"LIVE" WIRES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 94, 20 April 1912, Page 9

"LIVE" WIRES.

DANGERS OF ELECTRICITY CASES OF EMERGENCY. HINTS BY EXPERTS. Fatalities and injuries from electric chock have been sufficiently numerous in the Dominion to warrant a suggestion, to the authorities as to whether legislative power should not be obtained, under which certain well-defined regulations would be framed, which would tend to prevent such occurrences in the future. The fatal accident .to Fireman M'Lean at the fire in Manners-street on Sunday morning has been, and still is, a sub* .ject of general discussion; and the question arises : Can the dangers of such casualties caused by persons - coining in contact with "live" wires bo minimised? Briefly stated the conditions under which M'Lean met his death were as follow:— The ladder, which had steel bracing, was leaning against a wire which became "alive" through the fire burning the insulating material with which such wires are usually protected. It suggest* itself that it might be possible in congested areas where "live" wires exist that the ladders used by the brigade should be strengthened in other ways than by metal work. A MYSTERIOUS POWER. **""* There is no natural Tore© that to tha average man is so mysterious as electricity, . yet the laws governing its flow from paint to point are not complex to those who have studied the subject. Currents of electrical energy may be classed as low, medium, high, and extra high potential • currents. Under the head of low potential currents and wires may be clashed those in use for the telephone, telegraph, electric bells, etc. Under the head of medium high potential wires may be classed those used for .'direct current incandescent lighting, and that used for street tramways. High potential wires and currents are us«d mainly in street lighting circuits and both arc and incandescent lamps are used' therein. Extra high potential wires and currents are-used in transmission circuits, where power is. generated at a distant point and k carried to a, city, where it is 'transformed iD strength to suit different purposes. The unit of electrical energy or power is the watt, but as the watt is too email in most cases for the determination of large units of power, the kilowatt, which is equal to one and one-third horsepower, is used. To produce electrical energy two elements are necessary — voltage or pressure and amperes or current. WHAT WILL CAUSE DEATH. The actual voltage required to cause death is stated by an authority to be :— v ' At below 600 volte (a volt is the unit of pressure) the conditions must be abnormally favourable. At below 1000 volts the condition* must be favourable. At below 1000 volts , the higher the pressure the more easy it is to get the conditions necessary to cause death. NETWORK OF WIRES. , In some parte of the city there ie a perfect network of wires overhead. In case of lire in narrow streets somo of these wives are frequently injured or broken. There are three sets of wires, viz., tha telephone wires, tramway wires, and electric light Wires. The tramway wires are in the centre of the street, and the Other wires are. on either side of the lmd. ' • ' All wires »hould be treated as dangerous. Telephone 1 wires falling acrow electric light or tramway wires become charged with electricity and are,then dangerous. An instance of this Occurred in Northland recently where a boy waited into a fallen telephone wire- which was lying across an electric light wire. A storm the previous night had blown down the telephone wire. The boy, was very seriously injured. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE. Although all electric wires in streets are riot dangerous, it is difficult for the public to know which are and which are not dangerous. Therefore all should be regarded as dangerous. Irn the case of fallen wires, the fact should at once be communicated to the Tramway powerhouse, electric light station, or telephone exchange, as the case may.be. If a person can stand by the wire until the- workmen arrive he will be conferring a service to the community, and perhaps save the lives of children, or even adults, who ni»y thoughtlessly touch the fallen wire unless warned. Some time ago, on a wet night at Wadestown, a man very thoughtfully stood by a fallen wire for over an hour in order to warn persons not to touch the wire. In that case there had been some delay in communicating with the Electric Light Station, otherwise the workmen would have been on the spot sooner. Nearly all wires are insulated — that is, the copper wire is completely covered with rubber and tape, etc., and so long as the insulation is intact the wire is safe; but a fallen. wire 16, of course, exposed, at the ends where the break is, and is also liable to have its insulation chafed oi* crushed through- lying on the road. A case occurred at Miramar last year where a man carefully (but in" ignorance) coiled up a "live" wire and lashed it to a fence. Fortunately he did not happen to touch the bare end, or he might have been injured. Another man in Karori was actually found coiling a similar wire, and thought he was safe because he was working on the end away from the station — whereas both ends are equally ' dangerous. SHOCK. Electric shocks are almo&t ac much governed by th© conditions as by the pressure of electricity., .For instance.

when a person's clothes are wot, if it is a wet day, or he be standing in water, he is more susceptible to shock than if he has dry clothes on. Water is a conductor of electricity. ! SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS. The following instructions have been drawn up by responsible officers for tho guidance of the public in the case of tallen wires or accidents: — FALLEN WIRES. When lighting wires away from vicinity of tramway loutes are down, communicate with electric light works, Harris-street. Telephone No. 540. -When wires along tramway routes are down communicate with tramway powerhouse, Jervois-quay. Telephone No. 2132. No unauthorised person should touch a fallen wire, except in case of emergency, to save life or prevent injury. Where it is necessary to remove the wire at once, the following precautions should ba taken: — (a) Do not touch the wire with bare hands or any part of the body entangled with it; (b) fold up your coat and stand on it, if you are a smoker wrap your rubber tobacco pouch round the wire, you can then handle it with comparative safety 5 (c) a dry stick or several articles of dry clothing may be used to drag the person from the wire or, the wire away from the person ; anything wet or damp is liable to act as -a. conductor, and the operator may receive a shock. In all, cases of apparent death from electric 6hock, try artificial respiration as for drowning, to restore animation.