New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-10

the pressure the less the size of the conductor
needed. or. the conductor being used the
longer the distance which may be spanned eco
nomically. To supply Buffalo from Niagara 2200O
volts been safely used. Whether it is possible
use higher voltage in the damp air Of the East
is open to question In Montana. though $1,000 volts
are employed line In Colorado and Cali
fornia 5000 volts have been tried successfully.
while the last mentioned State there is apparatus
for raising the voltage to 6oo0 If it has not been
put into service to the present time it doubtless
will be before many years. On the Pacific Coast in
consequence of the dryness of the atmosphere much
higher pressures are practicable than in the Lake
region and on the Atlantic seaboard- One line out
there conveys current 2l6 miles. while branch
of the same system extending to Oakland (oppo-
site San Francisco beats that interval by six miles
Lord Kelvin and other engineers have looked for
pressure of 5000 volts in California. Should any
thing like that be found safe in British South
Africa it should prove profitable to transmit cur
rent from Victoria Falls to places 800 or 400 miles
away
So far as the immediate supports of the wires
Cor rods which conduct this current concerned
they tested up to voltage of 10000 volts in
California These insulators made of porcelain,
and their form has been evolved after long expert
ment. 1t resembles bell or a petticoat that no
matter how much moisture may accumulate on the
outside. from rain or fog there will be dry under
surface of considerable extent to separate the ex-
terror of the insulator from the wood of the
arm and pole. Without such barrier the current
VIII leap across escape, e1tnef 10 VI
TO another wire. The higher the voltage press
the further the current will jump Hence
climate has much to do with the efficiency of an
otherwise perfect insulator.
One Of the latest transmission lines in France EN-
ploys a voltage of 10000 and reaches points from
sixty eighty miles from the generating station.
One has recently been established in Southern Hin
dostan TO convey power from Cauvery Falls TO the
heart of the Kalar gold fields, ninety miles away
The quantity transmitted is $500 horsepower. and
the voltage adopted 5000.
In England during the last two three years
there has been much talk developing electricity
in the coal mining regions of the North and oper-
ating lace and other textile factories Herewith
fifty or seventy five miles away. Parliamentary
sanction for several Of these schemes has been OBJ
tanned and they viii be carried into effect before
many months One of the objects aimed at here Is
TO prevent the concentration OF industry In large
towns where real estate is costly and where other
evils attend the life Of the operatives. Electricity
brought from a distance viii lead to the main
tenance OF numerous manufactures in small viii
lagos In these the power will be derived
from coal, not water. AS the distance between the
mines and mills will be comparatively short. IL is
believed that the of transmission Will not he
greater than the transportation OF the fuel the
same distance If there is any difference. and IL
that difference is the side of economy, there
viii be compensating advantages.