The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-01-31
Accident at Power House Of
Electric Company
KNOCKS OUT ALL ITS LINES
Traction Company Cars Only
Ones Running.
OLD DUMMIES TO EAST LAKE
People of the North and South High
lands Almost Entirely Without Ser
vice-One of the Big Pulleys
at Power House Parted.

The people Of Birmingham never realized
until yesterday how they love those dear
little electro cars, which at times have been
SO much abused. By most unfortunate
accident in the power house at $50 o'clock
yesterday morning, the dynamos were
stopped and in consequence every car in the
district operated by the Birmingham Rail-
way and Electric company, came to a
standstill. The motormen waited but no
current came. Later on in the morning the
street car patrons, hurrying into the city to
take up the business of the day, also
waited but the current didn't come. Finally
the dread truth was forced on ALL that
there would be no cars for long time, pos
sibly for days, and the suburbanites had to
make the most of it,
The company as quickly as possible, got
out all the old dummy engines which they
had left over, together with all the old
coaches that could be found, rugged them
up, and soon they were running every for
ty-five minutes on the East Lake and the
Ensley lines, sad contrast to the fast and
frequent electric cars to which the people
on those lines are accustomed. Passengers
from Powderly were taken all the way
around by Bessemef and thence into the
city over the Bessemer dummy line.
CITY Lines Suffered
But the people living on the city lines got
1t in the neck or rather they didn't get it
at all. Not even a horse car could be
vile, the North Highlands, Avondale,
Fountain Heights, Elyton and all the other
suburbs on the lines of the city division.
President Jemison, of the company, stated
that they would gladly put on horse cars If
they had them, but that there was not car
suitable or a mule to be had in Birming
ham.
| The Traction company Immediately did all
| that it could to relieve the congestion by
putting on a 15-minute schedule between
| the city and Woodlawn, and also by running
| frequent cars around the city loop. The
| Highland Avenue dummy did it's best to dis
| tribute the people all over the SouthSide,
| but with only two dummies, this was very
slow work. Naturally, the hackmen OF the
| city reaped a harvest, especially after the
| hard rain came up in the afternoon and
night.
Three -Four Days More
| The absorbing question is when will the
damage be repaired and the cars start to
| running again. Mr.. Jemison stated yester-
day afternoon that it would very probably
take three or four days to get the plant
working again; possibly longer
The accident Is supposed to have been
| caused by one of the big pulleys becoming
''chrystalized," as the mechanics express it,
| and being unable to stand the heavy strain
| required of it, broke.
This pulley, which drives one of the two
big street car dynamos, Is situated under
the main floor of the building, and when it
broke, great fragments tore through the
| belt which surrounded 1T, and also tore a
great hole In the floor above it, which is
about five inches thick.
But the most amazing part of the acct
dent is that the long steel shaft, six inches
in diameter, on which the pulley was stu
ated, was twisted and bent all out of shape
The heavy foundations which held the shaft
although constructed in the strongest man.
ner of store brick and cement, were torn in
two and rendered utterly worthless. The
engineer of the plant had tested all the
pulleys and engines only about half hour
before the accident, and found all of them
apparently in good condition. Fortunately
none of the employees were near the scene
of the accident when it happened.
Working Night and Day
In order to repair the injury all of the
old foundations will have to be dug down,
and new ones built INA long and tedious
job. A large force of men were put to
work digging out the brick and mortar and
they will be kept working night and day I'M
til the damage is fully repaired. A dupli-
| cate shaft and pulleys are already being
made in one of the Birmingham machine
shops, and will be completed before the
new foundations are ready to receive them
The dynamos which supply the lights of
the city were entirely uninjured, and If 1t
were not that different voltage was re-
uuired for running street cars from making
electric lights, plenty of current could be
obtained from these dynames to run the
cars in the day time at least 1t is also
sad reality that the engines and the Zig
street car dynamos, all of which are entire
" uninjured.. cannot be connected without
the intermediate pulleys. An effort was
made to get enough electricity from the
Traction company to run the cars of the
city division at least but this plan failed, as
that company had no more than enough to
run it's own cars. though otherwise the Of
ficials stated they would have been glad
to supply it,
Hoods Sarsaparilla cures catarrh by SCI