UNDERGEOUND ELECTRICAL WIRES. 655 



conduit with telephone and telegraph wires without disturb.ance 

 or injury to the latter. And the Board desires to say emphatically 

 that those liuent critics who talk of putting electric light con- 

 ductors underground, making no distinction between arc and 

 incandescent lights, are ignorant of the alphabet of the subject. 

 The President of the Board visited all tlie principal cities of Great 

 Britain and Europe, found no arc light wires underground, and 

 although a few years since such wires were trained in the Paris 

 sewers they have been i-emoved. 



At Washington an officer of the Electric Light Company wrote 

 in September, 1887: — "We have many committees coming here 

 to see what we have accomplished, as they have heard that we 

 have met with great success. We will say this to you — our 

 experience after great outlay — have nothing to do with under- 

 ground cables for lighting if you can possibly avoid it. Many will 

 tell you that it is perfectly practicable. Look out for such parties, 

 they are probably interested in cables. Thei*e is no city or town 

 in the world where a cable has been made to woi'k for two years 

 that has been subjected to two thousand volts of pressure." 



At Philadelphia elaborate experiments have been carried out. 

 All kinds of cables have been employed and a great variety of 

 conduits. Much trouble has been experienced. In most cases 

 the insulating compound rapidly deteriorated and became useless 

 — in others it would rot and become water soaked. It was found 

 that gas could not be kept from the ducts although these were 

 appai-ently gas tight. Many explosions followed. Recourse was had 

 to ventilation by lamp posts, but the trouble was not corrected. 

 After several explosions in one system, a power fan was adjusted 

 to foi'ce air through the conduit deeming it better to do so than to 

 draw the air through, since this might simultaneously draw in gas. 

 When shortly afterwards the lighting company was congratulating 

 itself that it had overcome the difficulty, a tremendous explosion 

 occurred. The entire system of lights had to be abandoned. This 

 was six months ago. It was then determined by the manager 

 that as the result of experience no conduit would suffice tor arc 

 light wires in which were open ducts, and that success lay in the 

 employment of lead covered cables buried solid. This plan was 

 tried and success seemed assured, but they now report the experi- 

 ment unsuccessful. The section buried was not great but bad 

 faults have recently developed. The various companies of Phila- 

 delphia are at a loss what to tiy next. 



A letter from an officer of the Consolidated Company in Chicago 

 thus explains the situation there. He says — " We have had an 

 enormous lot of trouble with our underground light circuits, 

 averaging, I would say, for the last three months one burn out 

 every day. The expense of re-construction and the losses in re- 

 bates have been enormous and the annoyance to our customers 

 more damaging still." 



