ELECTRICITY. 



323 



"the No. 1 wire was opened to Painesville, 30 miles east. This did not help it 

 in the least. I judged that our wires were crossed with those of Western Union 

 lines, and that we were getting the full strength of their 100 cups of battery. 

 One thing very strange was that the current pulsated, and the armature of the 

 magnet disconnected from the battery and the wire open east vibrated like a 

 pendulum." 



From J. A. Osborne, Buffiilo, New York, connected with the same line, I 

 learn that the wires of their office were so heavily charged that he thought cer- 

 tainly they were crossed with the Western Union wires. The wires could not 

 be touched. The current passed over in waves, and it was necessary to throw 

 the instruments out of circuit in order to prevent damage to them. Fantastic 

 streaks flashed across the wires. At one time a continuous stream of fire passed 

 'oflT, which lasted from four to five seconds. Had the current been more steady 

 the wires could have been worked without the aid of the batteries. At Lockport 

 the electricity set fire to a board to which the wires were attached. The mag- 

 nets became so surcharged with electricity that when the wires were disconnected 

 the annature remained drawn up to the coils for full three-quarters of an hour. 



3. Whether some time elapsed between each discharge, as if the conductor was 

 gradually charged ? This question is answered in the above extracts from letters 

 received by me from the diflerent operators. 



[On the night in question an aurora is noticed in the Smithsonian records at 

 Independence, Iowa, and a heavy snow in Slichigan. A wave of low tempera- 

 ture was passing from the west to the east from the 7th to the 10th of January, 

 reaching its minimum in the State of New York on the night of the 9th and 

 morning of the 10th. The phenomenon may perhaps have been due to the fall- 

 ing of the snow on a western portion of the line. The ascending vapor from 

 which this snow was produced would become negafively electrified by induction 

 from the plus electricity of the space above. In the subsequent freezing of this 

 vapor into snow, it would retain its electrical condition, and falling on the wire 

 would give the latter a charge of negative electricity which would be propagated 

 by conduction both east and west. — J. H.l 



