a
W V 9 .,-.Wincliest_er.
speedy” o f Plant,
Goes Back. to Days
. Mhen'WOrk Was
7, rAuthorised
LIGHTSIN. 1892
ing Current—Inter-
esting Story '—-- Fine
Investment
' True to its progressive policy in
' responding to the needs of the pub-
lic. which is both its owner and us-
, er of its service, The South Not-walk
Electric Works installed an alter- ,
‘nating current system for supplying
electric power to local factories and.
after over a year’s trail, the elec-
trical commissioners find it work- '
115g with satisfaction equivalent
to’that which has long character-
ized its extensive direct current
service.
‘ ‘As this innovation of alternating
current in the second district is of
considerable interest to our readers
some of the new-comers are “cur-
_ ions as to the reason why the 220
'7 'volt direct current has been the
local standard for many years.
Therefore. in order to spread” light
upon the subject of this alternating
current service and the contrasting
general use here of the 220 volt
direct current for both light 'and
power. rather than the usual
lighting voltage, the subject was
7 brought before General Superin-
tendent Albert E. Winchester of the
Electric' Works, one of its builders
the “daddy" of' Norwalk’s second
._ district's municipal electric plant.
.Naturally, Mr. Winchester is very
proud of this famed undertaking of
the people and he expressed plea-
sure in answering the Evening Sen-
tinel man's questions. First he was
asked as to why the 220 volt system
was adopted? His reply was:
. The Beginning.
~“Let‘s start at the beginning. The
plant. orginally intended for light-
lug South Norwalk's slreets., was
i’adthorized by a public meeting of
, the old city South Norwaik that
overflowed Music Hall, Friday
night March 23. 1892. Hon. Jermiah
Donovan— since State Represente-
'tive, Senator, Congressman and
Mayor of Norwaikg—and General
Nelson Taylor lead the meeting to
victory in favor of the 'plant. A
'cornmittee. Consisting of Council-
man Joseph A. Volk. General Nel-
son Taylor and former Mayor Ed-
win Adams—all deceased now, were
appointed to establish the plant. I.
>4
a youngster of just 25. who then
lived uptown—now the first dis-
trict, being one of Edison's boys.
was peruaded to accept the appoint-
ment of consulting engineer; to de-
(sign the plant and supervise. its
' Construction. The services of all
were contributed free.
The estimate that I had made up
seemed too close for paid advisers.
'And then again there was a big lot
'of pride in serving the public in
those days. Nights. Sundays. holi-
days and vacations were devoted to
work —I had my regular Edison in-
terest duties for daytimes, being on—
ly exempt for the other hours while
'- the plant was being built. Local
contractors pooled their work. The
7 committee and everyone concerned
.. . 'pitched in and. in less than six
' .. months, just before dusk on Friday
October 13. 1892. the streets of
Séuth Norwalk were ablaze with
. the City's own lights for the first
tifile: and so they have been regu-
larly ever since——nearly 33 years.
.'As a. Christmas token of apprecia—
tion. I was presented with a check
,. for $500, as the plant had been able
.to start operating with $2,500 un-
spent from the $22,500 approprlaed
for it. ’11.." ,
’ Beglnlflommorcial Sen-ice
,“Six. years later." continued Win-
chester. “by another vote of the peo-
ple, we were launched into the field
of commercial electrical service for
supplying light and power to indus-
trial plants. stores. homes etc. The
then local electric company up town
had tried to supply South .Norwalk's
_ fast growing needs. but its facilities
and finances were inadequate. so
he city had to take up the burden
of privlding its own entire electrical
service. or go backward. The most
suitable and locally adaptable means
” then available for this purpdse was
the Edison direct current system of
power."
”'At that_ early day. the alternating
gna'rrent motor. was in its" doubtful
infancy. and was not perfected.
either was 110 any more suitable
ie'r. Furthermore. all the wiring
insane city was for one voltage, that
two wires. whereas three wires
required for the two voltage:
51;.
“t to do so. The citY's fplant
not afford'to do it nor to take
the responsibility jroi- it. Therefore,
ectrie lamps, were being made
. voitageav‘zzo volts had .to
opted,’ with: lamps of the same
‘ {so as"? to. provide for the
electric, point that” could be
l. supplied. _ And that
.. '1 direct current for the
clean: There were other very
" pioneering which would
gower current. as
and. being arsed
'11 Plant Can Novaupp‘ly .
Direct or Alternate
110 .
110 volts for lighting and 220 for '
than than it is now for factory po- .
' ers did not understand about ‘
W'theirrwiring .and were re-_ .
'.t,.re'asons..hutrthey'll do for -.
time. were were certainly ., ‘
:robiems in those days of ,
with the far greater‘fa- ‘
f and other to
.direct, current. .
them. was :7
.\ I.“ IZRT E. “'l SCH ESTER
’ sea... bruising;
tem of two wires. Albert E. “in”
Chester, who, for a dozen years. had
been on Edison work, and then. as
now, recognized as one of the fore-
most electrical engineers in the
country. and had participated in the
building of about. 100 electric light.
powar and street railway plants
about the United Sluice—many of
them after he had aided in establish
ing South Norwalk's street light
plant. was asked to toke‘ the matter
in hand. Having served as a mem-
ber Of the Electrical Commission.
which had Operated the plant from
its beginning, and having been
charged with its engineering affairs
and general supervision, Mr. \Vin-
Chester reluctantly took up the pro-
blem. To do so, llollzui to give up
his engineering work with the Evil—
son company and devote his entire
time to the plant. 1'11 to ”He time.
he hall served the city without pay
and only accepted sufficient com-
pensation for his additional duties.
lo live on very modestly, as the
available funds were closely calcu-
lated and had to be used with great
care.
Aside from supervising the CX‘\
lcnsive new construction. he took
entire care of the office alone and
even run lhe engines and helped to
dig polo. holes and run lines whcn
other help was needed. lie intend-
ed to give only about one year to
ibis work. but so ma y problems
quickly developed wit 1 the fast
growing business, and legal battles
regarding the plants rights. that
he was urged to stand by it. There-
tore his connection with ”it covers a
contlnous period of nbout~35 years.
as it started with the plant‘s con—
ception. more than a year before it
was established.
Only or. Voltage Nccdul
With Mr. V‘l’inchester’s old. ar-
rangcments were-made so that only
one voltage was necessary. This
was by means of the 220 direct cur-
rent two wire system. for which his
plans were placed before the high-
est engineering» authorities or the
times and were approved by them.
They also elicited wide scientific
commendation. which, by reason of
the plant’s remarkable success and
. ‘Rules;Bulgaria;asiKing Beris‘ ..
, . ' Is;Kep‘t:aaVirtaqlg'Prison‘é'i
prosperity. and the extensive early
development here in the industrial
power line and lighting. has been
amply confirmed. ‘
Although. for years since that
time. motors for alternating current
have been made that run with sails-
l‘aclion equal to the direct current
type which continues to share the
power ilcld in large measure. the
changing of all the wiring and
equipment, that would be necessary
for the complete adoption of alter-
nating current in place of the 220
volt direct current. would be im-
practicable as a general proposition
to the users of, the service, upon
whom the greater part of the cost
would fall. Consequently any quick
transition of that-kind is out of the
question at this time. as it. would
junk many thousands of dollars
worth of very valuable and economic
electrical machinery and household
equipment of consumers. There-
fore. home owners. ~uslng irons.
cleaners, washers and other electri-
cal appliances. may rest safe in the
assurance that the 220 volt system
will continue in service herekilntll
its owners—Aha second district pub-
lic-«requires otherwise.
Incidentally, though not general-
ly known. the “"0 volt service is used
vxlcnsively in most of the other
counlries, but. in the United States
and Canada. the 110 volt, current.
so called, is almost nlways‘used for
interior lighting and small appli-
ances. The world-'3 standard, how-
ever, for power is based upon 220
volts and extends to. higher voltages.
The various voltages for interior
lighting. in this country and else-
\yhcre, are 32. 55. 110. '115. 25.
1‘20 and 250. There are also lamps
ol.’ other voltages. The lamp volt-
age, 1!. S. standard, is tending up-
ward and is now 115. _ - .
Power Hero Attracts Factories
The fact that South Norwalk. has
had. this 220 volt direct current ser-
vice. has attracted considerable in-
duslry to it. when the J.: S: J.
Cash company of England set out
to establish its American plant. one
«a
not the influences in favor of Nor-
wnlk lms the 220, volt direct cur-
we...
: P , 1'3. April
:‘elecfiiguptmeld . _
Hindenber‘s" as, president 'of Ger.
many was received- here with a;-
certain amount of uneasiness
although; it was felt that there
was little to«‘choose bettveen mm
and the :other principal " canal.
rdate, Dr. Marx, the; Field Mar.
shal "believed to represent in a‘
greater degree the spirit for wu-
, revenge than his civilian” oppo.
pent. > s ‘ _ ’ . ,
.The'result arrived too late filo
permit extended editorial; coin-
meat. and what‘therels appears
' colored by the party affiliation
of the” respective papers and to a.
certain extent prepared before
the event. ’ « '
rent that it found in 'Southrls'prwalk,
which is the kind that was used in
the parent. factory. 'The former
Boese-Péppard factory. , that came
from‘New York. required’the 220
current. Likewise other industries
from New York. as that is the ling
generally supplied power 'service of
the larger United States cities.
Great quantities of it are now. and
will continue .to be, generated, or
converted from alternating current
' just as is being done in South Nor-
walk.
The Simon's shirt company, pre—
decessor of tho Cluett. ‘Peabody 8;-
company. came here expressly be-
‘cause of the excellent water and 2.2
volt direct current that South Nor-
waik offered. The former Norwalk
Iron Works adopted it because it
had special need for it. The Nash
Engineering company. although out
" of the district of supply. made a spe—
' ciai contract for it and ran its own
private lines into South Norwalk for
that purpose. The thousands of
users of this current here are ap-
parently satisfied with it, and only
the few who move into this district
witlr‘mppliances which are not in-
tended for 220 volts—and some who
inadvertently obtain them. are in-
convenienced thereby. Even they
can. and usually do, have their un-
suitable dcvices altered or exchang-
ed to operate with the local current.
Moreover, the low rates and econ-
omy in the use of this current are
special advantages. so much appre-
ciated bythe great majority of its
longtime users. that the recent
adoptiou by the South Norwalk
‘plant of the alternating current for
special requirements has made them
somewhat uneasy. until assured that
they will not be inconvenienced by
any change. except by the expressed
will of the people.
8. N. Plant Famed as Pioneer
The South Norwalk plant was a
foremost pioneer in low electric
lighting and power rates of this
country. and was so famed even
across the sea. Thus it held the
record and has kept pace with the
extensive downward revision of
price schedules which have follow-
ed the supplying of electrical ser—
vice. Tod-y electricity. throughout
Norwalk and the rest of‘ this coun-
try. stands alone as the analyst and
fastest growing manual of progress
and comfort. and the one that has
steadily cut down its price. while
ment have increased. For this rea-
son, more electricity is generated
and consumed in the United States.
and more money invested in its pro-
duction and use. than in the rest
of the world‘combined. Thus. by
its early venture. the South Nor.
walk plant has saved hundreds of
thousands of dollars to its owner-
patrons and its influence economical-
ly has been felt tar and \vidd.
The 220-volt direct current. that
this plant supplies for ilghting‘und
power service combined. is notable
for its safety and simplicity. and its
use has built up the South Xerymllg
plant to a. gross investment of near-
ly $300,000.00 with gross assets of
over 84.00.000.00. exclusive of the
and good will. All this is clear of
debt and not one cent of it has come
from taxation—its own earned rev.
for it.
As it has always supplied the
street lights on a cost basis. much
saving to the taxpayers has been
considerable during the past as
years...while the other revenue of
the plant has entirely paid for the
street lighting part of the plant
without any help from the taxpayer.
With further regard to the safety
of the service. the ~fact that. during
plant has never been the cause of
a fatality. is an unexcellcd record in
the annals of electricity. ' :
Alternating Current Added
The plant's recent addition of al-
ternating current to its yaried sere
vice is simply in line with the elec-
tricaLcommissloners' policy of an-
ticlpating the people’s wants; it is
by nomeans a forced issue upon
either the people or the plant: only
a provisioxi‘ in keeping with the dc!
where it can beVmost conveniently
obtained and advantageously applied
for the city’s industrial and"oiher
benefits: In this connectioa. it may
be said that alternating current dif-
fer-strain the direct." basically; in
this manner; The direct current is
the simplest to supply and most ecoa
pecially where they-redo! supply is
comparatively small, and compact.
.like that of the Second,
. _ Ania:
other-27..
oihed chain of living and advances ‘
pmgressive values of its franchise 7
enue from low rates alone have paid;
less than they could have been com;
trusted for. therefore. the resulting.
all its many years of operation. this
mands of the times. ready for ,use'
nomlca'l in thickly populated sec- .
tions where the power demand is
considerable and concentrated;' "easy
, district. Al-g
tel-hating :ourront becomes more,
adaptableand econ micaidor long“
cfzth .dislrict.and.-some.fother,parts.
. though "it will be-extended' as
wanowlly’mrmted. aha small! ‘
purpose also doing will be toavotd p
confusion among the consumers that .
Tmishts'result from .the indiscriminate
disadvantage 'of' the : users of the ’
, Invite Inspection of Plant. . ,
Attila conclusion of the inter-
view.1Mr.iWinchester said. "‘It is.
the commissioners and their official
family of the fourth Norwalk’s Elec-
in their plant. We are proud
of it and'want the people to see why
the South Norwalk Electric Works.
we are—if they do. they will oer;
talnly join with us. For though it is
nearly 88 years old. it. is down to
demand is as muchrin step with the
contemporaries. This has been no
little job. It has meant. much scrap-
ping of old equipment. that. had well
served its day, and adding new and
ever greater facilities. The plant's
extensive. yet easy to understand-
accounting system. metering. billing '
and other records. that. at the be-
ginning. I carried about in my
pockets. are interestin‘ and gladly
open to the public. Tell the folks to
ask our lady clerks about them. and
hear them talk about: volts. kilo-
watts and amperes,’ as they would
about hats and frocks—they are
just as simple to understand: not a
bit more mysterious. \Ve wish that
more of the owners-rule consum-
ers—knew morembout their plant.
The new rates that began in Decem-
ber. as a sort of Christmas present.
saved the plant's patrons a lot of
money. Perhaps $5,000.00 as com-
pared with what they would have
paid in one month at the old sched-
ule. Few of them. poulbly. realize it.’
Was it a loss to the plant? Not at
all. Nothing wh rcby it can benefit
those it serves in: best results all
around could be less than a gain to
it. That is what it ie for."
"The credit for the plant's good
results is due most to the confidence
and constantly increasing patronage
of those whom we serve. But .to the
splendid men who have served. and
are now serving. as the Electrical
Commissioners in charge of the
plant. belongs the gratitude of’tho
people. whom they represent. and
the deep appreciation of my co-
workers and myself goes to them.
for the wonderful co~operailon that
they have given of wise counsel. in-
tegrity and unfailing ability. that
has supported us in our united ef—
forts which have contributed a bit
to the never interrupted and ever in-
creasing prosperity of this under-
taking. pledged for pubilc good.
whose law has always been. The
Golden Rule."
Plant Staff.
The Board of Electrical Commis-
sioners of the Second Taxing Dis—
trict 18 composed of: Jacob Linn-
use of one kind of curl-ant to the :
and always has been. the desire of' '
I.
tric’works for its citizen-owners,
especially the ladies. ‘ to come‘
and see ' what is going ., on
present time, as any of its younger ,
Store .
, 'Norwalk, 001m
$1.69 W
$2.25’$2.98
$3.75
’ “Kid Boots”
Misses Sweaters
of highg~rade2
worsted with
novelty lacing
and’fibre trim-
med collar.
rsTr‘TTlasl ! 3.9
1 $4.50: 3; $525 1
.
‘
Treasurer: and Patrick F. Brophy.
Secretary.
The Operation Staff of the plant is
as follows:
Administration: Albert E. V‘Tin-
chcster. General Superintendent.
William H. Dlerlnger. Cashier. Miss
H. E. Holland. Accountant and Sten-
ographer. Mrs. Anna Hamilton.
Bookkeeper. Gerald T. rophy. Me-
ter Service Clerk. John E. Decker.
Office Assistant. Miss Anna J. Bow-
ker. Office Assistant. .
Generation: William H. Masher.
Chief Engineer. Mortimer W. Mesh-
er. ‘Ass‘t Chief Engineer. Emil C.
Juleson. Operator. Edwin C. ‘Bene—
dict. Operator. Harry Newcomb. .Dp-
orator. James MacPhail. Operator.
Albert \Vllliams. Operator. Ralph
Tirelia. Ass't Operator.
Distribution: Ralph W. Bray. Chief
Electrician. Harold E. Dunn. Light-‘
lng Instector. Harry ‘1 Fuller. Met-
er Dep't Assistant. Ernest B. Mar-
riott. Meier Dep't Assistant. Ray C.
Raynor. Meter Dcp't Assistant. John
\V. Luddington. Line Foreman.
Harry Thaycr. Lineman. George
Bossier. Lineman. John Nusel. Line
Helper. Oscar Swanson. Linc Helper.
FLIGHT TO NEW YORK ,
PARIS. April 28.-With a view
to a’ltemptlngn night from Paris to
New York. the French air service
will try out in June an hydroair-
plane of 550 horse power. The craft
will carry 6.000 litres of gasoline
wellcr. President. Thomas Robins.
.‘u
(about 1500 gallons.)
5i
Something .New ’FOlks.’
“Kid B00 5
Ladies’ Swim
with novelty
“Peterpan”
lar and insert it
felt t rimmed
with fibre Stitch.
mg.
l. sT—‘xzza - sum
‘ . Children l 52.75 i $2.981
' TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE LABOR
Do you know that this vast. army of people are engaged my
figurinz with pen and pencil—for what? Merely m get an 81159:.
Think of this erasure waste of human endcaxor (loin; arilhm
the old way. when there is a machine within ll") roar-liq“
which does the work may in leg than half lilo time,
The Lightning Cam is . small,_porlalslc machine Willi
adds, multiphasubtncls and divides. It is now in us”,
thousands of professional and business men. man)” of “hem 1m.
sent us voluntary letters of cammendatlon ablluf its alum.
service. It Wes Widy. and proxos the answers more
quickly than a machine selling for several hundred dollars. an:
get it retails for only $15.00.
Ten of these devices cost less than the price of one ordmm
machine. and will do twenty times as much work. n;
Calculator is shipped in a neat. alimctlve (flrlon. ullll lull in.
simian! Whiz Its operations. and accompanild l»; a (to
tificntc which guarantees :13!!!an should lhe machine 391 w.
of order within live years. “‘hen you have lhe Calming, an;
appreciate its simple yet speedy and accurate operation 50:
will wonder how you ever got along without it.
‘ Call Mrs. Dean
Royal James Hotel
for Demonstration
LIGHTNING CALCULATOR SALES co.
1304 BUSH TWNAL SALES BUILDING NEW YORK. KY.
3
.z
—THE--
; ELEQT 1K MAID BAKE
"Ammmmmarmmzommmc
VVeduesday
see
3
paring-”these delicious bakery goods for
you. Note the excellent materials used’
SHOP ;
wApfil29
"In ..
Here yOu' will be able to buy WHOLE-
SOME, NUTRITIOUS BREAD, DELIC-
IOUS PIES AND ROLLS, TASTY PAS-
VTRVIES of an KINDS all baked freshly.
electricity in surroundings as clean as
your oWn kitchen. Be on hand early and
for yourself the care we usecin' Dre-
C
Norwalk Chronicler