The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1914-09-03
LIGHTS GO OUT
WHEN LIGHTS GO OUT
III IL NOT MUCH USE TO INQUIRE
WHY AT THE POWER
PLANT.

III the electric lights In your nome
go out suddenly some night, leaving
you in utter darkness, do not stumble
your way to the telephone and bother
the company's officials as to the
cause. There are ten chances TO n
that they will not know"
This advice is offered by engineers
who point out that in spite of the
fact that electricity is the most mod
ern as we'll as the surest and most
reliable of lights, there are some
mighty queer things happening to
lighting systems these days, and usu-
ally the power companies for a long
| while are as much in the dark as to
the cause of some of the freakish &C
cidents as are the purchasers of the
light or power.
Within the last few months at
least four unusual instances of light
ing and power companies being put
out of business temporarily by birds
| and little animals have come to the
| attention OF electrical experts of the
| United States bureau of standards.
| Each time the bird or animal gave
| his life as a sacrifice to the mysteries
| Of modern industry, but not before
| he had either bathed a whole town in
| the blackness of night or stopped
| every wheel of a street railway sys-
tenn.
A heron, flying over the peninsula
! between Fraser river and False creek
| in British Columbia, felt fatigued
| and sat down or the three high ten
| sion wires of the British Columbia
| Electric Railways company, along the
| line of the Lulu Island railway. A
| short circuit resulted, about a foot
| of each of the three wires having
| been burned away at the point where
|! Mr.. Heron wished to rest his weary
bones. The supply of power to the
| lulu Island railway was cut off i'm
\ m~ediately. The substation, supplying
| electrical energy for Vancouver, was
| also put out OF commission, and the
| city went without light and street
| ears that night
A similar accident occurred out in
| California a few weeks ago when a
| large crane, with a love of ease.
| espied a tower of a transmission line
| and made his way for it,, thinking,
| perhaps. hat he would look down on
| some less fortunate creatures thai
'ould not reach such heights. II
| proved TO be the Invest perch thai
rGne eyer sat upon. The large bird
yas nearly electrocuted between the
| wires and the 104, 600 volt line of the
Sierra & San Francisco Power com
| oany was grounded. short circuitec
and dispossessed of its power. The
technical men of the company said
hat many other things happened,
5ut it is sufficient to the public to
know that the ars and machinery
stopped until repairs had been made.
The crane, which caused the trouble
measured six feet, two inches. from
wing to wing.
A screech owl recently placed him
self between a grounded pin and a
three strand high tension line, car
| rying $4,000 volts, on the system of
| the Indiana General Service company,
between Elwood and Alexandria. Ind.
He does not screech any more. but
| the general howl hat went up from
householders where the lights went
out was fine requiem for him.
Another unusual interference in
| transmission of electricity occurred a
ew weeks ago, when a squirrel in
| Minnesota, installing a pole for his
favorite tree, ran to the top and, dis
covering his error, tried tight wire
walking and quick gymnastics as a
| diversion. The little animal short
| circuited and rendered useless a
transmission line of the Public Sery-
ice company at st. Cloud, Mimi. This
company has a 1880 volt line, which
is twenty-five miles long and supplies
FIVE s~ubstations. 1t took the linemen
and electricians two days to discover
| what had happened, and in the mean
while the angry patrons were calling
the power corporation everything ex-
cept a public service company.
There is more Catarrh in this section
Of the country han all other diseases