The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-04-21
FIREMEN AND ELEcTRICITE,
little Danger OF Fatal Aeeidentl
from Contact with Currents, sage
an electrical Engineer.

fFom Contact with Currents sage
an Electrical ERgineeR.
eyes, said the chief engineer of one
Of the large general electric companies
''the growing use Of electricity, with the
multiplicity Of commercial currents
does offer new problems TO the fire &c.
partments Of large cities" The remara
was made in connection with a discus
sion Of the experience Of the Brooklyn
fremen with the current rails Of the
Fifth avenue elevated road, when they
attempted one night recently TO play
a stream on a burning motor car at the
Fatbush avenue station.
"Nine times out Of ten, however" he
| continued, ''the results viii be more
~ludierous than serious, as in the Brook
lyn case, where the six men directing
the stream were shocked BY a current
communicated from the exposed third
rail through the steady stream Of wa
ter. There no harm was done beyond
startling the men into dropping the
hose, which, when released, writhed
about like a giant snake, drenehed
every n within range, and smashed .
few windows. That was, of course, not
pleasant for the dripping people nor
the owners Of the windows, but there
was absolutely no danger to the lives
of the fremen. The current in the third
rail was only one Of $50 volts, which,
dissipated as it was by being so cons
Quoted, could give only a severe Jingle.
"Oh, yes, it is perfectly true that a
stream Of water will act as a conductor
in such cases. But it is a very imper-
feet one. In the first place pure wa
ter is in itself q poor conductor. It's
efficiency as a conductor varies direct
w with the solid impurities in it. Then
though the stream forms al unbroken
circuit from the rail to the metal nozzle
held by the men, and through them to
the earth, the spraying and large sur
face area of the stream dissipates the
current greatly. In the third place, a
short circuit is almost sure to be formed
by the stream from the third rail to the
track rails as the water spreads. This
in itself would divert the current sc
that very little would be felt by the hu.
man beings who form a link in the
longer circuit.
"The experience of the Brooklyn fire.
men might be duplicated wherever the
stream falls upon a non-insulated wire
conveying a current of any considers
BILE voltage. IT is possible in the ease
of trolley wires, and, I believe, also in
the case of the main cables which carry
the current for lightning purposes il
a large office building. But, as ] said
before, there is no danger to life, It'll
only a disagreeable thing which til,
fremen may have to contend with
There may be a case, but this is scarcely
more than hypothetical, where there ii
a real danger to life in a current con,
Quoted by a stream of water. 1t is only
about two weeks ago that we had al
example of such a case here in Manhat
tan. That was the fire in the testing
department of the Edison Illuminating
company's building in West Twenty
sixth street. If the firemen had no
: been warned to withhold the stream un
til the current had been turned off from
the large motors, it might have been
tragedy instead of a comedy, like thu
Brooklyn fire. Perhaps I ought tomod
crate my remark as to danger being
merely Hypothetical. But, after all, i
! could only be through Ignorance, OF
5 which we need not reckon, that Their
, would be real danger. When the pres
! ence of such great electric currents j
known, it is a simple matter to turl
: them off before playing streams on th.
fire. In all buildings containing larg
motors or dynamos, the current, b,
I means of switching boards, can b
: turned off at various distant parts o
( the building. 1t would surely be
I hypothetical case where m of thes
. switchboards could not be got at in cas-
, of fire.
{ Moreover, if you stop to think aboU
: it, if the fireman would add rubbe
: gloves to his present gutta perchaiOut
= fit he would be practically insulated
I with rubber coat, hip boots and glove
i An electric current might pass alon
Z the dampness of his garments, reac
: the ground, and thus complete a Gil
l cult, but it would not be felt by the ma
= himself unless he got soaked through
Even then the current transmitted b
: P~ermeating moisture would be to
slight to take seriously. If the INTEL
! genee sused by the fre-fghters in NEE
s ing other difficulties is also exercised j
this matter. they need not fear e%lectri,
/ ity."-N. Y. Times.
g Followed His Instructions.
~