Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-26
The FIELD OF ELECTRICITY
Harvesting Of Southern Water Power fol
Electrical Production.
ALUMINIUM WIRES TO REPLACE COPPER
steam Power Gradually Giving way
to Electricity In MiIIs-Iio,y
lightning Turns Fog to
Rnin-Notes

North Carolina Is confident IL has an idle
niagara within the state and has perfected
pians to hitch 1t to the industries in us
vicinity. The unused power is in the mar
rows OF Yadkln river in Stanhope county
Inc total power available In times OF drv
season is about 10000 horse power. BY the
adoption OF storage reservoirs, which the
high banks of the river favor this mower
can be greatly increased The North Caro-
lima Power company is the name OF the cor
poration that will carry out the plan. The
company has a capital stock of s. 900 00O
ana 1t is proposed to issue bonds to the
amount OF s2,5OO,0OO. 1t owns the entire
property along the Yadkin river where the
power development Is to be made includ-
ing 1000 acres OF land on both sides of the
river. thus controlling the situation The
Typographical features are regarded as par
tioularly well adapted for economical devel-
opment, as the river at the "narrows" passes
through a granite Tipped gorge but seventy
five feet wide at its widest and only thirty
feet wide at It's narrowest part. In the
twelve miles the total fall Is 220 feet. The
development will probably be made in two
divisions. Following this water power devel-
opment is to come the movement to this
section Of cotton mill interests. Plans are
now being formulated for large cotton mill
" DS bullL vi lue plOpelly' lHlS Illl ls
designed to be an advance upon present
plants not only in the south, but in the
north as we'll Besides modern machinery
of approved type, the whole plant will be
electrically driven. Some novel features will
be introduced in this regard to simplify
operations. This development OF water
power promises to be one Of the most inter-
estng yet made and 1t is contemplated to
transmit the power to points within radius
a hoo dob tnn IN
install machinery of the most modern style,
and make the big development the most
effective that money and skill can secure.
The Yadkin river for term OF years has
been particularly regular in flow, and as
there Is no danger of interruption by freez-
ing in winter, there will be no need OF auxil-
iary steam plants, as in the north. short
extension of the Salisbury and Norwood
branch of the Southern railway Is to be
made to reach the property.
Aluminium Electric Wires.
Until recently, says Electricity, the only
metal employed commercially for transmit
ting currents OF electricity for lighting
street railway and power purposes was
copper This, as is well known. was due
to the fact that copper offers less resist
ance. bulk for bulk, than any other metal,
II we except possibly one or two OF the
precious metals, whose cost would naturally
prohibit their being used on anything ike
an extensive scale. AS we stated some
time ago in these columns, the amount OF
copper produced annually in this country
and utilized principally in the electrical IN
dustry is something enormous, representing
as 1t did in 1898 an investment OF over $780,
coo, 900. Possibly a better idea OF this de-
mand for copper in electrical enterprises
NAV be gotten when it is stated that the
oil
wear in the United States required for their
operation. in line conductors and feeders
over 5000 gross tons of this metal, repre-
sonting an investment of more than $2,OO0,-
600.
The outlay for copper in electrical under
takings where it Is necessary to transmit
currents to any considerable distance, as
may readily be inferred from the above, Is
by no means insignificant, 1t being In fact
one Of the heaviest items of expense, and
as the price of copper has for some time
been steadily rising, electrical engineers
have been seeking for a suitable and less
costly substitute. This, it is believed, has
now to a certain extent been found In
aluminium and. although the resistance OF
an aluminium conductor to the passage OF
an electric current is between 60 and 70
per cent greater than the resistance offered
by copper conductor of the same cross
section the difference in the weight OF the
two metals more than makes up Tor the
difference in conductivity as well as the
difference in the COST leaving a balance
of between 1 and 3 cents to the pound in
favor of aluminium, everything else peihs
equal well known electrical engineer
IN charge of a large lighting plant in the
south, who has examined Into the matter
very thoroughly and is about to make use
,In npndnctCrS rpcpQtly summed
up the matter as follows:
"Copper has specific gravity OF S.93
whereas aluminium has 2.6S, these being the
relative weights per unit Yet 1t takes a
larger volume, or a wire OF greater sectlohai
area, of aluminium for given amount or
current than copper; the difference being:
copper 100, aluminium l6O
Advantages of the New Metal.
aluminium has some disadvantages, one
being the difficulty OF soldering 1t together.
On the other hand, it's advantage is its
great tensile strength, having $4,000 pounds
per square inch, while the tensile strength OF
soft copper the kind most generally used,
is only l6,5OO pounds per square inch. With
the sectional area OF aluminium for equal
conductivity with that of copper as 100 is to
100, you can readily that the tensile
strength of an aluminium conductor is more
than twice the strength of copper, yet the
weight is not half great as copper being
only As per cent of that OF copper for a
conductor OF equal conductivity. 1t having
greater ductility makes II more desirable for
the reason that it does not break or fracture
so easily on bending"
From this 1t will be seen that owing to
the greater tensile strength of an aluminium
conductor over one OF copper considerably
longer spans could be constructed between
poles were the former metal made use of,
thus efectng a material saving in expense
IN line work. What, however, will probably
have a greater effect than anything else in
making aluminium conductors popular is
that the cost of producing the metal is
gradually becoming less each year, as more
improved methods OF reduction are being
adopted. while the price OF copper is rising.
At the present day, everything else being
equal, owing to the excessive price OF cop
per. the balance from a financial standpoint
would seem to be slightly in favor OF alu-
minum for conductors, and judging from the