Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-03-20

hold use to which electricity is being
put. A number of New York resi-
dences are heated throughout by cur
rent generated miles away in the power
house of the electric company.
The system commonly used is simple
in the extreme. A shaft of wood lined
with asbestos runs upward through the
house with smaller pipes radiating
to the various rooms, much after the
fashion of hot-air conductors. In the
inside of the main shaft the resistance
coils of wire are suspended and the heat
| radiates from them and passes through
the house. A London firm of electri-
clans has recently placed on the market
an electric radiator, consisting of a
wroughtiron basket filled with fire-clay
balls, which partly hide colored in
candescent lamp. The illusion afforded
by this arrangement is that of " glow
ing coal fire i'll an open CRATE. The
heat does not come, however, from the
lamp or the fire-clay, but from resist
ance coils concealed in the sides and
back of the CRATE.
An electrical foot-warmer has been
invented. 1t is in the form of long,
narrow, pillow-like cushion which can
be inserted in the foot of the bed. By
turning convenient screw the current
circulates through the coils inside of
the cushion and it is soon as warm as
the proverbial toast.
Small motors are also beginning to
play an important part in the house
hold economy. They are wonderfully
compact pieces of mechanism, in domes-
tic sizes often weighing less than 100
pounds to each horse power and always
readily controlled by mere movement
of the finger or thumb. One reason
for this compactness lies in the fact
that the motion is r1tlry and not
oscillatory like that of the piston of a
steam engine. Hence great speed may
be attained without any jar or noise.
In any house fitted with electric-light
wires motor may be readily attached
and used in running a sewing machine
or rocking a cradle. In fact one of
the great sewing machine companies
makes special stand with wide top
in which a motor is concealed.
The automatic regulator of temper
ature is also useful as well as very
simple little piece of mechanism. By
it's use room can be kept at an even
temperature no matter how hot the
fire in the furnace may be. Such a
regulator usually called thermostat is
made by riveting side by side two
strips of different ubstances-generally
brass and rubber-which have differ
ent degree of expansion when submitted
to the same amount of heat. This
composite strip is warped by changes
of temperature, one of the component
parts being expanded to much greater
degree than the other. The lower end
is firmly fixed in place and consequent
ly the warping shows its effect, entirely
upon the swinging upper end. When
the "hOt" side has been pushed over to
the limit set-usually 70 degrees-it
makes contact and automatically
cuts off the heat from the room. The
subsequent lowering OF tne temperature
causes the bent strip to break the cir
cult and readmit the heat.
Electricity has also been introduced
as household commodity in numerous
other ways. Every one is familiar
with the door-bell call, and the burg
lar-alarm system is operated upon ex-
actly the same principle, only the burg
lar does not press the button of his own
accord,
The fire alarm thermostat is con-
structed just like heat regulator, only
the limits set range from 100 to 160
degrees, and when the contact is made
the engine house is at once notified
by the ringing of an electric bell.-
Chicago Record