The morning times., 1896-07-19
SOME. NEW -PERILS in
..OUR MODERN LIFE
Nikola Tells How We May Avoid All
Danger i'm the Use of Electricity.
Copyright, 1850


est minds in the electrical world. whils
man. eager to possess such n powerful
| ally, has welcomed 1T. not alone into the
business world, but into his own home
he has failed to study its varying moods
and death-dealinS proclivities. True, any
one with average intelligence does not
| care TO tempt fate In the shape of a siz.
| cling live wire, but they are daily run
ming unconscious risks OF being ushered
across the borderiand of eternity through
\ ignorance of the remarkable ways and
means by which the electric current may
| travel. 1t was in order to gain more
| Wedge OF the hidden dangers, espe-
| cially in large cities, where its very gen
| eral use has tended to bring about dis
regard for its attendant dangers. that the
writer called on several eminent electri-
clans. Some difficulty was at first expe-
rlenced in inducing them to give their
views. But when 1t was explained that
the purpose or the article was not to at
tack, but rather 10 remove existing dread
OF electricity by pointing out how to
avoid danger in its use, the seal OF
silence was broken. Nikola Tesla, whose
fame needs no mention here was found
in his shirt sleeves bending over an X-ray
apparatus in his den of wonders, more
properly speaking his laboratory on East
Houston street, New York city, when the
writer called, and by way or introducing
the subject referred TO the case OF George
CoIlet, of 233 Grand street, OF that CITY,
q merchant, an account of whose remark
able death was telegrapiicd all over the
country. 4 short Piece OF eilded mold
ing, acting as conductor OF the fiery
fluid. brought about the death OF Mr.Collet.
Goblet WAS in the prime OF life and en-
joying robust health. He was stricken
dead while in the act OF fixing an arc
light, something that lie had done many
times before without any harmful effects.
In this instance, however he used a strip
of molding about five feet long. Ii was
giide,l but the gilt WIS thoroughly dry,
yet the gilt, according to the physicians and
electricians who saw the body after death,
acted as the messenger or death by con-
Quoting the electricity into his body. The
circuit was complete, as Coliet was stand
ing IN an iron support at the time.
That so simple an agency as dry gilt
paint proved sufficient as conductor Of
the deadly fluid was surprise to many,
but Nikola Tesla said:
Every metallic paint is conductor OF
electricity. and it is only one Of the many
dangers to which persons unaccustomed
To- dealing with that fluid are subject.
+: You cannot cali il new danger, as il
has existed OF course, since electricity
was first put to practical use IL is. how
ever, a new instance OF the fatal result of
carelessness in dealing with it
Are there any new dangers attending
the use Of electricity he was asked.
No new dangers. but the existing
danger Of death from that source is being
almost daily instanced in one part OF the
country or another in Some such manner
as Collet was killed. he explained.
Even experienced linemen must he al
ways on Their guard to preserve their lives
Damp wood is a conductor of electriity
and the damper the wood, the greater the
danger. The most careful persons in the
world in handling electricity are cleot.i-
ianS who are constantly experimenting with
it. II is their very knowledge of the ter
rifle force OF il which makes them So
ca utlous.
You can say" said Mr.. Tesla, after a
moments thought, and an injunction tha-
his remakrs must not be viewed in the
light Of an alarmiSt, that the great minds
in the sphere of electricity are constantly
seeking 10 minimize the danger of high
voltage in cities. They are striving to rem
der il as harmless as il was In the hands
of the Greeks, for therein lies discovery
that will be as great loon to mankind
as it's manifold benefits
Down in the vast cellars of the Western
Union Building in New York there arcthou-
sands of live wires. the end of everyone if
exposed more deadly than the sting of any
snake, and vet Mr.. Tesla declared that
there was less danger there than there
would be in u building where there We're
perhaps only Two or three inoffcnsive look
ing wires
Anyone is infinitely more safe in an
iron building amidst scores OF wires than
in a brick or wooden building he de
clared, because the very proximity or
so many wires would tend to draw the
electric current one from another, and
the iron would draw it from all. thus min
imizing the danger to any person in a
building where electric wires are in use.
Death might, of course. be found in a
gilt picture frame, providing the current
was strong enough and the conditions
permitted a ground connection. 1t would
be perfectly safe to touch any object that
might lie charged with electricity pro-
vided the feet did not touch the floor or
that the latter was OF dry wood, carpeted,
or covered with some other non-conductnr
But if the floor should he of iron or other
metallic substance, or OF wet wood, the
necessary ground connection would be
tuefe anu tip phss
the body. This is a subject which should
be generally taught
The newspapers frequently record the
action OF horses in rainy weather." Con-
tinued Mr.. Tesla, "prancng about in
pools of water in the vicinity of subways
from which electricity has escaped in
quantities sufficient 10 charge the water,
which. coming in contact with the iron
shOd boofs OF the animals, makes them
n In,
where electricity is just being introduced
into general use for all sorts of purposes
accidents OF this character are OF common
occurrence. and frequently horse receives
q fatal shock
or late there las also been a general
complaint among persons who are obliged
to use the telephone frequently. that in
stormy weather, especially, they are al
ways receiving shocks more or less severe.
This is especially true of persons WHO have
to use the long distance telephone. A
case was recently noted of Il man in Chicago
who received n shock at telephone suf-
ficient to knock him down while he was
talking over the wire to j man in Phila-
delphia.
The incident could not he at first nc
counted for. but he learned later that at
the time of his talk there was !, violent
thunder storm raging in the City OF Brother
LoNe- oTcdc CdFc stiOulu ways t taken
In using the telephone during n thunder
storm.
One of the many dangers which the
public seems obliviOus of is that an cleo
trio light can set fire to curtain or a
paper shade almost as quick as gas jeN
If left In close contact.
A patient In the westchester Sanitarium
in New York State recently threw u linen
handkerchief over an incandescent bulb,
and then reclined on a bed with his back 10