Belgium 87 



separate base-board fixed above the instrument. Test-plates or 

 lightning-guards at the point of entry into a building are not em- 

 ployed, the outside lead of guttapercha-covered and braided wire 

 being soldered direct to the inside lead of cotton-covered wire. 

 The instruments are by different makers, but appear to be of 

 uniformly good quality. Many instruments have a second receiver 

 attached. 



OUTSIDE WORK (LOCAL) 



The wire used for local work is of bronze, 1*4 mm. gauge, 

 30 per cent, conductivity, and 114 kilogrammes breaking strain, 

 the insulators being small double-shed in white porcelain. The 

 insulator groove often contains a thick india-rubber ring, and 

 sometimes also a strip of lead, with the object of stopping vibra- 

 tion. For junction lines the gauge is 1*6 and 40 per cent, con- 

 ductivity : these are always metallic circuits. All wires are at 

 present overhead, although extensive underground work is in con- 

 templation in connection with the new exchange in Brussels. 

 Aerial cables are not employed in the capital, but there are a few 

 short lengths at Antwerp, Blankenberghe, and other provincial 

 centres. All joints are soldered. The standard and pole work is 

 exceedingly good in Belgium, both as regards design and execution, 

 and constitutes the most striking feature of all to an English eye. 

 The standards are built of angle and bar iron riveted together, and 

 generally consist of uprights with widely-spread struts on both 

 sides, the uprights and struts being rigidly connected by cross 

 pieces. The whole is bolted to an iron base-plate or wooden 

 platform made to suit the contour of the roof. The base-plate is 

 generally separated by thick layers of felt sandwiched between 

 thin leaden sheets from the rafters on which it rests, with the view 

 of intercepting the vibrations from the wires. The whole forms 

 such a rigid structure that stays are generally dispensed with, 

 even on angles. In the event of a storm or fire suddenly destroy- 

 ing a bed of wires and throwing a heavy strain on one side of a 

 standard, there is no danger of its yielding and allowing the 

 damage to spread beyond the particular space involved. In fig. 22 

 are given front and side views, with details, of a standard, carrying 



