!cctri ity.
It has been supposed that ordinary cur
rents of 1000 or 1000 volts potential would
surely kill, but MIR. Tesla has been seen re-
ceiving through his hands currents at a
potential of more than 200, 900 volts, vibrat-
ing 1000, 900 times per second, and manifest
ing themselves in dazzling streams Of light.
This is not a mere tour de
force, but illustrates the principle that
while currents of lower frequency destroy
life, these are harmless. After such a
striking test, which, by the way, no one has
displayed a hurried inclination to repeat.
Mr.. Tesla's body and clothing have con-
tinued for some time to emit fine glimmers
or halos of splintered light. In fact, an
actual flame is produced by this agitation of
enthusiastically charged molecules, and the
curious spectacle can be seen of p%uissant,
white, ethereal flames, that do not consume
anything, bursting from the ends of an in
duction coil as though it were the bush on
holy ground.
With such vibrations as can be maintained
by a potential of 5000, 900 volts Mr.. Tesla
expects some day to envelope himself in a
complete sheet of lambent fire that Will
leave him quite uninjured. Such currents
as he now uses would, he says, keep a
naked man warm at the north pole. and
their use in therapeutics is but one of the
practical possibilities that has been taken up.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul rail-
way is heating and electrically lighting a
few of its trains by means of special tender
cars. Each of these is thirty-four feet
long, strongly built, encased in sheet steel,
and is hauled directly behind the tender of
the locomotive. 1t weighs, when loaded,
about Ga, 900 pounds, and carries a boiler,
engine, dynamo, three tons of coal and 27O
gallons of water. The boiler is of the loco
motive pattern the crown sheet being sup
ported by radial and the fire box and ash
pan enclosed in n water bottom. The feed
water is regularly obtained by means of an
injector drawing water from the locomotive
tender through a rubber hose; In case OF
failure of this supply, however, the water in
the tank is used and is calculated to be
about two hours supply. The engine is an
automatic Westinghouse, with cylinders
six and one-half inches in diameter and OF
six inches stroke, capable of indi-
eating eighteen-horse power with
100 pounds of steam. This engine is
belted to a ffteen-kilowat Edison dynamo.
which furnishes the current for lighting the
train. This exhaust steam from the engine
may be run directly to the air through an
exhaust head on the top of the car, or 1t
may be sent to the uptake of the boiler to
urge the fire. The steam used to heat the
train in the winter is taken through a 2-inch
pipe running along the top OF the car to a
hose coupling at each end. One special at
tendant is run with the car, and he is eX-
pected to perform all the operations of firing
the boiler and regulating the heat and light
of the entire train. The trains are from
seven to ten cars long, requiring from $50
to 225 incandescent lamps of 16-candle
power each. In summer, when the steam is
not required for heating, the tender cars are
laid off and the lighting outfit placed in the
forward end of the baggage car, steam being
taken from the engine.
AHEAD OF THE COWCATCHER.
The electric headlight is now used on
many railroads, and w. B. Sparks, who is
interested in a southern road, says that his
company has found 1t a very profitable in
vestment. The lights cost about 1915 each,
fixed on the locomotive, and they cost no
more than the oil light to maintain. The
old headlight would not throw its light on a
very dark night more than $50 feet, and 1t
is impossible for an engineer to slow up his
train in that distance, even with the emerg-
ency brake. Quite an item in the expense of
the road used to be claims for cattle killed.
During the rainy season the lands along the
line of the road become very wet; in
places they are entirely covered with
water, and the cattle come upon the track
seeking some dry spot on which to sleep.
When the old headlight was in use as many
as thirteen COWS have been killed at one
time, and the damage claims have some
times amounted to over 81 900 per month.
Now the electric light throws it's rays from
half to three-quarters of a mile in front of
the engine; distractions can be easily seen
at that distance, and some of the engineers
insist that a switch disk can be more easily
made out by it at night that in the daytime.
The lights, moreover, do away with switch
lights, which is quite a saving to roads that
use them to any great extent, Mr.. Sparks
says that the engines using the electric
headlights on his road have never killed a
cow, and he is confident that the saving in
stock claims alone will more than pay for
all the headlights on the road within two
years.