New-York tribune., 1909-09-26
AURORA CUTS OFF CITY
,sTI IT'S WIRES CRIPPLED.
Hide Disturbance Due to Etectro-
MAGNETIC Phenomena.

,.,d S+a,es were rendered praoucaily uSeie'9
yesterday when aurora boreals de'lueu :"
q hand in the Hudson Fulton cele 49,.
Aurora borealis is the name given 10 "i''' -
astronomers and electrical experts ue =" o.
.,c.tro- magnetic phenomenon. The "orus "'
- A. origin and mean northern dawn or
lrb, " The phenomenon. as a rule haAles'S
,,solf as an illumination Of the heavens IN liIe
Arctjc regions and is thought to be the result
~ a discharge OF electricity through the aliloS-
phere. =
rrbe disturbance was first noticed about
O'Clock in the morning by the wire chieis III 'iie
,o,o,rsnb offices At about the same time the
Atlantic cable was also affected The cause OF
the disturbance was Immediately recognized by
,he oDerators although they say that rarely If
ever before has the attack been so severe the
effect Of the phenomenon upon the wires is al
WAYS intermittent in character. The wires ap-
pear TO be working ali right until suddenly
.F,reak" occurs, which may continue for some
moments Then the wires start working again.
but at first not with the same vigor
As nearly every wire radiating from New York
was out Of commission for some time, 1t was
difficult 10 ascertain the extent of the dis
turbance It is known, however, that the phe-
nomenon first made itself felt over Southern
New England and then took a westerly course
affecting all circuits as far west Pittsburg
The telephone wires between New York and
Chicago also were completely paralyzed While
the disturbance at its height.
II was nearly 9 o'clock before the wave move
rnent gave any signs Of passing. The Western
Union Offices reported that the disturbance as
far as they were concerned wholly subsded at
10 o'clock, but came again in milder form at
o'clock in the afternoon At time the
measuring instruments in the telegraph offices
registered the presence the wires of over
Rro of
said 20 be a greater voltage than is furnished
for the operation Of any Of the land wires and
was sufficiently powerful 10 light several of the
incandescent resistance lamps attached TO the
telegraph wires. An array of brilliant sparks
flashed across the gaps when the keys were
opened.
The aurora still battles the scientists. although
il is known 10 be closely associated with the
ELECTROMAGNETIC system Of the earth. both in
origin and visibility. The intermittent effects
are not fully understood what is considered the
most probable explanation being that solar radi-
ations possess electro magnetic energy which
upon reaching the earth, divides into two prin-
cipal fields one passing through the earth nearly
parallel 10 the line joining the two magnetic
poles and the other passing through parallel to
the plane of the elliptic The first field is gov
erned by the law of magnetic induction and the
second by the law OF magnetic refraction.
Boston. Sept. 25-The disturbance of tele-
graph and telephone lines caused by the aurora.
while noted early in the day in this section, was
more marked during the early afternoon than
before that time When the invading current
was strongest wire chiefs found it expedient 10
take the local batteries from the wires entirely
and depend upon the strange influence for cur
rent. but the plan did not work well. 1t was
found here that where the wires laid un-
derground the lines had largely escaped inter
ference
Washington SEPT 25-The severest magnetic
storm recorded at the Cheltenham (Aid.) mag
netic observatory Of the Coast and Geodetic Sur
vey since the observatory put in operation,
IN April 1891, was indicated on that institu-
tons delicate instruments to-day. The preva-
lence of this storm was first noted by the OBJ
server just before o'clock this morning. on
cials OF the Cheltenham Observatory say that
the reported interference in the working Of the
telegraph lines this morning was no doubt due
10 the prevalence Of this magnetic storm.
The disturbances began about 2;3O o'clock this
morning, but the very large disturbance did not
occur until a little over four hours later The
disturbance was so great as to displace the
magnets beyond the limits of the record sheets
and TO upset the adjustments OF the instruments
The daily meteorological reports of weather
conditions throughout this and foreign countries
20 the United States Weather Bureau were
vitality affected by the crippled condition of tee-
graphic and cable service
Oflcials of the United States Naval Observa-
tory here were immensely interested in the con-
ditions brought about by the aurora borealis
but said that the time service there was not ir
the least affected by the disturbance
SpTf -Tpfer
Cincinnati is seriously hampered by peculia,
earth currents. The electric waves were fel
first about 5:45 p. m Friday and at 9: 80 a. m
to-day reached a maximum OF I05 volts so tha,
they worked counter 10 the electric batteries o
both the Western Union and Postal Telegraph
companies.
AZ the Western Union offices the experiment
was conducted Of shutting off the batteries anc
working a single wire between Cincinnati an,
St Louis by the power of this earth electricity
The plan worked all right as long as the eartl
current lasted steadily, but il was not feasib,
FOR general work, because the current was to,
unsteady.
Chicago. Sept. 25.-Violent electrical earth cur
rents. believed 10 emanate from the auror:
bOrealis, to-day disturbed the telegraph servic,
over the entire country and for a time stiue,
the ticking Of the Morse instruments in tn
Offices Of the great telegraph companies Will
the drift OF the currents. noticeable in cite
from San Francisco and Seattle to New York
apparently 20 the east. its strength wa
little more pronounced in one section OF IN
country than in another
The currents were first felt about 5 o'clocl
IN the morning and increased in intensity 70
two hours. reaching the heaviest wave at III
a. m, when all the telegraph activities were a
q standstiil The force OF the disturbing cur
rents was so great that fuses were blown ou