St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-09
WILLIAM II. MERRILL EXPLAINS
THE DANGERS FROM ELECTRJ,
CAL APPLIANCES
WHEN POORLY CONSTRUCTED.
INTERESTING LECTURE DELIV-
Erred BEFORE LARGE AUDIENCE
AT COMMERCIAL CLUB.
ST. PAUL NEEDS AN INSPECTOR.
Committee to Urge the Appointment
of u Man to Work for Munici-
Pal Protection.

st. Paul is the only city of equal
size in the United States which does
not exert municipal protection against
the dangers arising from poorly con-
structed electrical appliances"
This was the text of lecture de-
livered by William H. Merrill, the dis
tinguished electrician, of Chicago, at
the Commercial club rooms last night.
! the result of which was that the $50
members Of the club who were pres
ent placed themselves upon record as
faVoring the appointment of a city
electrical inspector, and unanimously
voted for the appointment of a COM
mittee Of five to draw up resolutions
asking that the city council imme-
diately make such an appointment
The committee appointed were W.
j. Footner, chairman, and ]. C. Shan
drew, Charming Seabury, J. A Gregg
and E. S. Chittenden. Mr.. Footner
stated to a G l o b reporter that he
will call meeting of the committee
| tomorrow and the resolutions will
then be prepared.
President Vanish introduced the
iNSIuiSl, soy ms tIl1I lllcy were, dl the
present time entering an electric era,
and it was therefore a duty that they
make all investigation possible regard
ing this branch of science.
Mr. Merrill first stated, in a general
way, the multitude of uses to which
electricity is now applied.
Notwithstanding the fact that it is
mans most useful servant" continued
he, lat times it becomes his most dan
gerous enemy. It is through the dis
obedience of it's laws that the dan
ger is brought about. 1t is safe to
presume that every man of intelli-
gence knows, from boyhood, that in
the application of natural laws one
cannot transgress the fundamental
principles of those laws. A violation
inevitably brings disaster in direct
proportion to the force transgressed
upon. With these facts to face it is
at once apparent why every city
should guard against these great dan
gers by the employment of a compe~
tent electrician who shall inspect ev-
cry bit of new wiring and electrical
application of any sort"
The lecturer then spoke of the great
need of such an official in st. Paul, and
proceeded to show, by experiment, the
great danger in which this rests by
the neglect of the employment of an
inspector.
The great danger, of course, lies in
ignition from wires poorly installed
and insulated. A number of expert
ments were then performed showing
the dangers resulting from this cause.
A current of 220 volts burned off the
head of a nail in a few seconds, and
a steel bar the size of a lead pencil
was also ignited instantly with the
same voltage One common cause of
fires is the crossing of telephone and
trolley wires, and this was illustrated
by the burning of large piece of
wood which was ignited by coming in
contact with a live wire.
The number of cut-out bases and de-
vises were then shown which had been
taken from st. Paul buildings. All
were partly burned, so caused by i'm
proper wiring.
''The dangers arising from wrongly
installed flexible cords are many. ST.
Paul has more of them of this sort
than any other city of it's size in the
country. But few realize the dangers
of fire which are upon every hand.
Merchants hang lamps without spark
arresters directly over combustible
goods, wires are laid upon pipes and
structural iron work, metal columns
and other conductors. These things
may be discovered upon every hand,
and oftentimes they are in cellars and
Easements where the defects can not
be detected until it is too late"
The lecturer then closed with an adj
ditional eXhortation to st. Paul to seek
protection from these dangers by al
lowing no electrical appliances to be
l1nn with ,cf hoy fhn,, in
spected by a competent judge.
''It is strange" said he. that your
city, so we'll protected in other re-
CARDS, should neglect this great point.
All the other large cities, and many
smaller ones, have made this provis-
ion, and all must come to it sooner or
later Those which do not will pay
a severe penalty. The conditions in
ST. Paul are the same as in other
places, and until you have taken this
precaution you can not say that you
are adequately protecting the life and
property of your citizens. I am not
speaking as an enthusiast, but base
my assertion upon statistics which
show the actual losses, both to life and
property which have resulted from
defective electrical appliances.
A number Of questions were then ask
ed the speaker regarding the dangers
arising from poor return circuit of the
trolley system. The fact was brought
out that in such cases all subterranean
pipes near an electric street car line
undergo disintegration. This particu-
larry arises from the disintegration of
gas pipes, the result of which is often
times ignition and an explosion. Two
cases of this kind were cited.
When asked what was the best insu-
lator, Prof. Merrill, replied that, in his
OpiniOn rubber was
In regard to lighting he stated, in an
sWer to question that, where the in
stallation and insulation of wires were
in good condition, there was less dan
ger from electrical lighting than from
any other.
At the close of the lecture w. J. Foot
ner made the motion asking for the ap-
pCintment Of a committee to send
a resolution to the council.
A vote of thanks was also rendered
Mr.. Merrill for the admirable lecture
The club was then entertained by a
number of violin solos from Prof Wat
son, of New York. The appreciation of
numbers were shown by the hearty ap-
plauSe given the musician. Additional in
est was given to this part of the pro-
gramme by the announcement that the
violin used by Prof. Watson was one
which the great Ole Bull used for many
years. banquet was then served.