Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-09-13
EXPLAIN FAILURE
TO TURN ON HEAT
Extensive Improvements Are
Being Made to Plant; Will
Be Modern

improvements which will mean
great deal in point of service to the
people of Harrisburg are being
rushed at the plant of the Harrisburg
Light and Power Company at Ninth
and Walnut streets.
In an interview c. NJ. Kaltwasser,
general manager for the power COM
pany, explained to-day the difficulties
which have confronted officials and
winch have prevented the turning on
OF city steam during the recent cold
snap.
More than 100000 is being ex-
pended in improvements and when
these improvements are completed
the Ninth street plant of the COM
pany will be one of the most modern
in the country. Automatic stokers
VIII replace hand feeding; a great
concrete stack will carry away the
fne cfnders, and concrete runways
viii carry off the ashes that accumu-
late beneath the boilers.
Valves Not Here
The present delay In providing
steam Is due to the failure of a New
YORK concern to furnish specially
constructed valves which will be used
in the ash pits. These valves will be
set in place in mold of concrete.
and should be ready for use within
three or four DAYS after their receipt
In Harrisburg. The valves were or
dered several months ago and prompt
delivery was promised. Then came
the war and the factory turned its
attention to the manufacture of sup
plies needed by the government. A
wire was received yesterday saying
that the valves may be expected here
this week, and although the weather
man does not predict another cold
snap soon, should the thermometer
take sudden drop within the COM
ing week the power company will be
ready to supply steam heat.
Among the improvements under
way at the present time is an i'm
mense concrete stack, which. when
completed. will tower 225 feet above
the ground. This monster stack is
lS feet in diameter at the base and
II feet in diameter at the top. 1t
rests on foundation 19 feet deep.
In height its only competitor in Har-
risburg will be the dome of the Capt.
tol building. A shortage of help and
the unfortunate accident in which a
concrete worker lost MS life in a fall
when the stack was but partially
completed have been elements in de-
laying the work. Because of the
peculiar nature of the concrete used.
the structure grows slowly. seven feet
a day being the average. The stack
will not be completed until the last
of the month.
To Eliminate Cindcrs
Residents in the neighborhood of
the plant have made complaints in
the past that fine cinders have settled
over everything in that section and
the stack is being erected at a cost
Of $4,000 to eliminate this nuisance.
Three automatic stokers are being
installed at a large outlay of money.
These machines are comparatively
new invention, but have been care
fully tried out and are a complete
success. While the automatic fea-
ture Will replace several laborers, ii
is possible to obtain a greatly in
creased capacity from each boiler.
Coal is evenly spread over the floor
of the stoker and is slowly carried
beneath the boilers. The coal is con-
sumed by the time it reaches the
rear of the boiler and the ashes are
automatically dumped isto a pit.
Last year several workmen were
overcome by fumes while at work
in the basement of the plant. The
news system of handling the ashes
will make a repetition of this hap
pening impossible. Gases which ac-
cumulate will be carried through a
large chute into the base of the giant
stack. The ash pits will be flushed
with water, supplied from a great
tank, and the ashes will be carried
in a cement runway to a concrete re-
ceiving vault outside the building.
The special valves are required to
make possible the operation of this
system.