The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-11-19
.PONERFROM niagara FALLS
THE CITY OF BUFFALO, TWENTY
SEVEN MILES DISTANT, Is
USING 1T.
CIRCUIT COMPLETED 1T MIDNIGHT.
Last Night and Everything Worked
Well-Cables of 40,0OO-horse Power
Capacity Stretched With Great
Care-Big Electrical Event.

Buffalo, n. Y, Nov. 15.-At midnight
tonight the turning of switch in the big
power house at Niagara Falls completed
circuit which caused Niagara river to
flow up hill, so to speak, by returning
fraction of its energy which had al
ready swept past. the gates of Buffalo
back into that city, twenty-seven miles
distant The harness was bucked that
bitches to the factory wheels of Buffalo
the greatest cataract on earth. Monday
morning the street cars of this city will
move by the falls power. Hereafter the
falls must work enough to earn their liv-
ing.
The buckling of the harness could have
been done as well twelve hours earlier,
but owing to the fact that the father of
William B. Rankin of New York, secre-
tary of the Niagara Falls Power company
is clergyman, and in Difference to his
wishes the Niagara Falls power was not
turned into the transmitting system at
noon today, as had been expected. The
connections were made at midnight to-
night. The force of experts having the
work in charge were busy all last night
and until late this evening testing the
various connections and going over the
machine to make sure that everything
was in proper order. When everything
was in readiness for the switch to be
thrown over the electricians were conf
dent that there need be no cessation 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 in charge estimate
that the loss of the energy will be less
than 10 per cent, and may not exceed 5.
Careful tests are to be made in this con-
nection, the tests covering both night
and day, and clear as well as rainy
weather. The electricians are paying
particular attention to this last, as on
the perfect insulation of the carrying
line depends much of the future success
of the undertaking. The line that has
been built to carry the current is of
most substantial nature. Unlike the or
dinary telegraph line, the poles are placed
very close together and are braced in such
a manner as to be proof against heavy
storms. At curves the poles are set
double and are guyed to numerous small
er poles to prevent sagging. The over
head line extends from the power house
at the falls to the city limits of Buffalo,
where the wires enter cement cOnduits.
On the overhead line glass insulators are
found unequal to the strain, and porce-
lain insulatOrs were maze specially to
hold the wires. These insulators were
subjected to current of 10000 volts
before being put in use. There are at
present on the poles eight cables, each
with a carrying capacity of 5OOO-h0rse
power, or 4OOOO-hOrse power in all. The
poles are of such a substantial charac-
ter that this number of cables can be
doubled without subjecting them to a
greater strain than is considered safe.
The only contract made for the delivery
of power in Buffalo is that by the Buffalo
street railway for 10OO-hOrse power.
Under the contract with the city the
completion of the undertaking of deliver
ing power in Buffalo was not obligatory
before next June. 1t was in order to Sc
cure the contract with the street railway
company that the work was hurried
through so far ahead of time. Contracts
with others desiring to use the electrical
power will now be made, and it is thought
by the opening of spring the power will
be well distributed throughout the city.
Since the inception of the undertaking
and during its carrying out the company
has frequently called on Messrs. Edison
and Tesla for advice, and these famous
masters of electricity have been frequent
visitors to the Niagara Falls power house
to solve technical problems.
The switches in the Buffalo street rail
way power house were turned on exactly
at midnight, by w. l.. Remmett, chief
engineer of the General Electric COM
pany.
Mayor Jewett was present and held the
watch. Everything worked smoothly.
AT THE NIAGARA END.
Niagara Falls, n. Y, Nov. 15.-The fact
that midnight was to begin the transmis-
sion of electrical power from the fails
to Buffalo for the first time drew very
large crowd of people to the power house
of the Niagara Falls Power company.
tonight. So many were trying to gain
admission to the place that at o o'clock
the doors had to be closed. Those pres
ent in the power house were Messrs. w.
B. Rankin, secretary of the power com
pany; Electrical Superintendent Pau NJ.
Lincoln and l. X. Edmonds.
At II As Messrs Rankin. Brecken-