The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-28
ELECTRIC LIGHTS FOR SHIPS.
Consul General Guenther Presents
IN Interesting Report.

an Interesting Report
Richard Guenther. Consul General at
Frankfort, in a report to the State De
partmeut has the following to say on the
subject of electric lighting for German
ships:
An article in the Observation-Disclosures
ZeiLsChrift' treats of electrical installa-
tions-nu neW ships Of the German Navy:
1t appears that in the German serv-
ice separate lead and return wires have
been generally adopted. concentric cables
being used in the neighberhood Of the
ships compaSses- Attempts TO employ
the ships structure as a return have not
attained successful results, and, so far as
large Fessels are concerned, this practice
has been entirely superseded; but in the
case of new torpedo boats, where econo-
my in weight is a vital consideration, the
practice stiH holds. IN all places exposed
to the danger of mechanical injury. such
as the engine rooms and stock holds.
le1d-covered- iron-armored cables are en-
iaioyed. while elsewhere cables well insu-
lated with rubber. but otherwise IInpro-
iected, except in some cases by thin rust
proof wire, are used The wood casing
formerly employed has been abolished,
ewing 10 its infiammabiIity Hitherto the
telegraph and telephone cables have been
OF the lead-covered, iron-acInored type;
bat the newest ships have baen provided
with a central subway like a corridor.
as well as side corridors below the ar
rnored deck which may he used for the
electric cables, telegraph and telephone
wires. etc. thereby avoiding ali danger
o. mechanical injury to the same It is
proposed to dispense with the steel ar
NOR IN the future. even for the lighting
and power cables. retaining only the lead
protection.
'' The practice Of soldering branch con
nections has also been discarded IN favor
Of branch fuse boxes, in which the con
1ecIons are made with terminal bars.
! heSe branch circuit boxes are made for
I"c' three four, six. and eight lamps.
1hey are Of course water tight Their IN
PRODUCTION seems to have been a com
pete success. facilitating as they do SIS
feTnatic supervision Of the ships wiring
although slate is at present generally
used for switchboard bases in the ser
wee, Il IS interesting TO learn that iron is
proposed as a substitute. owing 20 the IN
aVGldable breaRageS which occur fSyTr;f n
machine boards with iron bases have al
ready been successfully introduced, bur
the difficulty OF insulating the terminals
and connections has hitherto prevented
! me adoption Of the plan on a large scale.
y TN the exception Of the connections
with the measuring Instruments. all The
switchboard connections on the F-uerst
bismarck were for the first time made
with bare copper bars. whereby a neat.
/ sold construction is obtained which is
also accessible The necessary protection
against moisture is provided by enamel
"nlcn also serves 10 distinguish the poles.
red and blue being used This tvpe of
/ board IS particularly advantageous where
the available space is limited in Geuth
since the connections behind REQUIRE no
supervision, and the screw terminals may
al be Withdrawn from the front of the
. board.
Mr. Fritz Forster. in an article. II, the
Observation-Disclosures AnZeiger- discusses the
use OF acCumulatUrs for supplying electric
iiSAl on ocean steamers II aOUearS that
z German firm, which makes q speciality
/ OF snip Installations, HIS recently in
stalled SUPPLEMENTARY, quite q number of
batteries Of accumuIators in Hamburg
ships All these ships previously possessed
generating plants the dyuamos being
fllher ShuEJ or compound wound ma
/ cnlneS. but IN each case they were de-
signed TO Weld only The normal difference
OF potential required for the lighting
whence II was necessary to provide for
! charging the accumulate s. subsequently,
introduced IN two parallel batteries in
order 10 avoid essential notifications of
! the existing plant The stcc1Irnulat0rs
/ fJted with acid-tight covers of Eulcanite.
were placed ia a ccmpa rtn1ent a near the
Switchboard as possible in each case and
ErInly secured. 4 diagram which accom-
pdnleS the article shows the connections
adopted to facilitate cutting out the corr
pound winding q q dynamo when cf,arg-
iLS. 50 as 10 enable II 10 be run tempo
r2rltE as Shunt-WOUnd machine As the
writer suggests. experience alone can
prove the adaptability Of. accunulators
Tor Shlp-IlghtinG purposes But is not i'm
/ possible that they may play an important
part N the fG-ure of this branch Of cleo
tI2c2l work and they viii be specially
useful when a ship is in port and the
boilers not under steam