The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-12-05

until the transformer houss l. reached to
he.ths result Of gross Ignorance or
Won thc srnnsfnr,nsr house 30 wooi-
ford junction those wires are oarrieu on
poles that are Aariy atrong enough for
ordinary twenty five foot poles hardly
think they can be relied upon In Gaze OF
severe slset or snow storm to keep these
high tension virus having dihsrsaoe CT
potential or pressure Of 25OO volts, from
falling down Into the street.
At Woodf0rd Junction the tress present
an almost fnsur ID cunt table obstacle 60 the
running of these wires or any other cir
quits From M0odiord junction 20 their
auxiliary power station the construction
Is anything but what IL should be. These
high tension wires run through, over and
below telephone and other wires 10 lie
possible In many CASES for men engaged
on the telephone poles TO come in contact
with these Ugh tension wires. This line
from woodfords Junction 10 the auxiliary
power station should BE- rebuflt In any
event before nm attsiDps b made to trans.
NIT sufficient energy over them TO supply
the city Of Portland with light.
There are three Instinct circuits coming
into Portland frona Dscriug, the oondi-
ton of one Of which Is soandaloua IL 10
fastened to trees, and IL looks like CIR
cult tbToWu III IN n hurry III uHsc VI nu
emergency rather than anything bearing
the semblance OF pssrmsnency.
After reaching Portland proper the
construction Is neatly all new. That that
hai been recently huilt may prove when
completed satisrsotoE S>bu9 great deal
of THINNING OF trse6Sbr OH rging poiss 90
go over them Will 10 NECESSARY before
thess lines are in u H. lisfyxHory condition.
At Riverton we Bligkh, the heart OF
the system Is located u HtAll wooden
building set up on pcs tlnterior OF
which was extremely III ad any evil
disposed person could &c 1t it on IRE;
v ere this done n pile OF Srreis located
Immediately out tide Of ould add fuel
TO the flames. With building de-
stroyed it would mean fness tor the
city of Portland until transformers
were plsosd in positiorV Thess trans-
formers located In thrT #stormer housi
should be in charge Off pc competent
person all the Tins, fo1 Re are various
things that might harf TO them which
would leave the city OIL per poi tion
of 1t In darkness until ~ one travelsc
from the auxiliary ~ 70 set things
right.
At the auxiliary st l dnd provis-
lens had been made a Ne the trans.
formers at Rivsrton, n you'd necessI-
tate carry ng cure NJ tedfords s,t u
pressure Of 10000 vol, wan the cirIcu u
In thsir present condi "a between fthese
two points such a prop ltion Is RusuIa,
and to attempts Il va be oriifniuAl.
This auxiliary station presume IL In
tended to have suflicie output TO fsufpiy
all the lights required ~ the Cit OF
Portland and by the tizens the1 REQ In
s spsssn Sus i would l. .app
the city and private pess at Vhe, same
time from this stati were anything to
happen to the water els OF 9engrutors
at the dam, or were f1lroultsl 45tween
these two points disalSl, or ~ case Of
the burning down oi he former
house.
A large percentage ofhe pol already
set within the businesolortion the city
appears TO be satlsfac&y, pH much re-
mains yet to be done &tonplete the sys-
tenn. Not knowing tn 5S3act number Of
lights to be- furnished fith current in the
city buildings ana fog commercial pur-
poses l cannot give an estimate of the
amount Of wire necessary TO arsmit the
energy from Riyerton to Woodfords, but
am convinced that unless this company
Is permitted TO carry current Mt q pressure
fordj TO their auxiliary station It viii be
necessary for them to run additional
wire to meet the demands Of all custom
ers. AS you know l stated In your
presence that considerit absolutely out
OF the q uestion to per init the tranem ission
their present condition. IL the city gov
eminent of Portland decide eventually
tnat this be done between these two
points It will be necessary in my judR-
mens to reconstruct the entire line, but
do not now, nor did l when l met you In
Portland &C wise or countenance 10000
volt transmission through the streets OF
Portland or any other city.
For large portion of the distance be-
tween Rivsrton and Woodford junction
the lines of another electric light COM
pany run parallel with those Of the Port
land Electric Light company, but some
distance below them. In many cases ths
wires of the other compsny lay against
the poles Of the Portland Electric Light
company and ;t would be q difficult mat
ter for men elm bing these poles to avoid
contact with these high tension wires: |
In all cases Of this kind cross-arms should |
be placed on these poles SO as to separate |
these wires sufficiently TO enable men to
climb M between them. |
During my stay in Portland l made an |
inspection of the wiring other than that |
belonging TO this company throughout |
the city. ana lind that the overhead uon- |
strnotion is above the average. The pole |
lines might be said a few years ago 60 be
the hest In New England. They are now |
equally as good As any contained In city |
Of Portand's size or larger In New Eng |
land, Many of the methods Of distribu. |
ton aside from the pole lines can be I'M |
proved and no doubt will be as soon as
possible. Many of the wires are too low, |
gro ssing yards and private ways. Some |
are iuseoufely fastened and some are too
low where they pass over roofs The time
will come before long when the poles In
your principal streets will have 10 be re-
n ov ed, and when that time does come 10
W i'll be wise for the city OF Portland and
for the companies owning these wires to
place them beneath the face OF the
streets where they will give less trouble
than when suspended from poles and
fixtures In this air.
This is a general report Of the condi-
tiuns as l find them In Portland, / did
not expect TO render specific report OF
each circuit when there and have not the
time at my disposal to make such report
were it required within the time specified
namely 1.-THE 4th inst.
Yours very truly,
VIM. BROPHY,
Chief Electrician.
After MIR. Goudy's order had been read
in the board of aldermen Alderman
Smith asked when the new company