The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-01-18
about % degrees warmer than the air the

about % degrees warmer than the air the
passengers breathe.
Gable cars heated by hot water for lack
of a convenient source of electricity to sup
the heating apparatus in Broadway cable
car-the wire-caged stove cylinder-is only
the beginning Of the affair. for down below
there Is a little coal furnace, which heats
a coil Of water pipe and the pipe leads into
q hot water reservoir and then along un-
der the car seats from one end of the car
to the other and on both sides. Salt in
the water keeps 1t from freezing when the
fire is out. A gentle circulation goes on
through the pipes all the time the hot
water forcing its way out of the reservoir
Into the seat pipes. and then coming around
again as its heat goes out into the car.
very even distribution of the heat il
thus made The hot water heater has done
good service in New York street cars but
with the installation of electricity as
motive power on the cable road it will give
way to the more convenient and economical
electric heater now in use on all the big
electric roads Of the town. When every
thing is made to run by electricity as the
electrical engineer hopes. then everything
will be heated by electricity.
When, short while ago, one of the big
street railways of the town changed it's
power and it's rolling stock, it sought the
best method Of car heating. Nowadays
this means a selection of one of the num-
erous electric heaters and as electric heat
ing is very simple thing there is not
much choice between the systems. The
heater chosen by this company is one made
up. for the main part of a large porcelain
tube wound with spiral of coiled german
silver wire. This gives in a small space
large surface OF wire. A heavy electri-
cal current run through this wire, too thin
to carry it all, makes the wire almost in
stantly hot as the filament of an electric
lamp throws of heat Four of these
heaters. placed under the seats, with graf
ings over them in the seat panels, will
heat an ordinary car. The heat is regu-
lated. according to the state of the wealth
er. by switch. So long as a current is
flowing through the underground conduit
and into the car, the heater will heat,
but the moment the current stops through
trouble on the line or in the car, the wire
gets cold and the heater is useless The
road which has just put this heater into
its cars has put dozen heaters in Its big
cross-seat cars, making them, perhaps, the
best heated cars in the town. heater
coil is under every other seat on both sides
Of the aisle, even the old cars of this
road made over into electric cars. carry
three heaters on side. whereas in cars
of the same size in other towns only two
on a side are found.
Much of the complaint about the temper
allure OF street cars is caused by the ig-
norance or forgetfulness of employees, who,
becoming accustomed 10 sudden changes OF
heat and cold, through long exposure to cold
weather. don't watch out for the comfort
of the passengers. Conductors are prone
to leave the rear doors open when they
should be kept closed. All the roads have
a rule that in winters doors must be kept
closed much as possible. The conduc-
tor leaves the doors open to save himself
trouble in working the car and to get some
of the warm air of the interior. 1t some
times occurs to one that one reason for
this desire on the conductors part to keep
the rear doors open Is instructive longing
for companionship. He wants to be one
of the cars company. Ordinarily, open
doors are not needed for ventilation. In
electrically heated cars the transoms over
head are the natural ventilators. Care on
the part of the conductors will secure, in
all but the most severe weather, fresh air
and rightly heated air. and will stop many
Of the justifiable complaints heard nowadays.