Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1905-12-21
Saint Maru's Beacon


Hummlng OF Telephone Wires.
This subject ID treated In brief
article BY Telephony. ''The wires
strung from pole TO pole are set into
oscillation by the wind, some what
as the strings Of violin are set into
vibration BY the bow. In skillful
hands the violin bow can be made
to bring forth from the string one
powerful fundamental note and sew
eral overtones Of higher pitch. but
perfect harmony with the fundamen-
tai. But the wind il not very
skillful performer and brings forth
at the same time not only the deep
est fundamental bass note Of the
wire, but great variety of over
tones, both harmonious and discor-
dant. In factthe many wires strung
overhead. from pole TO pole, consti-
tute splendid E0lian harps- The
slowest oscillations Of the wires
may be seen or felt, but are not
audible. The bass notes and high
er tenor we hear but family when
we stand midway between two poles.
II the ear il pressed against . pole,
We hear morgespecially those notes
Of which the wooden pole can most
easily respond; some times Especial
note. started by the wire at the up
per end Of the pole. il reinforced by
resonance, and that which is only
feeble on the pole. OF course, the
stronger the wind and the more
gusty Ii is, so much the more active
will be the humming OF the wire and
the pole. II the wind blows length
wise OF the wire il will bring out q
different combination Of notes from
those produced by q transverse
wind Therefore, the direction oil
the wind has some influence upon
the humming OF the telephone poles,
but the direction of the wind depends
upon the location OF the storm CEN
tire and is q good basis for local pre-.
diction as to rain. Hence, those
who have studied the humming very
closely have frequently declared
that they can tell the weather by
the character Of the humming."
According to "a prominent mete-
orologist" whose words would carry
more weight were his name given
the humming may be used in wealth
er forecasting. He is thus quoted
The humming Of wires running
east and west invariably presages q
fall of temperature, often ten OF
more hours in advance of the Their.
mometer. The humming OF wires
running north and south advise q
rise in temperature almost always
several hours in advance of the
thermometer. Wires running cas-,
and west never hummed together
with wires running north and south,
not even when the same wires run.
ming along an east and west street
turned down the north and south
side. Only that portion OF them
hummed that indicated rise or fall
in temperature, as explained above.
Ii one part hummed the other part
was silent.
Apparently this fact is due only
the greater response OF the east and
west wires to the north wind, strik-
ing them at right angles. The wri.
ter in Telephony concludes:
1T seems evident that the hum
ming is due entirely to the action OF
the wind. There is apparently no
necessity for assuming that electric
currents, either in the air or in the
wire, or any other mystery need to
be considered. Those who invoke
electricity must give some plausible
reason Why the current should os-
cillate with such frequency as to
cause the rapid vibrations that must
exist in order to cause audible
sound"