Ripley County democrat., 1916-05-05

Oh the new year tuo uHlS"" -
ards Of the department OF commerce.
has been deluged with inquiries iron
oil corners of the country concernihs
standards OF everything from electric
end gasight brilllance to the strength
of water pipe And most of these re-
quests are pouring In from puDhc sefy'
ice corporations snd their old enemieS'
the public utilities commissions
Primarily the bureau Of standards
was charged with the duty OF testing
and determining standards OF exact
measurements Of every kind ana ma
ture. A steel yardstick which may De
yard long in June win be something
less than yard In cold Decomber' anu
II "a the bureaus task to find out what
constitutes real yard under all con-
ditions. Naturally, In pursuing TINS
chase for elusive constants the bureau
branched off, more or less, into meas
urtng things other than yardsticks, ana
among other details It became inter
ested In learning what amount OF e'ec-
tricity should go into an electric hght
As this was only step from learning
what constitutes real gaslight candie
power, the bureau learned that also
Several years ago, 1t appears. those
who planned for the future OF the Du-
reau anticipated that eventually shey
would be called upon to referee the
constant clashes between public serv'
Ice corporations and those state ana
municipal commissions appointed 10
regulate the corporations. They feit
that the day would come when the
word of the bureau Of standards must
settle such controversies, and they set
to work to rig up their administrative
plant TO provide for It.
And Just as they planned the need
arose. and they we're prepared FOR
a while the public utility experiments
and decisions of the bureau were car
rted along as rather unclassified por
ton of It's administrative burden. bus
90 the demand for Information in
creased along public utility lines 1t
was finally decided to set aside GER
tain part OF the bureaus force into
separate quarters and put them to the
task of working out the destiny OF
those corporations which serve the
public.
Some knotty Problems
Electric light and gas companies and
street railways furnish most OF the
knotty problems the bureau Is called
upon to eolve In the public utilities
field, and perhaps no problem has CIV
en- the bureau more study and trouble
than the process of electrolysis OF TN
dergrouhd pipes In cities where the
streets are honeycombed by pipes OF
all sorts,
Most OF the street railways are op-
Grated on the single, overhead trolley
plan, with the electric current passing
through the car into the track, via the
wheels, after II has passed through the
car motors. Most Of the current Is
properly conducted back to the gene
rating stations, but some Of Il escapes
and menaces gas and water pipes In
the vicinity. These stray currents
produce what Ia known as electrolysis,
which eats away the pipes. This leads
to constant wrangling between the
street railway companies and the cor.
porations whose pipes have been in
jured. While It has so far been almost
impossible to completely prevent the
corroding Of pipes thus exposed. the
bureau has been able to advise public
utilities commissions how to compel
the various corporations involved 10
mitigate this current wastage and the
consequent evil effects.
As result of tests made during the
past year at St. Louis, Springfield.
Mass, and Springfield. o., the bureau
has been enabled to lay down some
definite rules which win prevent a
great deal Of damage from this agency.
Bonding Of the joints of rails to give
greater conductivity to the rails. was
one pian Another was embodied In
radical roadbed changes, to lessen the
connections between the earth and the
rails. At present the bureau ts con.
ducting tests to show the extent Of
electrolytic action on pipes Of all kinds
and this Is expected to throw addi-
tional light on the question.
The bureau gets every assistance
from the gas and electric companies
and from municipalities, while the
street railway companies usually give
but scant attention to the matter. The
reason Is obvious. as the results OF the
work tend to increase the cost to the
railway companies through the neoes-
sary installation of safeguards, where.
a. railways themselves are not con.
cerned IN the matter of damaged pipes
owned by other parties. unless a law.
suit results. and the courts have been
able to get very little action here.
eas Service Standards.
Determining service standards of
gas. both for heating and illuminating.
Is another factor In the work OF the
bureau Most city and state utility
commissions rule rather uniformly on
the matter OF meters. meter testing.
heating value and candle power OF the
gas product. degree OF chemical purity
and amount Of pressure required. but
tha h,,reau exuarts have haar ah,o A.