GAS AND ELECTRIC NEWS portunity, of equality under the law THE Independence Day HE "Glorious Fourth" has once more come and gone and been celebrated by each of us in accordance with our temperament and circumstances. In our reflections of the good time which most of us enjoyed, a remembrance of what the day really means will make us more appreciative of this particular holiday and of what it stands for. As every American knows, the Fourth of July celebrates a tangible realization of the sentiment expressed in the Declaration of Independence, i. e. "All men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' One sign of the times is a very definite restlessness on the part of the people of this country, engendered by reaction from the war and the high cost of living. However, the United States is still the land of op and the place where the best living and the most happiness can be secured in the whole world. The Three Tests N almost every public utility organization of any size that is attempting to keep pace with its responsibilities, there is a costant demand for a certain class of men. Men there are in plenty who may be Men there are termed "average." in abundance who are known to be "below the average," but of men who are able to lift their heads above the average in any line of work there is always a scarcity. This condition may be accounted for by the careful use of three tests, namely: lack of ability, lack of ambition and lack of application. The first named test, lack of ability, has the least to do with the scarcity of high grade men. Almost every man has ability along at least one line. If he is engaged in some occupation at which he does not make progress or for which he has no liking, he is probably in the wrong place. It would be much better for him to look around for some work more adapted to his tastes and qualifications. Usually he can find something that will hold a future for him, if he is not afraid of work. The second class, lack of ambition, is a more difficult one to handle. Lack of ambition may be the result of poor health, the absence of a necessity for working in order to exist, or lack of a full share of life's responsibilities or pure laziness. One thing is certain, men without ambition are almost useless, and if the necessary stimulation cannot be pumped into them by some means, they are heading for the discard. The third class, lack of application, is the one which contains the greatest number, and which holds the greatest possibilities -if only those belonging to it can be brought to see the light. After all is said and done, it is work and only work that wins-provided the work is along the right lines. -S. M. KENNEDY-in Nelco News. "General Safety Says:" During the fall and winter of last The ble. Walking is one of the healthiest exercises known. A walk after supper aids digestion and induces a good nights rest. If you will follow the little advice above and in addition live as hygienic as possible the chances of your getting the "Flu" will be very slight. -Safety Bureau. Stockholder year while the "Flu" was exacting The Opportunity to Become a its toll of death throughout the country, people did not have much time to think of the real causes of this disease. It has been determined that the greatest number of deaths were due to low resistance or insufficient mental and physical reserve. The fact that you have a ruddy complexion, seldom have a headache and are free from colds, does not always indicate that you can resist the "Flu Germ." The reason that you did not contract this disease last year may be that you were not unduly exposed to it. However, now is the time to store up energy so that you can resist the next epidemic, which is predicted to take place this fall. Your resistance can be built up: (a) By avoiding unhealthful (b) By getting plenty of fresh (c) By taking a moderate a- (d) By securing the proper amount of rest. (e) By eating enough food, Avoid rich pastry and stimulating beverages such as strong coffee and tea at night; boiled foods are best. Nothing will tax your stored up energy and resistance more than excitement, fear and worry. These should be avoided as much as possi We used to hear a great deal about opportunity knocking once and passing on. Fortunately for many of us this isn't strictly true for, while we all had one opportunity to become stock holders in the company, we now have another on equally favorable terms. There is a sense of satisfaction in working in an organization in which we have a direct financial stake or holding. This results not only in a greater pleasure in our work but in a greater efficiency, which in time leads to a greater utilization of opportunity for growth and probably to increased remuneration. In any event our money is in a safe security rather than some wildcat proposition and is earning as high a rate of interest as is consistent with that safety. Nobody who has any business perspective whatever predicts that the present abnormal condition of things will last indefinitely, and consequently the day is fast coming when the purchasing power of the dollar will be greater, so that the money which we now save will be more valuable to us than it is today. Many have commented on the apparent orgy of reckless spending, the buying of unnecessary luxuries, and the enormous amount of downright gambling in worthless securities. "A penny saved is a penny earned and a penny safely invested earns money while you sleep." "The Red Special" THOMAS H. YAWGER study the water power and electrical development of the Coast which practise differs from the East in that they have higher heads on their hydraulic plants and longer and higher voltage transmission lines. The street lighting of the cities in Southern California was interesting from the fact that the standards were designed to be symbolic of the history of the discovery and development of the country. One of the most magnificent lighted thoroughfares was Market Street and several intersecting streets of San Francisco. The installation consisted of three Magnetite Luminous Arc Lamps mounted on ornamental cast iron standards about 18 feet high, the arc lamp itself being enclosed by a segmental amber colored glass and instead of calling this lighting "A White-Way Lighting," it was well termed "A Path of Gold." The amount of light lost by this glass was more than made up by the number of lamps closely spaced. The 43rd Convention of the Na- of electrical men who took time to tional Electric Light Association was held at Pasadena, California, May 18-22nd. To attend this Convention for the full session it took approximately three weeks' time for those living in the Eastern States. By adding another week's time to this trip it was found that a special train could be made up which was termed "The Red Special," consisting of nine sleeping cars, two baggage cars and two dining cars, and by a properly arranged schedule a great many of the interesting points in the Great West could be seen and a short time spent in sight-seeing. The arrangements were so complete and the schedule carried out to the letter that the party, consisting of one hundred and fifty-five persons from the Eastern States, was able to spend one day at the Grand Canyon, a full week at the Pasadena Convention and traveling North along the Coast visited Santa Barbara, Del Monte, Yosemite Valley, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and transferring by boat from Seattle, stops were made at Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. From there the journey started homeward through the Canadian Rockies, stopping at Lake Louise and Banff, two of the wonder places of the Canadian Rockies, thence to Winnipeg, Chicago and home. The personnel on this trip consisted Leaving the East after a very cold and severe winter, the change of climate in a few days was very pleasing but for all the very wonderful climate, we of the East could see certain disadvantages if obliged to live in that country which made our own climate seem more desirable. Wedding Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Almstead recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary at their home 76 Manhattan Street. Mr. Almstead who was 83 years of age the 25th of April is the oldest employee in the Company having entered the service of the old Rochester Light Company, October 2nd 1882, and has served faithfully in various capacities ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Almstead were married May 26, 1861 in the town of Schodack, near Albany, N. Y., and came to Rochester June 1887 where they have resided ever since. They have four children, three boys and a girl. Mr. Almstead is still very much on the job at his desk in the Domestic Sales Department. The Trip to the N. E. L. A. Convention at Pasadena FRANK C. TAYLOR Perhaps the most interesting part of the Convention to me was a demonstration of lighting by Ward Harrison of the National Lamp Works. In a room 40′ x 80' in which were hung lamps and reflectors, so arranged that they could be raised and lowered by cords, Mr. Harrison demonstrated the various fundamentals of good lighting. A photometer, a device to measure the strength of illumination was placed on each of the various tables in the room. Among the demonstrations that he gave are the following: 1. The use of reflectors may increase the illumination 20% or more. 2. Uneven illumination results unless lamps are correctly spaced and hung at proper height. 3. Low voltage materially decreases, high voltage materially increases the light from a lamp. 4. More light enables the ob- 5. Glare results from the re- From Pasadena a trip was made to two of the plants of the Los Angeles Municipal System which is rather unique in that provision is made for the generation of electricity from the 3500 to 4000 foot head from the intake of the water system to Los Angeles to which the water is carried through a closed concrete conduit. At certain points favorable for the generation of electricity and for the regulation of the flow of the water, reservoirs have been built from which the water is led through penstocks to the generating stations. At Plant No. 1 which is now in operation there are installed three 9,375 Kva. 6600 volts, 50 cycle generators which are driven by double Pelton wheels operating under a 950 foot head. A second plant, Plant No. 2, is now being constructed and will have installed three 17,500 Kva. 6600 volt, 50 cycle generators driven by turbines operating under 530 foot head. The proposed scheme of operation of these two stations will be for one station to run at full load and the other station to take the peak and do the regulating. The Los Angeles Municipal System now has under consideration the building of five additional plants to make use of the remaining head available. Near Pasadena is located the Eagle Rock Sub-station of the Southern California Edison Company which is the main sub-station at the end of the Big Creek transmission line which extends 240 miles to the Big Creek Power Stations. Electricity generated in the main hydraulic station is transmitted over this line to the substation at 150,000 volts, 50 cycles. In order to correct for the lagging component of the load on the substation two 15,000 Kva. synchronous condensers are now in operation. When I was there they had just received a new 30,000 Kva. synchronous condenser to be installed in addition to the two 15,000 Kva. machines. The purpose of these condensers is to relieve the transmission line and generators of the wattless amperes drawn by the motors and other apparatus connected to the sub-station. By decreasing the amperes flowing in the transmission line, its capacity for conveying power is increased and the voltage drop from the power station to the sub-station is decreased. In the same way the capacity of the generators in the generating station is increased by relieving them of the so called wattless amperes. Perhaps the best street lighting system that I saw was the one installed on Market Street in San Francisco. This installation extends from Ferry to 7th Streets and consists of three General Electric 6.6 ampere luminous arc lamps in 8 panel globes placed on standards 110 ft. apart and opposite, of which the over all height is 32 ft. Use is made of the trolley poles as a support for the lighting units. The particular feature that impresses you is that the street is very brightly illuminated, yet, owing to the mounting height of the lamps, there is no appreciable glare since the lights are mounted above the ordinary line of vision. In Seattle it was rather surprising to learn that the local lighting Company expects very shortly to have a heating load equal to if not greater than the lighting load. This is due to the extensive use of electric heaters to supply the necessary heat to take the chill off the rooms. In Seattle the temperature seldom goes below freezing and consequently during a large part of the year an auxiliary method of heating such as headlight heaters or the larger type of electric heaters suffices. Summer cottages along the lake front wherever electricity may be obtained from Sodus to Manitou seem to be a good field for electric heaters during the early summer and fall. The return trip was made from Seattle to Chicago over the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway. This railroad has two electrified divisions totaling over 600 miles one over the Cascade Mountains and one over the Rocky Mountains. The even acceleration and smooth braking was particularly noticeable, in fact, you could hear on all sides through the train favorable comment on the smooth operation over the electrified division. The lack of variation of speed going up and down grade was particularly noticeable. In fact, it was hard to tell, except by the eye, whether we were going up grade or down grade. The locomotives are supplied with 3000 volt direct current from an overhead trolley system supplied by substations located at fixed distances along the line. The direct current is generated in motor generator sets having two generators each 1500 volts in series. Sub-stations are supplied with electricity from a wood pole 110,000 volt transmission line. The absence of smoke and dirt and the excellent operating characteristics of this electrified road makes one much in favor of the further extension of electrification to the railroads of the country. Resolution Adopted At Meeting of Executives of the Gas Industry, Hotel Pennsylvania New York, May 26, 1920 At a meeting of the representatives of the gas industry of America assembled to consider the critical conditions of the industry, including the serious shortage of gas oil as threatening the discontinuation of the gas service to the householder: BE IT RESOLVED: That emphatic protest be made against the wasteful use of gas oil in maintaining candle power standards in the Cities of New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and any other cities where these wasteful and non-economic standards still exist, and that the Chairman of the Emergency Committee be instructed to convey the purport of this resolution to the proper authority in all localities where candle power requirements are prescribed. |