Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-22
The FIELD OF ELECTRICITY
Substitution of Electricity for Steam in tn
Textile Industries.
CURRENT INNOVATIONS IN NEW CHURCHES
'nnIeasnnt Glare accompanying the
hchcction Of strong light
Curing "thc Tired Feel
ing" in Iron.
CURRENT INNOVATIONS IN NEW CHURCHES

Electricity has in the past been adopted
quite extensively In printing establishments.
paper mills and for operating the machinery
In various lines of manufacture. and now IL
appears to be On the eve Of supplanting the
mechanical drive in the textile industry,
Inc ACCESSIBILITY Of such a change was re-
Gently set forth quite fcrcibiy in a paper
read in Boston at the meeting Of the New
England Cotton Manufacturers association.
According to the author, w. b. Smith wha.
ley, electricity has up to the present been
looked upon more favorably for the driving
OF cotton mill machinery in the south than
elsewhere in this country, the mill owners
in that section apparently approaching fully
the greater convenience and fexibility in
the distribution OF the power and the
economy Of space in the substitution VI
wires and motors for the shaftlng and belt
ways. Moreover, in mills where electricity
has been adopted as motive power, testi-
mony goes to show that although it was
more costly to install, 1t effected a material
saving in labor, amounting on an average
to about $1,000 a year.
On the other hand, apparently the only
argument against the adoption Of electricity
in the textile industry, brought forward by
persons, to be found in every community.
WIZ 'uN'tNo W llDcue advancement
through misplaced conservatism, is that its
introduction would be followed by an in
crease in taxes, insurance and interest. Al
though such probably would be the case, as
has been heretofore pointed out, where driv-
ing power is conveyed through long lines
OF shafting there is necessarily an enormous
less entailed in overcoming friction in hang
ers, belts and pulleys. This loss, according
to statistics and careful tests made, would
appear to amount 10 not less than As to 50
per cent. This would mean that Il mill re-
curing at times, say fifty horsepower,
would be obliged to install, were a me-
chanical drive employed, a seventy-Give
horsepower engine and consume at a
moderate estimate seventv-nvc pounds of
coal an hour in overcoming useless resist
ance. BY the use of a number of small
motors to drive the various pieces of ma
chinery this loss by friction is materially
reduced and probably would not exceed 90
per cent. As may readily be seen, this saw
ing in fuel alone in a large mill would off,
set, or very nearly Offset, the increase in
taxes, insurance and interest, to say nothing
of the saving in labor and the convenience
OF the electrical system generally.
Electricity in the Churches.
Electricity is put to various uses in
churches; in no other buildings in fact is it
more commonly employed. In New York
City all new churches are provided with cleo
trical equipment; and many old churches,
also, have been similarly equipped. The
same is substantially true of all cities and
towns in which there are to be found electric
plants. Some churches have complete
plants of their own on the premises, but the
greater number take the current from the
power supply houses.
Besides its use for lighting purposes cleo
tricity is now commonly employed In
churches for running a motor to operate the
organ bellows. This motor can be set in
motion, or stopped, by the organist as he
sits in his place at the keyboard, simply by
the turning of a switch; and, in operation.
it accommodates itself to the demands upon
it, running slower when the bellows is full
and faster again as it empties.
In the newer churches-and such appli-
ances have also been put into older churches
the organ itself is provided with electrical
appliances by means of which the valves CT
the organ pipes are opened. Formerly this
was done by means of mechanical appliances
that were operated by the pressing down of
the key. Now, each key is connected by a
wire with the valve of the pipe to which IL
belongs, and when a key is pressed down its
wire is brought into contact with a supply
wire running along under the keyboard, the
circuit is closed, and by means Of the power
thus transmitted along the wire from the
key the valve is opened. 1t is, of course.
kept open until the contact is broken by the
release of the key. Organs set up in separate
sections in a church are connected by wire
in this manner and readily played from the
same keyboard; and new organs, however
situated in a church, are now likely to be
provided with electrical keyboards.
Church chimes are now played by cleo
tricity from a keyboard like that Of a piano
or organ, at which the player sits with the
music before him. Chime playing as for
merly done. by the pressing Down of levers,
to which cords running to the bells were at
tached. called for very considerable eXer-
tion on the part of the player, now the
heaviest as well as the lightest bell is rung
simply by pressing a key.
DiTusinE Light Rays.
A striking tendency in the practice OF IL
Elimination during the last two years is to
discontinue the use of blotchcs of light, in
favor OF systems in which the light rays are
diffused, and consequently less perniCious in
their influence on the eyesight and the
nerves. 1t is true, however, that at almost
every street corner there ia still an intense
arc light to temporarily ~paralyze n small
spot on the retina, and in many store win
dows are seen the even more dangerous gas
flame, as reinforced by the "incandcscent
mantle The greater danger of this de-
vice TO the eyes of the public lies in the
fact that 1t is seldom properly shaded, and
in its ordinary semi or non-shaded condition
1t projects a ball of light at the eyes of the
passerby almost with the force and rudenoss
OF a material blow. In the meantime people
wonder why their eyes become hot and in
famed, and oculists are doing a good busi-
ness. But a change has already set in. In
many cities where, twelve or eight m1nths
ago, there was hardly an example Of store
window lighting in which the light source
was Invisible TO the eye, today there are
hundreds of such cases. The opportunity to
examine the store, wares without the usual
jarrlng and distressing effect of intense and
concentrated light caused people on the
streets at night to flock about Inc windows.
The Arm that tries to save money by using
naked lights is now sure to lose II. In the
same way the theater having soft and sum
Client illuminatiou-all other things being
equals certain to have the bcsi houses.
Tho use OF dinusel light has also spread ia
factories and other industrial buildings, II
is evident, however, that there are Conii-