The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-30

VI the WlTOo, y nOUuVou PduOl bybpOuu uop
been established nnemen on COED horUss
ride in relays of fifteen miles each. They
60 over their district in the morning. get
dinner. change horses and return 10 the
afternoon.
In this manner every foot Of the trans
mission line Is patrolled twice q day. Each
man Is provided with a telephone, which he
can attach 70 a private line that runs on the
transmission poles and call up the man at
the switchboard after the name OF watch
men punching q time clock.
The man at the switchboard can thus
keep track Of every lineman. When a
man fails to call up headquarters an in
vestigation is at once started. One day
a relief party found the inemAn fifty feet
from a pole he had climbed. A short cir
cult had thrown him to the ground
The vital and determining factor regard
ing the building Of the new plant is the
question Of market for the current, a ques-
ton II t 10 said TO ave embarrassed the
projectors Of t 9 Niagara Falls power
plants at first. Circumstances seem 10
AVE combined for t e success Of the Spier
Falls plant. The radi Q OF inhueno OF
Spier Falls, narrow at FIRST. gradually g. read
until II now exts de as far as Albany on the
south and Amsterdam on the west.
1t runs the street cars in Albany, Troy
Watervliet, Schenectady, Rensselaer,,
Cohoes and Waterford; lights the streets
in many OF those oommunitiee, furnishes
power for manufacture lants and does
a general distributing usiness. Twenty
years ago a Lewspsper joke Used to be
seen in which small boy was represented
as goin to the corner grocery with a tin
pail for a quart Of electricity. The amiable
grocer wss represented as saying as he drew
the fluid from a barrel alongside the nnolaSees
barrel:
What's your ma goi' - to use Electricity
fer to-day, Johnny; sewin' machinep'
In the late sos that was a good joke; II
Is almost literally what is being done every
da OF course john does mt carry
the current home in a pail. That trouble
is saved The current is metered into the
house. The use of electricity for domestic
purposes is far more common accordingly
in upstate villages than in metropolitan
centres.
In manufacturing It appeals TO the prac-
tical man to AVE the power irectly applied
y means Of small motors rat er tsan to
rely on one big engine with its loss Of power
in multiplied chatting and citing. he
Hudeo RI er by mean Of SpieT Falls
lights Saratoga Springs with a brilliancy
OF reamed Of by the people Of long ago
who made the Springs their summer resting
place.
The greatest factor, it is believed, that
decided the power company In the develop
ment Of the Sacandaga power is the appli-
cation Of electricity to the railroads OF the
State. This is especially true Of the New
York Central.
There is no existing demand for such
a power plant in the present economic
situation up State, and it is therefore sup
posed that the next FIVE years will see the
electrihcation Of the Mohawk division of
the New York Central. The Hudson River
may then haul trains from Albany 10
Syracuse. From that point west they
may be hauled by Niagara Falls.
Thus the Hudson and the Great Lakes
will unite their forces in q mighty shining
bond across the State. No official announce
ment has Teen made Of the Identification
Of the Central, but all the signs point that
way.
Extra tracks are being laid from Pough-
keepsie south equipped with steel supports
for power wires. For the last Eve years
the General Electric Company has been
experimenting with electric engines until
a type has been produced that will haul
trains eighty miles an hour. This locomo-
tive is in use about New York city.
Finally, q company has been incorporated
ostensibly 10 operate a railroad from Troy
TO Buffalo by electricity, steam, gasolene
or other means. There lie not known to
be n clause in the articles OF i%ncorpora-
ton to prevent such concern being a
holding company for the many electric
RAILWAYS that now form an almost con-
tinuous chain across the State. Nor is it
stated that tho incorporation Of the now
company a attended by any violent
opposition on the part Of the New York
Central beonuse Of paralleling lines.
To-day there is a trolley line from Albany
10 Amsterdam and another from Little
Falls to Rome. How the existing lines
will be consolidated is a problem for the
railroad people TO work out.
It has been suggested by some that the
Wes', Shore Railroad will be electrified
for its entire length with the third rail
system and use electric locomotives. In
that case, the West Shore would be used
for long hauls and fast through trains.
while existing trolley lines would be used
for short hauls and local traffic and act as
feeders to the through system.
In partial confirmation Of this theory
is the announcement that only a few days
ago the West Shore road between Syracuse
and Utica was put in operation by electric
power. That stretch will for the present
be operated by both steam and electricity
and is probably the longest stretch in the
country run by both motive forces. The
third rail lie used except in cities like SYRIA
cuse and Utica, where overheard wires are
used.
The extension OF the Hudson River power
lines to Utica, which will be accomplished
soon, will bring to that city 10000 volts Of
Hudson River power. 4 temporary steam
plant at Utica will be used until the trans-
mission line is completed. The line is
carried on two circuit steel towers $50 feet
apart.
Back of the dam at Spier Falls is Mount
McGregor, on the top OF which Gen. U. 8.
Grant spent his last days. The dam lie
nearly half a mile long and from 80 TO 90
feet high. The power house Is located in
,,ba+ UNA oppa tho bod of the river