The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-01-28
DANGER in THE WIRES,
Franklin =. Wentworth's Lecture
Before Milwaukee Insure &
/ ts SssSss: s anoe Men. - 81: ~ :

out the dangers that complicated sys.
tenn of wiring, such as every large city
now has. involves.
In most cities of the country, he said,
trolley, series arc and alternating pri-
mary wires, all carrying current danger
GUS to life, are run indiscriminately over
streets and buildings. Added to these
are numerous telegraph, telephone and
other signal wires, crossing and recrOss-
ing each other, and high tension wires
without protection. The outside condi-
tons are frequently rendered doubly dam
gerous by a total absence of cutoff
switches and other protective devices
within the buildings. In the event of fire
the cutting of wires is an operation
fraught with great danger. Citizens
whose premises are not furnished with
devices for the instant cutting out of all
current at one point must be considered
as exposing their tiremen to perils which
they ought by no means be compelled to
face.
"Any city," said Mr.. Wentworth,
(which does not exercise rigorous mu-
nicipal control over the stringing Of cleo
trical wires and the installation of cleo
trical apparatus must inevitably soon ar
rive at such a condition as to menace the
daily lives of it's citizens; create an ad-
verse feeling among investors, and one
of distrust and uneasiness among reliable
insurance companies Wires should, as
far as practicable, be installed within
buildings as if they were to be used at
an extreme heat, for such a condition
may be brought about by what might ap-
pear on inspection the simplest of defects.
When an outside overhead wire, either
Of high potential or carrying heavy cur
rent, comes in contact with an ordinary
signal wire, the latter, in the event of
poor or defective insulation, Immediately
becomes charged with the dangerous cur
rent of the high-tension wire, carrying the
same into whatever building it may run.
In the general absence of protective
devices on telephone and other signal cir
cults, such an occurrence must result in
the inevitable fire. Fires from this cause
are Of daily occurrence and are response
bic for over one-seventh of the annual
electrical fire waste.
''W0Od used as bases for switches, cut
outs and other current carrying strips,
bars and connections on lighting and pow
err circuits is a defect found almost uni
versally throughout older electrical equip
ments. Exactly why it was ever sup
posed combustible material, such as
wood, could be suitable for mounting
electrical connections has never been eX-
planned. Happily the manufacturers to-
day all realize the necessity of using
slate, marble or porcelain, or some other
non-combustible, insulating material in
its stead, and so but comparatively few
wooden base devices are now on the mar
ket. Those which are already installed
are demonstrating their untitness by
burning out as fast as possible, and in
many cases are being replaced before
such troubles occur.
Electric lighting, the increasing appli-
cation of the motor to elevators. pumps,
ventilatin fans, ETC., and the innumer-
able bells, burglar alarms, gas lighting
arrangements and similar conyeniences,
now have a too important place in the
equipment of buildings, and the electrical
item is one of too much consequence to
be ignored or treated as an after consid-
GRAFTON.
proper. accurate fusing is as essential
to the safety of an electrical equipment
as is the safety valve to that of the steam
boiler. The province of both is the same,
namely. to blow ut point when the limit
of overload is reached. The safe and
proper size of safety fuses is a matter
that must be decided in every case 10y a
in this particular may endanger the whole
equipment. If you have short circuit
or other similar trouble and your fuse
does not melt and open the circuit your
wire is bound to become hot. To avoid
such an occurrence the fuse must be
carefully calculated to the size of the wire
in the circuit it is designed to protect, so
that an excessive current flow will at
once heat and blow the fuse before the
copper wire has time to become danger
ously heated. Most fuses are made of
soft metals, principally lead and tin, in
proportion 3 to /, making a composition
which melts at temperature of less than
300 degrees Cent. Copper wire requires
a temperature of over 1000 degrees before
wire in fuse boxes put there by men
whom their employers call electricians.
This is analogous to hanging a milestone
OH the safety valve of q steam boiler 1t
is a neyer-faiiing way to correctly esti-
mate the intelligence of the man in charge
of an electrical equipment to examine his
cut-outs and fuse boxes. If the same are
manifestly over-fused, or contain copper
wire, he may be set down as either gross
~ careless or lamentably ignorant.
Incandescent Lamps.
"Flexible cord used as line wires in
lighting show windows is constant
source of fire, as is also the common in
candescent lamp. That the incandescent
lamp has distinct and dangerous heat
ing effect seems to have escaped the OBJ
servation of all merchants whose show
windows have not already been burned
out from this cause. They are wrapped
up in cloth, cotton, straw and every con
ceivable variety of inflammable material
used in window decoration. That flexible
cord is made up of conductors Of opposite
polarity, the current constantly seeking
Il defective point at which to jump from
one wire of the cord to the other with
the intense heat Of the electric arc, seems
also entirely to have escaped observa ton
Flexible cord is hung UPON nails, hooks
and all sorts of imprOvised supports, fire.
quently fastened with metal cleats, en-
tirely. without regard to the fundamental
cult in conductors through a gaspipe will
quickly puncture the latter and ignite the
escaping gas. and yet contacts between
pipes and the insulating covering of wires
are common.
"Merchants hang arc lamps without
spark arresters Immediately over costly
inflammable goods and watch the white
hot particles of copper or carbon thrown
off by the arc with no thought of danger.
Every conceivable combination possible
to poor or careless workmanship is found
everywhere in practice. Wires ON pipes
structural iron work, metal columns and
other conductors are discoverable every
where. In easements, attics and all out
of-the-way places such conditions are rem
dered dOuDly hazardous by absence of
inspection or inaccessibility From a re-
view of statistics on these points, reveal
ing such startling and lamentable condi-
tons throughout the country, we can
draw but one conclusion. This is, that
it is .unquestiona the urgent and i'm
perative duty of every municipality to
provide for a rigorous inspection wherever
electricity is used in any form.
10 temporize with or evade this duty
is to endorse poor and careless Workman
ship and invite further dangerous COM
plications. All the larger cities have been
struggling for number of years to inn
prove their electrical conditions These
conditions might never have existed had
they realized the necessity Of proper SUI
pervison at the outset. They are paying
the price of their. ignorance and neglect
Conditions in Milwaukee.
"Smiliar conditions to these confront
one in your own city. There is but one
thing to do, stop all poor work ut once by
rigid inspection, and reform the old work
as rapidly as possible. When installation
from this time forward shall be in ac-
cordance with approved and worklnanlike
methods; when you refuse to allow cur
rent to be turned OH any circuit until the
owner thereof shall have certificate
signed by your municipal inspector, then
YOU will have taken the first step toward