LIGHTNING BOLT MADE TO WRITE ITS OWN DOINGS

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6801, 3 January 1929, Page 3

LIGHTNING BOLT MADE TO WRITE ITS OWN DOINGS

ELECTRICAL RESEARCH MAKES PROGRESS IN PROTECTING WEE OF POWER LINES. NEW YORK. Electrical research has now progressed to the point where it cau “take the autograph” of a bolt of lightuing, a process which envisages the time when lightning will no longer form a hazard to the development of giant superpower electric systems, it has just been disclosed here. The record of extensive experiments to determine the exact character of lightning flashes as the first step in their control was recounted by A. L. Atherton of Pittsburgh, electrical engineer for the Wcstiilghouso Electric and Manufacturing Company, speaking before the members of the New York Electrical Society. Ho said mat mobilisation of the entire electrical industry is nccosary in order to eliminate the damage to which electrical lines are now subjected by lightning disturbances.

“In a lonely mountain spot in Tennessee, said to be the stormiest in the United States, the Western Electric Company has since last spring been conducting the most comprehensive study of lightning ever attempted. This study, in addition to revealing several startling and hitherto misunderstood facts, has given assurance that certain instruments developed especially for this purpose are capable of providing all the information necessary to a working knowledge of lightning’s characteristics.”

Early in the investigation, which is still progressing, j.hci'o was obtained for the first -time a complete authentic autograph of a lightning flash operating on an high-voltage line. The records show when it occurred, how long It lasted, how far distant the lightning was, its voltage, its effect on the power lines —in fact, everything necessary for full analysis. Among the facts determined was that the over-voltage on the lino continued for 50-millionths of a second. Prior to the experiment the engineers were forced to guess at the duration, and their estimates ranged from a few tenths to a few hundred millionths of a second.

Individual experiments, Mr. Atherton said, arc insufficient to develop a practical control of lightning. Extensive investigation by the entire electrical industry is nccesary over a wide area, he declared, in order to make lightning a “docile pet” which would no longer interfere with the construction of power lines.