Norwich bulletin., 1919-03-03
CARELESSNESS TO BLAME,
 NOT LECTRIcITY

NOT ELECTRICITY
 Electricity is not to blame for fires, but carelessness ill the use of it is, i said Thomas H. Day of the New Eng l land insurance exchange in an Illus | trated talk he gave Friday night at 1 the rooms of the Norwich Stationary | Engineers association in the Bill | block.
 He spoke on the subject of Electri- | cal Inspection and A Safe Electrical l Standard, as follows:
 Electricity is one of the most con- 1 veniently applied forms of energy for household and industrial processes l and activities. It is used not only to l illuminate, but to supply power to | various motor driven apparatus and 1 to supply heat to cooking appliances and other heating devices. In addi- 1 tIOn to the great convenience and adaptability Of electricity for such purposes, it has the further import ant advantage, when properly used of increased safety over many of its predecessors and competitors for rem i derlnS like service, such as candles, 1 oil lamps, acety1ene, and gasolcne, for i lighting; gasolene for power; and i coal. oil, or gaSOlene stoves for cook 1 ing and heating. Ii does away with i the use of matches and the use within l buildings of substances sucn as coal 1 oil and gasolEle, WI&ch of tbenselves i impose q greater or less fire hazard i whenever stored within buildings. t : Notwithstanding all this, there are i serious possible hazards to both life 1 and property from electric wiring and 1 devices if wrongly installed or mis- 1 handled. The current which passes l through the wires cannot be seen, but l the considerable amount of power 1 sent over them can be appreciated by its effects in supplying lamps. mo 1 tors, and heating appliances. We can ] understand how an electric current may cause fatalities or fires If divert ed through the human body or through combUstible materials. and 1 the record of electrical fires and cleo trical accidents shows that there is in many cases, need of greater care
 and precaution on the part of the users Of electricity, as we'll as Of the gen. eral public, electrical worl6nen and utility companies. Electricity, when
 properly installed and used, is a con-
 vGnient and safe servant, when, how ever, it is Improperly installed and i'm
 properly used. like the man who un- dertoak to U~~ s-, ..'----i-. 7-5hrator il
 q bath tub filled with water it l comes the mUSt .---..sE oI masters,
 @"'4-'+tsr t+N AtS tS4t1 4-L+l+ts L-4E SlI+u RA TeEty.
 While I am unable to present the extent of the personal accident haz- ards through the improper use cl ] electricity, I have some figures tahu- lated by the National Board of Fire Underwriters as to the extent of the cost of fires during 1916. The high z est assigned cause of fires in the
 United States, during that year, was T,r+ -E .,J- amounted to $41237,443 During the same period the loss from Electrical Fires" was $16, ,16S. These eleetri-
 cal fires, which were partially pre- ventable, were the second greatest ii
 a, list Of twenty assigned causes: the
 greatest being that of exposure fires In the state of Connecticut in 1916 . the fires from electrical causes cost $204,779, which amount was the si2 greatest in twenty-four tabulated l. causes. The cost of electric fires. il
 1918, was over 5000, GOO.
 | This is surprising, because electric. | ity is so safe, the safest form of en-
 ergy there is. It is not electricity i that is responsible or is to blame; i U is carelessnesS. The cause is becaust | people fail to realize that heat is heat = The people who use it must exercise
 more care Those who install tn,
 equipments and the utility companie!
 should safeguard the users, first, D!
 following very closely the standard n Of installation, to wit, the Nationa = Electrical Code and the Nationa \. Electrical Safety Code. looking to tn
 use of proper sized conductors, tn n protective fusing of the conductor q and equipment within recognized linn e it's of safety. the making and solderin! a Of all spices, the proper separation 0 Q conductors from themselves, wood s work, piping, aud all metal parts 0 n building, and from damp places, tn = improper use of flexible cords, tn @ proper grounding of all metal condui
 systems, the recognition of the fir
 hazard from all heating apparatus, tn
 protection of conductors and equip | ments from mechanical injury, an n the protective grounding of all second n aFy systems.
 l. In the latter, the personal acciden S' hazard is even of more lmportanc '- than the fire hazard.
 Il Secondly, by pointing out to tn 7; users of electrical appliances an al equipments the possible weakness an $ how to guard agaigst them.
 le In a word, take your clients, you
 installing men. and your consumers,
 refer now to the public utility Uier ,v into your complete confidence, an Q then, with the user of electricity i - the home and in the store and in tn 10 factory enlightened, by you, in tn lSI use of electricity, it's safety and con " venience will soon be recognized an st it's application and use very muc I'd broadened, largely because of the in rs creased confidence made possible b l. working closely to the electrical stand Q ards I have referred to ard which in shall now further explain through m stereopticon pictures, which I tru! f. will be accepted by you in the ligf ,- Of constructive criticism.
 CT -------
 D. Rheumatism Suddenly Passes Off. CT Samuel 4. Wilson of Church stree