Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1942-09-17
Wins Prize For
Essay On Safety

Lie 81 d1lO pIlZc 1O1 IllS OSSI
essay written in Minnesota rural
schools, which was sponsored re-
Gently by the Minnesota Safety
Council, was awarded to Mar
garet Johnson, age Is, grade 8,
School District No. l, Blooming
Prairie, Freedom, county. The
teacher of School District No. l
was Mrs. Erna Dennis. L. H.
Steele is superintendent of
schools in Freedom county, with
offices at Albert Lea, MINI.
Miss johnson will get trip
to the National Safety Council
which will be held in Chicago
October q, with 500 expense
money for herself and chaperone,
for railroad fare, hotel and mis-
cellaneous.
The subject of the essay spon-
sored by the Safety Council was
''The Safe Use of Electricity on
the Farm"
The essay follows:
Electricity has become common
thing on the farm, therefore we
should learn more about the ways
of keeping it safe and secure. Many
lives have been lost because of care
lessness. Today we are trying to
teach boys and girls how to care for
electricity on the farm.
An experienced electrician should
do all of your wiring. After it is
finished it should be inspected by the
county inspector.
There should always be protec-
tive covering around the cords and
wires for the protection of fires and
shock. All wires should have a
freproof covering around them, espe-
cially the wires leading up to the
hay NOW in the barn to prevent a
fire from starting in the hay. Water
proof covering should be on the cords
used in damp places. A heavy gnaw
proof should be used where there is
danger of mice being around.
Wires which have fallen during
an electrical storm should never be
touched because if they are alive they
will give such a shock it may kill
you or it might cause serious burns.
In electrical storms the cord for the
radio should be disconnected because
it may cause severe damage to the
radio. It should be disconnected
when being repaired.
If a tree falls over an electric wire
the electric light company should be
called and they will send out some
men to remove the tree from the
wire. If you attempt to do this
yourself it may cause deathly shock
because you wouldn't know how to
60 about it.
If the lights 60 out and there isn't
a fuse burned out you should report
it to the nearest electrical office. A
fuse is a protective device in an
electric circuit to prevent too much
current flowing into the wires at
one time. When there is too much
current going through the lead or
solder in the fuse it melts and the
electricity is Immediately cut off
from the building and then the dan
ger of fire is prevented. Then the
fuse is burned out and another one
of the same size should be replaced
Immediately. A fuse burns out when
too many electrical appliances are
being used at one time.
Never use electric irons, lamps, or
coasters for bed warming. That is
very dangerous and fire may result
from it. An electric heating pad
should be used. Don't use it. in the
bed when you use hot water bag.
If the hot-water bag has leaks and
allows water to escape on the heat
ing pad, it causes short circuit and
might kill the person. The cords
should be inspected to see if there
are any wires broken. The cords
should never be wound up but hung
over some hooks to prevent the wires
from being broken.
Do not touch metal sockets or cleo
trical appliances when standing on
a wet floor.
The wiring system should be
grounded. There should be piece
of metal rod fastened on the build
ing and connected to the earth to
protect the building from being
struck by lightning.
These are a few of the rules that
will prevent fires and accidents if
obeyed by everyone using electricity
on the farm.