Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-05
CLAYTON W. PIKE
on Lighting Effects at Great Expesiti

On Lighting Effects at Great Expositions
TIME use of electric lighting for decorative
i purposes is one of the. chief factors IN NJ
great exposition, according to Clayton w.
Pike, former Chief Of the Electrical Bureau
Of the City of Philadelphia.
1.-THE lighting and the power OF great
exposition" said Mr.. Pike, constitute one
Of the most important elements in the sue.
cess of such an undertaking. The lighting
especially has an importance far beyoh9
what its title indicates. because 1t IS used
as a medium of advertising ana as a means '.,;.s
the extent and the beauty of the exposition
in addition to its utilities.
''The spectacular and decorative effects
produced by artistic lighting unquestionably
create great effect in the minds o. 'ne e
the chief impressions which they take away
with them from an exposition. This was
especially the case with the San Francisco
Exposition. in which the matter of lighting
was carried to far greater lengths both in
extent and in artistry than ever before.
Great Advances Made
"But, evenlsince the San Francisco Expo
sition, there have been many important
changes in the science and the art of ilumi-
nation, both for decorative and utilitarian
purposes, and the last decade has witnessed
many of these.
"Chief among these changes nave been
two which will play an important part In
the Sesqui- Centennial here in 1915. The
first of these enables the engineers to obtain
much more elaborate and tasteful effects
than by the older method. and the second
allows them to secure these effects ut very
much lower cost.
"The former is the use Of what is called
the flood light. By 1t the architectural
a relatively small number of large lighting
units, which are themselves concealed. as
compared with earlier expositions, where
the architectural outlines were simply
number of smaller lamps which were exposed
to the eye. The older form had the dsad-
vantage of producing n dazzle in the eyes
of the beholder, and the method was practi-
caliy confined to one color. The newer form
produces a glow and may be modified to
give any color desired, or any combinations
of color.
A Financial Saving
"The other change, which is in the line
of financial economy. was brought about by
the invention of the tungsten tilament lamp,
coupled with the use of an inert gas within
the lamp, whereas the earlier lamps involved
a high vacuum within the bulb. This in :
vention has enabled us to produce about
three times the amount of light for"the same
expenditure of energy as was needed for the
earlier lamps.
"Philadelphia may. we'll hope to surpass
snects. but in none more than in the light
ins and general illumination. The lighting
offects at the San Francisco Exposition we're
sn magnificcntly conceived and executed that
at first 1t seems difficult to see how thew
could possibly be surpassed. But we have
hecn very fortunate in the selection of site
which will result in having buildings well
balanced on both sides of a water BASIN
thc Schuylkil River-and this will hermit
;lm,minatiye effects never before possible nj
any exposition except the one in Paris. And
IN this connection 1t is interesting to note
that the width of the Seine ut the point
where the Paris Exposition was held is
almost exactly the same width as the SchuyI :.
xiii at the place of the sesqui. Centennial.
Use Of Decorative Lighting
"Lighting was first used for exposition
! docoratiye purposes in this country ot tbo
chicapo Worlds Fair. in 1893, and sinco
that time every exposition has made an nd .
vance proportiOnate to the development nf
| iiuhting, which, as ] have said, has hoon
vrry great At the San Francisco E,n"Si,'' =
tion some then new ideas were nut into
effect There we're three of these which ars
worthy of notice.
"The first was development of tbe o,d
idea of an illuminated fountain. This 'r !"
itself is very old and had been known ~
electrical engineers for years, and n hsS
always proved to be effective. 6uk A. ~
San Francisco Exposition the plan Oh iiY,,mni ~
mating cloud Of steam instead Of water wa,