Evening star., 1932-05-25
STORMS CHARTED
AT POWER PLANTS
Electric Current Regulated
for Increased Demand
Upon Warnings.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special DlSpdlCil 10 lie Cldis
NEW YORK, May 25 (N.ANA)-A
faint tinkling came from a small
metallic box that hung in the main
control room of the Edison Co. which
supplies New York's white lights.
Storm somewhere" said w. H.
Davies. the superintendent. Wait
minute"
Five men were seated at long desk
before a huge mechanism, technically
called the load chart" with hundreds
of squares on an expanse about the size
of an outdoor base ball scoreboard. One
of the men stopped working and lis
tened intently. Then. as the bell be-
came silent, he went back to his papers.
Our thunderstorm detector," ex-
planned Mr.. Davies. That was just
some minor disturbance. possibly hun
dred miles away. You would have seen
action if it had kept on ringing"
His visitor looked over the curious
instrument, which resembled group
of radio parts hung haphazardly on
board He was assured that 1t has
done more than any like agency to pre-
vent the confusion that in years past
ALWAYS came with every serious storm.
No longer do lights go out in entire
sections thanks to it.
Gives Timely Warning.
Usually within half an hour Of
sizable storms advent to the metro
politan area the radio warning, in ef-
feet like the static on an ordinary radio,
puts the bell into action. With a seri-
GUS disturbance the din becomes
greater and the skilled men at the long
desk are able to interpret 1t.
They can predict that darkness will
soon come unexpectedly to sections un-
der their power control, and plan &C
coroingly.
In this, the most congested electric
light area in the world, thousands OF
lights are turned on simultaneously
without warning" Mr.. Davies ex-
planned. IF a storm hits Westchester
County. rushing toward the city in the
suburbs will flash on one or more lights.
When the storm reaches the Bronx the
strain becomes greater.
I'VE must know when and where to
release more power to offset the load on
the dynamos, so that there will be no
change In current. This is simple
matter. Once the warning Is given,
orders are sent out to speed up the
dynamos and be ready for the emer-
gency.
The attempt to do this is no new
thing, for We formerly had men in
towers who reported oncoming storms.
But often their reports were inaccurate,
and the buildings of Manhattan have
made any such plan even more ineffec-
tive. The present system is beyond
criticism. Our only mistakes here come
when the storm of which We have been
warned veers away from its expected
course and misses us"
Electricity Marks Activities.
The men in the control room often
can tell when any number of New
Workers have departed from a normal
routine, electrically speaking. If the
Stock Exchange, for example, has a
half holiday, the trained engineers know
it without reading the newspapers.
The downtown section rarely varies.
The full blast power is demanded auto
matically at o'clock in the morning,
increasing with the opening of the ex-
change. 1t diminishes likewise at the
end of the business day. In the eve
ming the Broadway section is the high
spot.
IF large portion Of the residents
OF one suburban section decided to stay
in Manhattan for dinner" said Mr..
Davies, "the chart would show 1t dis
tinctly. and we would have to deter
mine what was going on. Moreover,
even such comparatively small mat
ter as a big civic welcome in the heart
of New York would be easily and almost
Immediately noted"
Copyright. 1882. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. 1nc)