Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-27


electric eeg beatsr for hotels and restsur-
ants where eggs are used in large guam
titles. Like most electrical devices, Il is a
case OF you press the button and the ma
chine does the rest. The heater consists
OF a vertical support. with an arm holding
the egg beater shaft. Below this Is an
adjustable bracket, provided with a bowl,
in which the eggs are placed. BY pressing
the button the beater Is set to revolving
swiftly in the bowl. and quickly produces
the desired result.
Electric Heating.
Although, in its physical aspect, the
utilization OF electrical energy to produce
light is so closely allied to electric heating
as to be nearly Identical with IL, the prac-
tical considerations which differentiate
these two branches Of engineering have led
the public to welcome the one and only ten
tatively to accept the other. For special
conditions, electric heating has, no doubt,
been effective, but for general purposes 1t
has made little progress. The difference
in the comparative degrees Of public favor
may be assigned primarily to the relative
costs, but 1t Is also to be that
while, as regards lighting, the majority Of
users are content with the attainment of
the single object. clean, cool, steady, and
sufficient illumination, as regards heating
they look for an equipment that for mod
crate outlay will cook their food, supply
them with hot water, warm the air about
them. and ventilats their dwellings. II
the question Of cost OF electrical energy lie
set aside, the design of apparatus for any
one of these specific purposes is compare
lively simple; the real difficulty for the
engineer, however, is to provide apparatus
which shall combine the powers of a
kitchen range with the cleanness, control
and capabilities of ventilation, that will be
attained when electric heating becomes as
popular as electric lighting. Progress must
be looked for along two lines that, is a
measure, converge. Electrical energy must
itself be ~cheapened, and electrical heating
apparatus must be adopted to the widely
varying functions required of a heating
plant, at moderate outlay for equipment.
repairs and maintenance. Coal fires and
gas have at present so much in their favor
that electric heating must for a long time
take a secondary position. The general
adoption of electric heating, however,
would no doubt favorably increase the load
and the power factor OF electricity supply
stations.
Throughout Germany and Continental
Europe. the prevailing method of heating
rooms is by means of large ornamental
tile stoves, which reach nearly to the
ceiling, and have a large heating surface
at a rather moderate temperature. These,
of course, are usually intended for wood or
coal. A system of electric heating adapted
to these stoves has, however. recently been
brought out in Berlin. An electric radiator
is mounted inside the stove, so that it will
rapidly heat the walls by a circulation of
the enclosed air. The heat is given off
from the exterior tile surface of the stove,
and this is thus tempered SO as to avoid
the dry high-temperature effect. As the
average cost of current in Germany Is
about 4 cents per X. W. hour, this system
seems to have opened up a promising field
for electric heating in that country. It is
stated that an aversge-sized room can be
heated in one hour, and will then remain
warm for a considerable period, as the tiles
retain their heat for a long time. If so,
why not dodo the room in tiles. and do
away with the fireplace altogether
High Voltage.
/ On the lines Of the Muskegon-Grand Rap
ids Power company, which already held
the existing record of 1900 volts, the ten
sion has now been raised to 10000 volts.
This is due to the use of the suspension
type of insulators which renders 1t easy
to deal with pressures which were pre-
viously considered to be almost impossible.
The pin insulator, when constructed of
dimensions adequate for very high voltage,
becomes unwieldy and mechanically
troublesome, while the use of the suspen-
sion insulator actually leads to improve
ments in line construction. It Is pointed
out that as the use of more distant powers
becomes necessary the employment OF ex-
eremely high voltages will be much more
frequent, and that it Is possible that lines
may eventually be of such length as to be
a material fraction OF the natural wave
length corresponding to the frequency.
This may give rise to a new class Of
troubles which will render new devices
needful.
one of ELECTORAL Science.
In one of the locked alcove% of the library
OF Princeton university is a manuscript
volume of some seventy-six pages written
by Prof. Joseph Henry the famous cleo
torial sciertist, giving an account of his
researches while a professor at Princeton.
He was called from Albany to the chair of
natural philosophy, or physics as It is now
called, at Princeton In 1882 and remained
there until 1s4S during which period he
made some of his most remarkable antlci-
pations OF modern electrical science such
as for example wireless telegraphy. In 1913
he went TO Washington to organize the