The Savannah morning news., 1900-10-22
NEW ELECTRIC LAMP.
ar. McIver's Device to Double Life
of Incandescent Lamps.


NJ r. T. McIver, head clerk OF
a. De Soto Hotel. has applied for
.,,ent on a little device which is OF in
..,.s, 10 all users OF incandescent lights
a. McIver proposes by his device TO
.-..tcally double the life OF every in
e.ndsscent lamp equipped with IT, In
,sj,tlon 20 this II enables the user TO
t,,bl. or reduce the amount OF Light In
a room al VIII.
THE device consists OF an ordinary in
.,-8.eeent lamp globe equipped with two
e.ments The double flament is not
rov. feature. but the attachment TO the
i,mp by which either one or both fla
-,.rts may be brought into use AZ will
n the important feature and the one
ybirh A. Is believed will attract the at
,srtlon OF users OF incandescent lights.
a. IL practically doubles the life OF the
Iamp as well as enables the amount Of
urht used 20 be increased for special
occasions.
The idea frst occurred to Mr.. McIver
when he was az the White Sulphur
sprir.-s IN 1896 Tho hotel was using a
large number OF incandescent lights. and
n was necessary 10 order frequent fresh
supplies Happening 20 be ia the engi-
rcer's room one day. Mr.. McIver no
ticed a large box full OF old incandeseent
lamps. which had evidently been cast
aside lie asked the engineer 81 Il would
no be well 20 save these lamps and ship
them back 10 the factory. but the ongi-
neer replied that as the factory only al
lowed cent and half for each lamp
returned. the trouble and cost Of pack
ing ana shipping would about Offset any
return from this source.
This set Mir McIver 90 thinking II some
vyav could not be devised to increase the
lie Of the lamps. as each lamp repre-
scented an expenditure OF % cents. The
idea ~ the double filament naturally oc-
CURED 90 him. but was hardly original.
ANY electrician could put two nlaments
into a lam9. The question was how 10
make use OF the fiaments INDEPENDENTLY
% each other. 50 that one could succeed
The other Mr. McIver accomplished this
successfully by means OF a cap az the
base Of the lamp. by screwiug down which
fhc second niament could be brought into
use when needed.
This accomplished the object oil right,
but tho fact thar II was necessary to un-
screw the lamp from the socket and then
change the position Of the cap was found
20 be an obstacle 20 the popularity OF the
invention. Mr.. McIver did not give up his
idea however. but continued TO investi-
gate the subject While in New York last
GUNNER he secured the assistance OF a
friend who has some talent IN electrical
work and tho latter suggested an inn
provcment by which the use Of the fila-
ments Is regulated by a small copper wire
ring running around the neck OF the
burner near the base This accomplish
"a the purpose and made u possible 70
regulate tho light in less time than Il
takes 10 tell about a.
Mr. Mciver has one OF the lamps ct
tachcd 10 a gas jet IN Tho Office Of the De
Soto. connected. Of course. with the cleo
trio lght system OF the hotel. The lamp
81 equipped with two Of the ordinary Ma
ments. such as are used in every mean
descent light Ordinarily. hut one Is
supposed 20 he IN use. but by simply
shifting the lF'lc copper ring for quar-
ter Of an inch the second light is brought
into play A ls-caudie-power lamp can
thus be- converted into q 32-candle-power
lamp in less than q quarter Of a second.
Mr. McIvcr's idea Is That for ordinary
uses the consumers would simply use ono
Olamcnt a. "a time. the advantage being
that Co. this way the life % the lamp would
ho doubled and a considerable item OF eN-
reuse saved II would also be great
convenience 20 users Of incandescent
lights ne thinks. 10 be able 20 increase
the amount % light in room for special
occasions n half a dozen lamps In O.
room are sufficient for ordinary purposes
the ability to double the amount Of Hight
temporarily by burning both hlaments
would be "a considerable advantage.
MI McIver does not expect that the in
vcntion VIII prove popular with the manu-
facturers. as 81 Is 20 their interest to have
as many lamps sold as possible but he
thinks q viii prove popular with con
sumers. whose bills will thereby be de
creased. The lamp IS constructed SO as 10
10 any socket which will be a considerable
argument in SIS favor with consumers.