Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-05-08
Travelling Taft.
ELECTRIC FLASHES.

A Chicago inventor has patented an
electric device for rocking a cradle.
From statistics recently prepared it
appears that the great city of London
uses annually 213,174,279 kilowats of
electricity at an average cost of about 10
cents "A kilowat.
Heavy electric traction of the future,
such as involves the equipment of large
trunk line railroads, viii use the new
alternating current electric motors. The
motors are capable of complete and eff
ficient control and are able in descending
grades to return to the trolley line the
energy stored in the train instead of
wasting it in heat and wearing ont the
brake shoes. In other words the motors
will be turned into generators when GO
ing down hill and the current made in
this way will be returned to the line
The speed of submarine telegraphy is
illustrated by The fact that five minutes
are usually sufficient to cover com,
plete buying and selling operation between
the London Stock Exchange and Wall
street. The distance between these two
points is about 1000 miles and it takes
The message less than a minute for the
journey
Chilli is thinking of substituting cleo
tricity for steam on a number of inn
portant railroads. An American engineer
There are SO miles Of electric rail-
way in Canada. with a capitalization of
S75. 1872 The province of Ontario has
402 miles of track Quebec has 1913
miles; the maritime provinces II miles
and the far west 104 miles. In 1907 the
gross earnings were 81 ,G35,905 and the
operating expenses S1.T3T.252
Portland, Me-. is to be supplied with
electricity obtained from the tides. Land
has been secured on either side of Black
Bay and it ii estimated that $4,000 cleo
trical horsepower will be generated,
enough to light the entire city. furnish
power for the street railways and supply
"A number of manufacturing plants.
One of the geniuses employed by the
General Electric company has invented
a device which will put an end to the ne
farious work of the incandescent light
bulb thief. 1t is the custom in larger
cities, to steal the new light bulbs from
the hotels and public places and resell
or exchange them for drinks in the cheap
saloons. The new device consists of
socket and a key. After the new lamp
has been screwed in the socket it cannot
be uuscrewed without the key. The bulb
will turn around but will not come out.
An English electrician gets the credit
for devising a way to ripen bananas by
electricity. The fruit is hung in an air
tight glass case in which there are a
number of electric lights The artificial
light and heat hasten the ripening
process in proportion to the number of
lights turned on.
In the up-to-date butcher shop the old
hand meat saw is never seen. In its stead
Il small band saw driven by an electric
motor sewers the bones in the leg of NUT
ton, the rib roast or even the old fash
toned soup bone.
The three leading electrical manufac-
turera of this country consumed al ,000,-
600 pounds of copper during the fiscal
year just closeda decrease of 9.000,-
600 pounds for the year 1906-7. Of this
company consumed the most of the
metal. or 65,0OO.o00 pounds. The West
crn Electric came second with the cou-
sumption of 100000 pounds
One of the most valuable possessions in
this world today is a stream of water
capable of development into electrical
power. Streams which will produce Il
steady and permanent supply of electric
horsepower tn any amount are better
than a gold mine
The abandoned sawmill sites. where
the timber has vanished and put the mill
out Of business. are being oyerhauled
and tarncd into small electric plants by
groups of farmers for power or even TO
light small villages.
An Anglo-Japanese company with a
capital of S5250.oo0 will develop several
large waterpowers in the southern part
of the empire. Work on one of 2T.O0O
electr cal horsepower and another Of
SkO-horsepower will be started this
year \ third waterpower of 6o,Oo0-
horsepower will be started later.
The Missouri Pacific system in Kansas
viii employ telephones instead of the
telegraph in its railroad work.