GAS COMPANIES V. ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 643, 6 March 1879, Page 2

GAS COMPANIES V. ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Many gas companies, not m the Old Country, but even m this colony, have taken alarm at the astonishing success of the electric light, and the directors of the Wellington Company have gone so far as to promise the shareholders that steps will be taken to obtain patents for supplying the new light to that city. It would however seem that there is not so much occasion to be frightened after all, if we may put faith m the following letter, written to The Times by Professor Tidy, of the London Hospital. He writes : — "I have made a point of remaining m the neighborhood of the electric light for at least three hours, m order to observe its effects upon me after being exposed to its action for some time. For a time nothing stiuck me except the intensity of the illumination and darkness beyond. But before long my eyes became entirely blinded to all rays except the blue ; and as a result everybody and everything appeared of a ghastly blue tint. For hours after I returned home the blue rays haunted me ; but what was worse still, I suffered from what I am rarely a sufferer from — an intense headache especially seated about the region of the eyes. As a medical man I am convinced that whatever may be the advantage of the electric light as an illuminant for large outdoor spaces it can never be used as a room illuminant, or even as a general street illuminant with advantage, save to the medical profession generally and to ophthalmic surgeons m particular."