The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-12-02
OF SCHOOL TEST H. S. PUPILS
nd Plant at X. s. A. Surprising Result OF Reading
s Entire College. Trial in Topeka School.
f Pipes and Wires Many Students Fall Down on
Tunnel System. Few Simple Questions
L EVERY 20 MINUTES POOR READERlS POOR SCHOLAR
: of Fuel Used ON All Given Kelley Test to Deter
ne Cold Days. mine Emclency.
re in Tunnels High How Many Questions Can You
,h for Cooking. Answer Timeg
Underground Plant at X. s. A
C. Rules Entire College.
Network of Pipes and Wires
Thru Tunnel System.
TON OF COAL EVERY 20 MINUTES
Fifty Tons of Fuel Used on
Some Cold Days.
Temperature in Tunnels High
Enough for Cooking.

Few persons are aware of Its exist
ence and still fewer traverse the SUI
terranean passageway which winds un I'M,
seen. beneath the surface OF the mn
9Togne6 Inv the buildings of the Kan
-as state Agricultural college at Mail
haitian. V1site rs seldom hear OF the
tunnel because many OF the stuuen.7
themselves are ignorant OF Its exist
ence. La+
and power, IN the college, knows every
bolt and every pipe and every wire OF
the entire system of concealed streetS;
"Reneath the surface of this MIL
he tells inquirers, lis an unoergrouIiu
chamber or hall, built of concrete ana
brick. It is six feet wide and seven
or more feet high, with total length,
including its branches, of more than
1000 feet. 1t is longer than ten city
blocks. excluding the streets.
THE tunnel is heated by steam ana
lighted by electricity. One can walk
upright in it from Nichols gymnasium
on the south to the Agricultural nan
on the north and from the power
plant on the west to the Horticultural
hall on the east.
ground. except for openings here and
there. thru which it is possible to
catch gIimpses of the outside and thru
which one may enter or leave.
branch goes to each building, so that
there IS a subterranean passage be-
tween buildings.
Network of Piping.
within, is a network of piping,
wires and cables. These are part or
the apparatus which furnishes US with
many of our daily needs. Currents OF
mechanical energy in the form OF
steam, water, gas heat and electricity
are constantly flowing. 1t is the high
way of energy, with the power plant as
the heart of the whole system"
At the power plant, dormant energy
is liberated and made active in some
FORM says Mr.. Lund. This transition
is brought about thru burning fuel
under the boilers and thus converting
water into steam. A part of TINS
steam goes to the engines and, with
the help of the dynamoes, converts
energy of heat into electrical energy.
The latter is applied to motors for
power, to lamps for light, and to other
apparatus for heat.
The greater part of the steam goes
10 The radiators on cold day Here
It gives off heat. condenses, becomes
water and flows back to the power
plant. Science says that as much water
returns to the central plant as went
out Only the original energy has
disappeared. The steam goes out at
positive pressure and water returns at
no pressure The heat taken up In
only when the steam condenses.
Tons of Water and Steam.
Tons and tons of water or steam
thus travel in and out every day.
During the most strenuous part of the
day, when the weather is cold, 1000
horse power is developed by the
boilers The radiating surface to
which this heat goes is so large that
were it spread out in a single flat
plate. it could cover a sidewalk six
feet wide and more than two miles
long.
The cost of generating this energy,
according to Superintendent Lund is
approximately 100 pounds of coal ev
cry minute, a ton every twenty min
utes, three tons every hour. On some
days as much as forty tons are used
and occasionally fifty tons, in period
of fifteen hours.
1T is evident that all of the heat
which goes thru the pipes must make
the tunnel excessively warm, especial
ly as some of the pipes are exposed"
Mr.. Lund remarks. Most of the pipes,
however, have been covered within the
last year or two. doing away to large
extent with the terrible heat which
formerly prevailed. Several years ago,
when work had to be done in the tun-
tel, it tried a man almost to the limit
of endurance.
Temperature of 172
Consider a person working in a
space 6 feet wide and Z feet high. with
steam pipes on each sides of him, the
concrete walls saturated with heat,
the air damp with steam. l have been
in the tunnel when the thermometer
registered 172 degrees or more
Fahrenheit. This is hotter than hu-
man beings can endure for long.
Probably the limit of human endur-
ance is not more than $50 degrees
After one comes out of the tunnel
when it is hot as this his face
burns as tho it had been scalded.
L asked one of the teachers in
household economy if a temperature
of 1T2 degrees would cook anything.
Yes she replied, that is hot
enough to cook a cabbage head
Il think l shall try to keep out oil
the tunnel when it is as hot as that
i'Ferdy." ''Yaas?" "Why don't YOU
marry that charming girl?'' ''Rah jovt
I have half n mind" LET her find that