The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1905-03-11

Pretty Fanny, sitting before n mir
ror and plating her brown tressek.
looked up and poutcd as the room
grew dim.
Then she reached mp her dimpled
hand and turned on the electric light
in a pearIy bulb swinging from tiny
bronze statue of Silenus.
At almost the snme moment hun
drets of thousands OF other New York
hands We're raised for the same pur-
pose. The cloud passing between the
sun and the earth caused about 2,'IO.-
600 electric lights to he turned on in
equivalent of 2:5O.OO0 horse power an
hour and an increased consumption of
nearly 900 tons of coal.
Five hours of the cloud that made
pretty Fanny pOut meant mn added
expense of at least x:O,O01 to the peo-
pie of the city.
How few persons know anything
about the prodisious development Of
electric power in the American metro
polls. or have any conception of the
immensely Of the underground system
of ducts and wires through which
mighty currents of power are vibrating
to move 2,OO0.OO0 passengers day
through the streets. to turn the wheels
of factories or burst into radiance In
millions of glass bulbs through flu
ments delicate as threads of silk.
Fifteen years ago. when the air was
webbed with wires and cables hang
ing from tall wooden poles. there was
something in the grotesUuc sight to
stir the Imagination. But since tile
Mayor of New York laid the axe to
these poles. the mechanism through
which electric power has been swiftly
extended has been buried in the
ground.
Since that day OF tremendous pole
choppin., with its attendant applause
of the t..'"okins thousands. every sys-
TEN OF Tne city travel has been har-
nesana to electricity and millions Of
electric lights have been added TO the
metropolitan agencies of illumination.
There is to-day about SjOOtO electric
horse power in use in New York. Four
years ago. according to the National
ScuSue. thtlt WIS blitVlb 'is' u ~
horse power in use in the entire coun-
try.
Last year Prof. Sewers. the consult
ing electrical engineer Of the Depart
ment of Water Supply. Gas and Elec-
tricity. estimated the whole electric re-
sources of the city Mt 100000 horse
power This year the subway rapid
Ia
tons incidental to the city's growth
and transformation have. according
to rough official calculations. made all
increase of at least 15O.OO0 horse pow
err. So that total of $4,000 electric
horse power is conservative estimate
for New York.
In less than six years the city has
issued permits for more than $500 900
incandescent lights and something like
$4,000 arc lights. This takes no ac-
count OF the lights installed in the pre-
ceding fifteen years. of which there Is
NO official record. although 1t is known
that the permit figures cover many re-
Installations of old lights.
Some faint idea of the network of
ticCtl
the streets may be gathered from the
fact that the New York Edisoa Com
pany has more than 2Gs9 miles OF wires
and cables in the city alone. besides
1920 miles Of circuits. including all the
electric lighting com. anies. ana 2O61
miles of telegraph and telephone wires
and ducts. making n total mileage OF
1850 miles.
In many Of the cables. within the
space of three inches, there are 200
separate wires. The New York Tele-
phone Company alone has 2jO.O0O miles
of copper wire buried In New York
City. Taking the length of the separ-
ate wires, the total electric mileage
of the city would reach around the
world dozens of times
A single New York company has
more than 3,5OO,OoO separate lights O..
its circuits.
The New York Telephone Company
and the New York and New Jersey
Telephone Company. in Il territory ex-
tending City miles from the New
York City Hall. have more than c25.0O
separate stations. There are now
more than 5000 private telephone ex-
changes in the city. with ut least 10000
connecting stations.
The copper buried under the streets
of New Yo-k represents. 1t is believed.
more than S1O.OO0.00J. There are no
reliable statistics Oh ;he srbject. ex-
cept that careful estimate OF tie cop
per wires used in the Metropolitan
Street Tai way system alone places
.heir to.al value ut more than 5000
900.
1t is safe to sa.'. on the average ba-
SIS of seven tons of coal to an electric
he rse power. that the electricity used
IL New York requires an hourly con
sumption of not FAR from 5000 tons OF
coal.
...l.