Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-25
City's Heart ThrObs at Benning
In Supplying Light and Power

little jabs that push the hands On
ammeters higher and higher 70 show
that more power In being used. Gr,rns.
times there IN an unexpected demand.
In the Summer q dark cloud will covsr
the city. with little warning n, a
thundsrahower necessitate more li1b.
in offices. Then there must ~ mick
work AZ the switchboard. There is
always an excess Of current kept ON
hand. but the margin must M, run
too thin. Some Of the big dynsroos
that grind out their 125 900 k!Ioratts
require half an hour OF warming I'm
before they can get in step and xeen
in step with the madIy roaring roarrb
Of the others. And all Of them must
be In step. The operators ~ the
switchboard watch them closely - see
that none IL tagging or none il forging
ahead.
AS the city wakes NJ. rubs i,s ago.
and goes to work II cries for more and
more energy, and one BY one the gen.
orators are reused from sluncb4r ard
thrown into the parade To sunni, :.
The peak load on an average Winter
morning ~ around $50 and q n'r lnck
and then. II the sun IL shining md
the weather In good. the derna,d he.
gins to slacken until some time after
midday. when the curve trrrs I'm.
ward again. reaching it's second raak.
A chart selected at random reads. 4
o'clock, s., 900 kiiowatts: o'cIort "a.
900 kilowatts; $50 O'Clock. 100, oGg xiIo-
watts, and then Il begins tn u d7vn
again. so that one who knows
his ohrns may stand a. the sv..rh.
board at Benning and watch the e;-,, :
stop work, rush home and STIFF. 10
yawns as IL gradually falls 70 4'asn
A very cold day finds the ci.y ssxsr1
for more current thar +, vii on a
warm day. 4 rainy day finds the c;,v
asking for more than on clear 1sy.
and since the radio craze has becor1e
craZier and craZier the city - sitting
up later at night and burning more
electricity. The latter item is m. 70.
lieved 10 have caused any hear-acras
on the part Of stockholders in ne
electric light company TO date.
The switchboard tells other stories.
Street cars become stalled in a block.
More and more OF rhem Accumulate.
Then the jam is Strengthened our. and
they all begin TO move. This requires
a lot OF energy. Out from the main
board at Benning go some 3 big
feeders. each Of them carving around
1880 volts. 10 "A substations. where
the current is stepped down by
transformers and fed out through
smaller feeders TO supply lights and
power. The street cars. concentrated
in one or two blocks. cause a drain
on one of the substatiors which
shows itself as the hand Of an am.
meter begins to climb. More current
must be shot through the big artery
TO the substation. or else another sub
station must be called upon 10 jump
in and help carry the load. What TO
do depends on conditions and rests
with Benn!ng.
A red light on the switchboard
shows that all is well. the switch is
closed and current is rushing through
feeder to a subs,ation. II the red
light fades and a green light comes
on, 1t means that current has ceased
10 flow. II may be an open switch.
II may be short circuit. or a broken
connection somewhere. A short cir
cult makes itself known by an alarm
bell. as well as other tricky behavior
or various meters. Some lines he
trouble is hard 10 locate Sometimes
il is found. in all the miles OF h:Sh-
tension feeders. by an urcanny ma
chine at Benning that puts i-selt 20
work without rising from lis case.
adding and subtractirS and maybe
multiplying. dividing ard cursinS II
Scandinavian until /. discovers re
sore spot miles away somewhere IT.
der the pavement.
From the suhstations the current
from Bennirg is stepped down and
flows out through hundreds Of other
feeder cables at the rate Of 900 volts.
II encounters others transformers and
enters The home meekIy at 10 and
20 volts. A break in ore OF these
smaller feeders shows on instrument
boards AT the suhssatiors. Bu. al
most as Quickly-two minutes az re
most-it makes itself known hv .a'A.
phone message from a home ow-s-
VINO walls into the instrument, NV
ights have gone out. So have NJ
Jones. who - nice fellow ana lives
next door. ! have no candles. Wha:u