The Oskaloosa herald., 1908-02-13
LIGHTS TESTED
AND FOUND GOOD
SECRET INVESTIGATION FINDS
NOTHING AT FAULT.
AN EXPERT GIVES TESTIMONY
Local Company Is Apparently Living
Up To the Terms of the Fran
chise Under Which II
Is Operating.

The arc lamps of the street lighting
system of Oskaloosa have been sub
iected to a test made by an expert
electric engineer and the results found
are in full accord with the conditions
of the franchise granted the Oskaloo-
sa Traction and Light Company. The
test was made in response to oft-re-
peated and insistent demands by cit.
liens lately that tho light being fur
nished by the company was deficient.
Demands were made upon councilmen
and upon the mayor that some action
be taken by the council that would
compel the Light Company to live up
to the terms of the ordinance. The
matter was up for discussion In the
council at various times, but no for
NAL action was determined by reso-
luton or motion, but the mayor and
Mr. Campfield, chairman of the Light
Committee, took 1t upon themselves
to determine by test, which is au
thorized by the language of the ordi.
nance, If the lights We're of inferior
quality.
After numerous letters with ex-
perts contract was made with Prof.
Fred A. Fish, of the department of
Physics and Electrical Engineering of
the State college of Ames. The gen
tlefnan first came to the city and
lights about the city, the conditions
at the power plant and the like. He
then made the secret test on the night
of Saturday, February l, with the fol
lowing result;
The Experts Report.
Ames, Iowa, Feb. 6, 1908.
To the Honorable Mayor and Coun-
Gil of City of Oskaloosa, Iowa:
In response to an order given me
; by the Mayor and the Honorable w.
r. Campfield, | made, on the evening
of February /, 1908, a test to deter,
mine the amount of power which was
being delivered to the arc lamps on
the streets of your city.
On the results of that test | beg to
make the following report:
At eight o'clock p. m. on the date
above given, a wattmeter (which
had been calibrated two days before
at the Electrical Engineering Labora
tory of the Iowa State college, and
found to be correcD was connected
into the circuit with lamp located al
the corner of Second avenue and
street. To do this, tho lamp was low
cred to within five feet OF the ground
but the wattmeter was inserted with
out interrupting the circuit, and, SO
far as | know, without the knowledge
of anyone connected with the Light
ing Company The wattmeter was
left in the circuit for Is (fifteen) min
utes and during that time the power
given to the lamp varied from $50 to
470 watts, the average being 45t
watts. The meter was then removed
from this circuit and put into the cir
cult of another lamp at the corner oil
G avenue and ! street. The results
were the same as at the, first lamp
tested. There being no apparent dill
ference between the operation of. oil
the light given by, these two lamps
and other lights on the streets, these
tests were deemed sufficiently conclu
sive that all the lamps were receiving
approximately $50 watts. In support
of his, may add that an observation
of | ~ own, made q week previously al
the power house of the company
showed that each of the three arc
light circuits received the same cur
rent. The wattmeter used was again
tested at the Electrical Engineering
Laboratory OF the college on Febru
airy 3, and found correct. y
1t was discovered later in t'e even
ing that one of the three arc ight cir
cults was not in operation but this
would not influence to any material
degree the power supplied to the 9th
er two circuits.
In regard to the candle power OF arc
lamps, it may be of interest to state
that the so-called 1000 candle power
lamps, do not give 1000 candle pow
err, the maximum value being about
400, for open arc lamps, and still less
for enclosed arc lamps, and this only
in the most advantageous position
namely: between 45 and 60 degrees
below the horizontal plane through
the arc. Further than this, satisfac
tory measurements of candle power
are difficult to obtain and for this
reason arc lamps are not rated in can
die power, but are rated according to
their power consumption. 1t is my
opinion that the are lamps OF your
city are giving as great and as well
distributed candle power as is given
anywhere by the same type OF lamp
receiving the same amount of power
Your contract with the company
calls for enclosed arc lamps consum
ing approximately $50 watts, and that
is what the company is using. The
particular lamp used on your streets
is the General Electric, Form 3, series
enclosed alternating current, 6.6 am
pere arc lamp.
In the interest of comparison, Il
may also be stated that enclosed
arc lamps do not give as great can
die power as open arc lamps, but OF
the other hand, they do give stead
Ter and better distributed illumination
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) f. A. Fish,