| Show IS THE ELECTRIC LIGHT DANGEROUS 1 THE terrible fire at the mills philadelphia in which eo so many persons lost their lives is said to have been caused by the electric light at the inquest held over the bodies burned in the catastrophe evidence evid enco was wa alven given to the effect that something was wrong with the electric lights by which the premises were illuminated that some of teni t tem eni cm c dropped sparks that the carbon was avas burned offin one of them and there was no other po probable bable babie source of ol the conflagration the conclusions formed about this may be incorrect but lut it ought to be known whether there jg s any real danger from irom the electric light and if so 80 what it isa is and hw how it may be prevented re vented oneff one of the recommendations urged in ita its favor by the agent who introduced it in this city was wag its abo absolute lute safety and in this respect it was claimed to bo be far ahead of gas web Weh we otice notice that at the th paris elec olec exposition quite a anum anam number berof different invent orb ore orel have exhibited their respective systems and that edison has gained tho the most prizes the of the tho light has been demonstrated and tho the subject of its danger has not been neglected the following is from the london ob server 1 if the paris electrical exhibition has practically illustrated tho the advantages of the var various loiis systems of electric lighting it has given a practical example of their dangers the exhibition building han haa been four times set on fire by the electric current in none of these thebe cases tw as the fire due duo to anything which can be described as an accident the breaking of the wire wires or the too cloe close approach of the wires to each other may cause a flash which might set surrounding woodwork in ina a diaze blaze but none of cf the four fires in the exhibit exhibition ic n building have been due to either of these causes they have arisen from the heating of the tha wire by the too great force of the current it is made to carry the principle of the incandescent lamp is that where the eleo elec 1 ti d current meets with resistance and is not able to pass it turns into heat beat and so escapes in the incandescent lamps tho the resistance ia Is offered by a thin J thread bf carbon which bi coming heated healed to intense la in a vacuum where it can knot ot bo be consumed gives off the light baur seay any amy ploce of fine wire anywhere in tho circuit will healand hea tand glow in the v and will sot firo lire to any ny inflammable substance with which it may come in contact this is the origin of the fires in the paris exhibition the electric light was introduced into the british museum on the ground of its absolute lafety it was popularly Q beloved believed that we had in ft it a mean means of illuminating libraries and una muse museums finis and other valuable public bublic buildings without any risk milre of nire fire this confidence was a little shaken when I 1 it L was reported that a portion of burning carbon had fallen failen from one of the lamps armps araps and had burned a hole in a book in the museum library but it was wak wah even then thought that absolute security would be found in the incandescent system of light ingin which the carbon is shut out from all contact with the air ahiel which if it were accidentally let in a would only cause the carbon to go off in an instant flash but here is a danger dangen to which a nil all 11 systems are alike exposed this is a subject worth looking into and where the light is brought into use the greatest precautions should be observed to guard against the accidents above enumerated |
