Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-11-16

!
Buffalo, back into the city twenty-seven
/ miles distant. The harness was buclled
| that bitches the factory wheels of Buff
| falo to the greatest cataract on earth.
/ Monday morning the street cars Of this
city will move 10y falls power. Hereafter
{ the falls must work enough to earn their
/ living
The buckling Of the harness could have
! been done as we'll twelve hours earlier,
! but owing to the fact that the father of
| William B. Bankine, secretary of the
| Niagara Falls Power Company, is cler-
/ gyman. and in Difference TO his wishes the
/ Niagara Falls power was not turned into
THE TRANSMITTING SYSTEM
| at noon to-day. as had been expected.
/ The connections were made at midnight
/ tonight. The force of experts having the
work i'm charge were busy all of last night
| and until late this evening testing the
various connections and going over the
machinery to make sure that everything
was in proper order. When everything
was in readiness for the switch to be
( thrown over. the electricians were con-
1 fdent that there need be no cessation Of
the current set flowing over the wires of
the Buffalo street railway system.
The distance covered by the line be-
/ tween Buffalo and the falls is twenty-seven
miles. and the expert electricians who
have the work i'm charge estimate that
THE LOSS OF ENERGY
| will be less than 10 per cent, and may
not much exceed five. Careful tests are
/ TO be made in this connection the tests
covering both night and day and clear as
we'll as rainy weather. The electricians
are paying particular attention to this
! test. as ON the perfect insulation of the
carrying line depends much of the future
success of the undertaking.
The lire that has been built to carry
the current bearing wires IS of most sub
stantiaI nature Unlike the ordinary tele-
graph line. the poles are placed very close
I together and are braced i'm such manner
/ as to be proof
AGAINST HEAVY STORMS.
! At curves the poles are set double and
are guyed TO numerous smaller poles 10
prevent sageire. Tho overhead line eN-
/ tends from the power house at the falls
| to the city limits of Buffalo. where the
/ wires enter cement conduits. on the over
/ head line glass insuators are found un-
/ equal to the strain. and porcelain insula-
tors were made specially to hold the wires.
These insulators are subjected TO cur
rent of 10000 volts before being put i'm use.
| There are at present on the poles eight
cables. each with a carrying capacity OF
! 5000 horse power or 10000 horse power in
all. The poles are of such "a substantial
character. however. that this number of
cables can be doubled without subjecting
| them TO n greater strain than is con-
sidered safe.
THE ONLY CONTRACT
made so far for the delivery of power in
! Buffalo is that with the Buffalo Street
Railway Company for one thousand horse
= mower. Under the contract with the city
, the completion of the undertaking of de-
Hvering power I'M Buffalo was not obli-
/ eatory before next June. 1t was in order
to secure the contract with the street rail-
way company that the work was hurried
through so far ahead Of time. Contracts
with others desiring TO use the electrical
mower will now be made and it is thought
that by the opening of spring the power
will be well distributed throughout the
city.
Since the inception Of the undertaking
and during it's carrying out the company
have frequently called upon Messrs. Edi-
son and Tesla for advice. and these famous
} masters of electricity have been frequent
visitors to the Niagara Falls power house
70 solve technical problems. The power
will sell in Buffalo for $56 a horse power
per annum. and under its contract with
! the city the company must increase its
capacity 10000 horse power per year until
the maximum Of $4,000 horse power mas
been reached.
The switches i'm the Buffalo street rail-
way power house We're turned on exactly
at midnight by W. /. r. Emmett. chief en-
gineer of the General Electric Company.
/ Navor Jewett was present and held the
watch. Everything worked smoothly.
THE PUBLIC INTERESTED.
NIAGARA FALLS. y. Y. November -.
The fact that at midnight was 10 begin
tho transmission of electrical power from
the falls to Buffalo for the first time drew
"a very large crowd of people to the power
house of the Niagara Falls Power Com
many tonight So many were trying to
! gain admission TO the place that at nine
o'clock the doors had to he closed. Those
nresent I'm the power house proper We're:
, Nressrs w. b. Rankine secretary Of the
companv: w A. Breckenridge, resident
engineer: Paul NJ. Lincoln. electrical SUI
perintendent: T. r. Edwards. of the Cen
eraI Electric Company: and the Hon. Ely
Edmonds had charge of the transformer
house.
At i1.45 Nessrs Ranline. Breckinridge
and Lincoln took positions on the raised
pI,tform I'm front of the switchboard on
the main floor of the power house and ar
ranged the switches.
! Shortly before twelve o'clock Mr.. Breck-
inridge notified Mr. Edmonds i'm tho trans
former house that the electricity was
ready for the transformer. and moment
later the switch was thrown and the
mower was rushing through the trans
, formers. out on the line and away to Buff
$ falo. Mr.. Edmouds pronounced the ma
chinery all right and formally delivered It
70 Mr.. Rreckinridge for the power COM
many. Tt was accepted and then the cur
rent was shut of for "a brief space. Com
munication was had with the street rail-
wav company i'm Buffalo and word receiv-
cd from them that everything was in
readiness nj that end of the line Mr..
/ Rankine then stepped to the platform.
threw the switch over. and Niagara
mower was in Buffalo. a salute Of twenty
one Guns was fred by battery stationed
| ,,sar the mower house