Evening star., 1901-06-01

skill of the men in the engine house" said
Z. II. Tinklepaugh. chief electrician for the
Kansas City Electric Light Company.
The oncoming Of storm with the conse-
quent darkness of the sky, calls for such
| a sudden increase of electric power that it
Is only by the most trying exertions we
can meet the demand. Every cloudy day.
every sudden storm is more or less an
emergency that has to be met"
But 1T is not so much that a very great
quantity Of electric light is needed on a
dark day which makes the time a trying
one to the man in the power house II is
because the demand for light comes with
such suddenness. If the demand were con-
slant or II varied gradually it would be a
simple matter to supply 1t. All would run
smoothly. and there would never be any
complaint.
But this is not as it actually happens:
the demand increases all of a sudden
Sometimes within three minutes it seems
as If the whole city had walked up and
called all at once for light. This Is what
the power house men call an emer rgency
and this is what they have to prepare for
They must be able to keep the supply Of
power steady and even. no matter how
heavy the demand Is and no matter how
suddenly it may come.
A simultaneous drain of power on hum
dreds of wires must be met by an equally
sudden supply of new power The trick
the chief electrician has to perform Is to
see the drain as soon as 1t begins and to
build up his machines to supply new
power in the shortest possible time.
In clear weather the maximum demand
made on the power house is about 2.4OO
ampheres, or less But yesterday being
cloudy. the demand for light became sud-
denly very great, and 5000 ampheres were
required. The demand was heaviest in the
stores were lighting up and the men were
getting down to their Offices.
A scene in a power house during one of
these emergencies is an exciting one. For
why it is done it is first necessary to un-
derstand what preparations are made
against sudden demands for extra power.
For the ordinary work Of the company
machines are called No. 2Os, 00-kilowatt
run on the three-wire system. They rum
constantly, night and day. never stopping
unless for repairs. The boilers that supply
too.
Besides these three sets Of machines
there are the extras" lying ready for in
stant use. The boilers for the extras
are suddenly needed only few shovelfuls
Of coal on the fire Is necessary to have
them sending out power to run the ma
chimes. Then, in addition to the machines
that are running always. and the machines
that are awaiting sudden calls for extra
power, there is final source Of power
which Is called into service only a last
emergency. This Is an immense storage
battery. which occupies room whose d.
mensions are so by 20 feet, and whose floor
Is covered with lead. This storage battery
is held in reserve for what Is called the
maximum load" 1t has a capacity Of 1000
amphere hours. and Ii always ready for
service.
There are q few minutes every day"
said Mr.. Tinklepaugh. sometimes only
five minutes. sometimes half an hour. when
the power plant ID tested to its maximum
capacity. It 10 then that we use the stor-
age battery. It wouldn't pay to have a lot
OF expensive machinery lying Idle except