8
TITE OMAHA ILXUSTRAtED ' BEE,
July 80. 1508.
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A servant that never sleeps and will
run all your errands quicker than the
fastest train. Will answer all of your
questions instantly. Brings you quick
est possible help in emergencies, such as
fire, accident, sickness, etc. Makes your
social and business engagements. ,
Why allow yourself to w.orry when a Telephone
will solve your difficulties? Our rapid increase dur
ing the past year should ba sufficient evidence that
you need a telephone.
Telephone No. 2,
IS
Contract Dept.
Glancing Ahead Into he Immediate Future of Eleclrical Development
Electric Locomotion. was able to accelerate faster and maintain conversation from w York to San Fran- the old-style batteries at all principal points, tans, pumps and the like, for the operation
m -nnMfrlnz the nosslbllitles of higher speed than its steam rival with Cisco or London. Much better results have, of course, been of flatlrons and various cooking- utensils, is
Y I electric locomotion one would be 70 per cent greater weight. These results It Is safe to predict that the next rive obtained by these changes. Our Omaha only beginning to be appreciated. The use
I Justified In savins- they are un- rnay be accounted for by the fact that 70 years will show a greater growth In the office alone, previous to the change to dy- of electric light for purposes of display and
J 3 ' . ' " . . .k. .i .iv. . .imirin use of the telenhone and creater efficiency nimnn. hart nver 1TV1 oplla nf fallmirl Hat. arivortlainir hn Incr-oued until nut- hual.
(Hicl limited. In the present state or ir ... .... - - " . " - ' ,,-. ..,h i" ". V"""' II.!. " " " "J.":" . " V.,T.
wl i.. .....,, nfnmnt va la on tne arlvino wneeia. cc... t...-.. ic.j. juo ujimuiuj uiiij ULtuuy auoui uimj-
inuunumi uniciuj v. oh" n , i . u . u i . . ,
I n,.-..if ,.n.rwra. locomotive la on the driving - wheels.
tlon U ode of the greatest factors In the whereas only 41 per cent of the total weight
commercial world. ' tne steam locomotive Is carried on the
To Illustrate the possibilities of electrlo drivers,
locomotion for city traffic one might men- Although these results are very gratify-
tlon the Union elevated railroad of Chi- to the electrical engineer. It Is very
cago. popularly known as the Union Loop, doubtful if It Is feasible to generate and
where 1.600 trains, ranging from two to transmit the enormous current that Would
five cars each In length, pass dally. Dur- necessary to operate our great vtrunk
Ing the time of maximum congestion on "nes, og locomotive of the New .York
this line the average time between trains Central type; since these are direct current
Is 19.6 seconds. Since this service does not machines limited to 600 to 660 volts. The
take eai-e of the traffic the local transpor- past two years has witnessed the perfection
.... ... .u. ..... .. r.f nn .H.rn.tlnir' nli-rent motor known as
ell appointed a commission to repoK on the the single phase series motor, well adapted fey -!
The telephone today Is the greatest me- Callaud battery. W. W. UMSTED,
dlum of quick cdmmerclat transactions. Manager Western Union Telegraph Co.
both local and long distance. In existence, $
and will undoubtedly continue to lead In
the future, always growing more compre
hensive In scope. G. H. PRATT,
'' Nebraska Telephone Company.
D
The Electrle Tolecraph.
EVELOPMENTS ' and Inventions
ness streets nightly present a more brilliant
appearance than they did during carnival
times but a few years ago. More than 15,000
Incandescent lamps have been Installed in
Omaha since the first of the year.
The companies supplying electricity fre
quently find great difficulty In enlarging
In the press to the description of their plants fast enough to meet the de-
new electrical discoveries and de- maifds for their service. ' Here in Omaha
velopments. that few people not the .electric light .company Installed three
directly connected wtth the eleo- dynamos of 4C0 horsepower each, that is.
Electrlo Lighting; and Illumination.
MUCH space Is regularly given
trical Industry realise the enormous strides each capable of furnishing electric, current
in all branches where electricity that are being made in the older and more for about 6,000 Incandescent lamps, just be,
Is a factor, are coming so qulcic important applications of electricity:. In fore the'TranSmlsslsstppl exposition. These
and iast that almost any predlo- no branch of the Industry Is this more machines were installed to replace "a num-
possibility of increasing the capacity of the t..tl be uporf us at any time. It. development mand. mp.de by the public upon the service at that time to be very large machines.
Union Iop, and In a recent report this will undoubtedly Jon 1 j" was never so rapid. It would seem that of the companies supplying electricity all Two years later It was again necessary to
commission recommended a plan whereby We now have several Un" ln OIUO" the .enlevement to be attained by the over the country have never been so great enlarge the plant and one dynamo of 670
the capacity of this loop could be ncreased using a trolley voltage of from Z to uge of electr,cUy afe almogt unmlted as at the present time, nor have they ever horsepower capacity was added, and the
This is perhaps more true as regards been Increasing at such a rapid rate. This following year another machine of double
electrical engineering, lighting, power, and constantly Increasing demand for more this capacity was added. These machines
heating than in the telegraph field. - Thtv light and better light comes not only from furnished electric fight and power for
matter of electricity . for heating purposes stores and factories,, where Improvements Omaha, South Omaha and Council Bluffs
on a large scale at present Is Impractical, of this kind are si simple matter of ecoi until last year, when the capacity of the
on account, largely, of the cost of produo- nomlcs, but from the homes of all classes, plant was again 'taxed to the utmost and
tlon.- It Is safe to, say, however, that the where the comfort obtained from the use it was necessary to consign one of the
future will overcome this. of -electricity for lighting, the operation of dynamos and engines Installed In 1SS8 to
For -years past various methods of me- small motors tor running sewing tnao nines, the scrap pile, not because It was in any
So per cunt. These results can only be ob- 6.600 and some engineers advocate a trolley
talned through the use of the electrlo volatage of 15.000. If the future proves
motor, since the motors are mounted on car these motors in large sises to be a success,
axles and If necessary every axle In a and we have reason to believe they will,
train may be made a driving axle. .This Is the possibility of electric locomotion will
not the usual practice, however, as the be Indeed unlimited, and a few years will
possibilities of rspld acceleration are not witness the passing of the steam locomo-
llnilted by the available wer, but rather tlve. H. B. NOTES,
by the comfort of the passenger, and a five
car train is generally made up of three
motor cars and two coaches.
In the eastern and central states for the
past Ave years the city lines have been
extending to thesuburbs and neighboring
towns and the past year has seen many of
these great networks of traction lines con
nected, and through limited service estab
lished between connecting lines. It Is now
possible to travel hundreds of miles through
the states of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and
Pennsylvania without resorting to the
steam roads, and in ears rivaling those pf
the Pullman company. Bearing the same
relation to the electrics that the Pullman
company does to the steam roads, we have
the Holland Palace Car company, offering
composite sleeping and parlor cars, buffet
and chair cars and observation cars for the
comfort of the public. These cars weigh
nearly fifty tons and are capable of making
sevunty-flvo miles per hour. A 160 horse
power motor Is mounted on each axle, mak
ing a total of 600 horsepower, or about one
fourth that of our heaviest passenger loco
motive. At present the longest possible continuous
trip that can be taken on electric cars Is
about 430 miles, but when projected lines
are completed It will be possible to travel
from 800 to 1.000 miles. These facts will
shew that tho electrlo road has not only
successfully rivaled the steam lines for
local truffle, but Is gradually encroaching
on their through service.
Tho advent of the electrle locomotive In
the field of heavy traction has necessarily
been very slow; as all of our steam roads
were In the hands of mechanical rather'
than electrical engineers; and In the mind
of the practical railroad man an electrical
machine Is a mystorlous affair, possibly
adapted to city or Intcrurban traffic, but
not to be considered for heavy or long
hauls.
The work at Zosstn. Germany, during the
past year has demonstrated that the elec
trlo locomotive is capable of obtaining
higher sjieed than has yet been attempted
ty any steam machine. The electrlo loco
motive has been adopted by the New Tork
Central Terminal company, where the re
quirements are exceptionally severe, and
the competitive tests between the first loco
tnotlve built for this service and the ,bst
steara locomotive showed the great superi
ority of the electric over the steam ma
chine, la this test tn electric locomotive
Electrician Omaha and Council Bluffs
Street Railway Company.
chanical telegraphy have come and gone,
leaving the Morse system still In the lead.
It Is the "old reliable," and there Is no
getting around It. Every once In awhile
some Inventive genius, usually without
practical knowledge of telegraphing In gen
eral, has spent much time and more or
way worn out, bat simply to make room
for a more powerful machine. This new
machine Is a dynamo of 2,000 horsepower
capacity, capable of furnishing current for
over 30,000 Incandescent lamps and is driven
by a steam turbine, in place of the ordinary
steam engine.
Extensions are by no means confined to
the power generating portion of the plant.
The plant for distributing the current gen
erated must keep pace with the dynamos
and engines. Something over seventy miles
of underground, conduit. In which Is In
stalled about fifty miles of wire, Is now In
usw In the downtown district, and Is being
Increased this year by nearly, thirty miles
of conduit and a proportional amount of
wire.
Many causes, of course, contribute to
this phenomenal .growth, not the least
among which Is the more general under
standing of the proper arrangement of
electrlo lamps. Until recently electric
lamps have been only too commonly In
stalled In such a manner that their rays
shone Into the eyes of the people who
wished to use them rather than upon the
things to be Illuminated. A man who would
not think of using an oil lamp without a
shade would have an electrlo lamp of twice
the power so Installed as to throw its
light directly into his face as he attempted
to read. Marked Improvements have also
been made in the lamps themselves. To
most people the Incandescent lamp of
today looks about as its great-grandfather
cf ten years ago appeared, but In reality it
uses about one-third less current for the
same amount of light, while certain special
forms of high rwr Incandescent lamps
use lem '.hrn half the current that was
formerly required for the same amount of
light and still better things are promised
for the near future by the lamp manufac
turers. , H. A. HOLDREGE,
General Manager Omaha Electrlo Light
and Power Company.
Novel Electrle Truck.
Recently a large publishing house in New
York, which has a government mall clerk
constantly on duty for weighing and dis
patching Its malls, tried the experiment of
making une of a novel electric truck driven
by all four wheels. This truck, says the
'Scientific American, carried a four-ton load
of mallbags a dUtance of two and one-half
miles and returned empty thus covering a
distance of Qve miles In fifty-eight minutes
running time. It cut In half the time taken
by horse-drawn vehicles, while the cost for
current at 6 cents per kilowatt was about 1
cent per ton-mile of load carried. The
truck Itself weighed about four tons, hence.
Including this weight, eight tons were
moved at a cost for electricity of only halt
of 1 cent per tpn-mlle.
Tho Telephone.
N 1876 the first telephones were
Installed In Omaha by Messrs.
L. H. Korty and J. J. Dickey.
Tk. nf tho pmrinat sort.
.n4 r.nAiu.r twiinr in leM ot his own and other people's money
one piece, making It necessary to snui me , - -,-... uu.u
Instrument from In front of the mouth Jown ol1 Prof. Morse and throw a
when through talking to the ear In order "ood portion of the operators of the eoun-
to hear the reply. No - one at that time tr out of thel" positions. Practically all
looked upon the telephone as pf practical of 'he8e tlmPt ve been failures,
use in a business or social way. . Tn QUJruplex. which permits of the
A little later an exchange was started ending of four messages over one wire at
on a very small scale, using an Instrument the "me tlm.. m't of the multiplex
com nosed of a receiver and transmitter; ',tm ,n thlB country. The sextuplex has
this change from the one-piece Instrument J" UBea to certain extent In Europe.
having been made for convenience. The
exchange grew slowly but steadily In
number of subscribers, though for years
all of tbe subscribers looked upon their
telephones as luxuries. Improvements In
the Instruments, giving them greater
efficiency, and In the switchboards, allow
ing faster operating and with greater
economy, followed one on the other very
rapidly. This enabled the telephone com
pany to gradually reduce rates and thus
put this Is largely on short circuits. It la
possible In Europe "on account of the close
proximity of one commercial center to
another.
The latest Invention In telegraphic appa
ratus Is the system known as the Barclay
printing telegraph, for which great claims
are made for tbe future, and which has
been successfully worked between New
York and Buffalo for several months. It Is
at the present time being tried between
TV
mmilartxa th telenhnna to a considerable Chicago and.. Newv York. A good descrlD-
extent, tlon of tnl v"tem was recently published
The high potential circuits of the" elee- ln th Telegraph Age of New York City,
trie light and street railway companies ln tne 'ace Hwe hear about the wire
gave1 the- telephone companies a serious ,e" telegrap. the jreat cable companies
setback. Inasmuch as they made necessary" re contracting for addUlonal cables across
the change from the grounded to the me- the ocean-right along. As these cables coat
talllc circuit system, which change means veral millions of .dollars each. It Is plain
that the telephone company must double- to 06 een that capital does not fear the
the amount of wire they have struna- and rlrle ytm. een for Interooeanle corn-
change instruments to accommodate their
existing subscribers, not only tor local but
also for long -distance service.
During the last five years the telephone
has grown ln popular favor and use until
at present it Is an absolute necessity to the
business man and very nearly so to the
residences.
Notwithstanding the fact that the tele
phone Is looked upon by tbe general public
as now almost perfect. It Is to the tele
phone engineer still sadly lacking and more
work, tlmo and money are now being spent
to perfect the apparatus used than ever
before. One of the most Important and
Utt Invenlluus Is that of .a telephone
repeater ahlch Is' now being" successfully"
used between New York and Chicago, and
which It is hoped may make possible a
munlcation. By this I do not mean to sav
that the wireless system will not have a
field, but It certainly will be limited. This
Is even more the case on land than at sea.
No doubt the longest telegraph circuit ln
the world is that worked by the Western
Union Telegraph company between New
York and San Francisco. This la a duplex
circuit and la ln use twenty-four hours a
day. It has been established during- the
laat couple of year. Of course, Chicago
has direct circuits to Salt Lake City, to
Portland, to San Francisco and to Loa An
geles', while New York works with Gal
veston and New Orleans, but the circuit
from Chicago to San Franclaoo beats them
It will probable bo of Interest to know
tl.at dynamo have practically superseded '
,Y--wVM'Kii y. --.in
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Electricity Utilized in Plating
While electricity is now being utilised ln many different forms, the one which
Is probably the most complicated and perhaps requires the greatest amount of
skill Is the art of electro-plating. This process Is one which could not be easily
explained, as a person would have to be familiar with It In order to understand
it. However, the Omaha Plating Co., of which Mr. Louis Slavln Is proprietor, haa
the best and most thoroughly equipped plant In the west, and the public is In
vited to Inspect It at any time. This Arm Is making giant strides and is keeping
' pace with the growth Omaha Is enjoying at the present time. Although several
other similar concerns have been started in the past ln Omaha, the Omaha riatlng
Co. is the only Institution of the kind which has made a success of the business la
this city. Beginning eight years ago on lower Karnam street, Mr. Slavln then
moved Into the basement of The Bee building, and when he had outgrown these
quarters he moved Into his present location at 1608 Harney street, where he haa
more room for the numerous baths and wheels required ln the various department
of this expanding business.
A specialty is made of electro-plating In gold, sliver, nickel, copper and brass,
and also ln oxidizing and lacquering. Mr. Slavln Is an expert In his line and
had a large and varied experience In some of the largest houses in the country
before coming to Omaha. '
Serving for eighteen years at his t rade before moving to this city, Mr.
Slavln has mastered all branches, and no work Is either too ewall or too complex
for him to handle, as he Is equipped with the facilities for handling all classes of
work. Physicians' Instruments which have become worn are made to look as new,
and household silverware Is rejuvenated.
The electric plaUng department varies as to the class of work. Separata
baths are maintained for nickel, copper, gold, silver and brass. The nickel bath
alone is valued at 11,100 and Is large enough to accommodate any sired piece of
work. As a low voltage is required for this work, Mr. Slavln has his own
dynamo, which generates seven voles with a high amperage.
Each bath contains a chemical solution, which contains as one of Its ele
ments metal In which the article Is to be plated. The effect of the electric current
Is to cause a dissolution of the chemical element on the article to be plated,
which is Immersed in the bath.
The polishing department is distinct from the electric department, and here all
aorts of metals are made to shine as they did when they were first sent from the
factory.
A large variety of wheels are required for polishing the different kinds of
metals, some of them very expensive. Solid emery wheels are un-d for certain
kinds of work and solid fHt fur other. Canvas Is the 1m-h for some and bull neck
two and one-half Inches thick dues better service for others. Other more delicate
wheels will rut a satin finish upon the finest silverware.
Mr Slavln has a lartie clientage, wnieh Included nearly all the metal workers
and users of fine and polished metal In the city. The telephone compuny has a
large quantity of business which must be replnted. All of the silverware and 'lining
car services of the Tnion I'aclnc and Oregon Hliort Line are sent to the Omaha
Plating Co. for repairs and reflating. The electric Unlit company has most of Its
work done by Mr. elavln and the strict railway company semi In l.irgo orders,
which must be filled. The latest from this company was for k.M'O brass handles for
the new system for ringing fares, it.-sio.-s this tho Omaha plating Co. Is polishing
and lacquerins; an 01 me uruii ci.iiks 1 or mr- ..ow .. ai 1-1.111.1.9 m.
The electric supply houses also furnish a great deal of . latin work and polishing
in the way of switches anl connections, i ne piumueia wisu Xnava a 1,11 go quanut
of work, as well as the gas fitting houses
- prrauoR vnew Or omaha platino company's plant.
Private Individuals are fast learning that this house rehurnlshes all aorts of
brass work such as gas fixtures. Irons, stoves ana sii sorts or metals. Jranoy
clocks are made to look as new, and nothing Is two delicate ur auinjyla Is) k
bandied by this firm of expert.