ELECTRICITY ON THE FARM

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 233, 6 November 1909, Page 4

ELECTRICITY ON THE FARM

BROUUUX TO MARVELLOUS PERFECTION. Electricity has been harnessed to | some purpose 011 an American farm in j the State of Elaine. A lengthy ac- | ( count of what has been achieved ap- ' pears in the New Herald, from i which we summarise the following: — ; The entire family i* electrically inclined, the father having been for a long , time engaged in mills, in which the machinery was electrically driven. The elder »on has for years been an expert electrician. The eidust girl, aged eleven years, will be the operator of the ne»v branch magneto exchange switchboard in the dining room. {She will, doubtless, Le the youngest operator in New England. A feature of the entire installation, which includes a telephone and electric bell call in each room in the house, besides the manifold other connections with stable, mail box, poultry house and burglar and live alarm system, is the entire absence uf visible wires, except xii the cellar, where the cables, disposed carefully out of harm's way. tell ih.» story of skilful installation. All the different device* work with entire satisfaction, at the press ol (he button, or the operation of the clock that controls them. j At preseiil the electricity required is (obtained from thirty-two dry cell but* | lories; but a water-power will shortly be iusialUd. to be provided by means of a dam across a ravine on the farm. It will then be possible to perform all th. 1 , mechanical work of the farm. *ueh as j sawing firewood, grinding grain, cliaf-. ling ensilage, threshing and various leas-1 |er operations, such us running the separator. maize shelter, grindstone, fanning j mil, churn and sewing machine. After seeing what is now accomplishj rd oil this farm by the aid of electricity, viistors will not he surprised, in the near future, to see cows being milked, horses curried and chicken* picked by rhe same agency. The various culinay operations and the lighting of the entire homestead and outbuildings will also be accomplished by electricity when ine water-power has been installed and 16 in fair ruuning order. Of the various uses to which electricity has been applied on the farm, one that most surprises visitors is the feeding of horsey by merely pressing a button. if it is desired to have the feeding attended to very early in the morni ing, or at any time when the family 13 absent, a switch is turned making the proper connection with an electric clock, .'and at the scheduled time the electric t current does the trick by opening the • bin in which the feed has been previ- ! ously placed. . | Another very interesting feature of I • the equipment its a lire alarm system 5: just as complete and accurate as would j be found in the city systems. An alarm II is sounded on two electro-mechanic il .; gongs, and, in addition, an electric wh'.s- ---»; tie is operated on the front of the barn, t ' An electrical announcement is also .'made when mail matter is deposited In » the rural delivery-box. Each of tile five . poultry-houses is also protected by an , electric burglar alarm, which, when set . oil' by any unusual movement of doors } ur windows in the building, operates a . ten-inch elcctro-nieehauical gong iubide . the dwelling. The bell will continue iu . ring, and the register needle indicate which house is being disturbed, even if a door or window is immediately closed. Ten local telephones are in use. "be- , sides the outside 'phone, each bed-room j being provided with a portable d?s*K •which can be made use of without getting out of bed. r J wo other telephone? are installed, one in the barn and »»ne ' in the shop across the road. A wire i: " also to.be carried round the farm witii provision fo r attaching a portable te phone when the men are at work at, a ' distance from the house. Two othei I novel features are to be installed. On. J irs an electric gate opener, by which thi t cows can be let into the lane that lealt from the pasture to the farm. Th'.s j pate being a considerable distance fron the house, it can be elvclriealFy controlled by pushing ji button, thus saving a J <onsidcrable walk. The other will be a J battery call telephone in Ihe stable. umnccting with the bedrooms in the 7 house, which will sound an alarm when 3 ever there is trouble among the stock. ' Other electrical paraphernalia arc the electrical docks, on of which will ca 1 <\ery room. .or any special one in tht I house. Another strikes the hour on ill; I fifteen-inch mechanical gong in front Ol i the barn, and another control the jVcd | inii of the horse*. An electric clock i? run entirely by batteries without «nv auxiliary aid from springs <.» - j Thi« clock will ruii a year without" the n-aeuinn of lotteries. ; Thi> enterprising family, who hav< * thus brought electricity to such praeti j ca 1 perfection, say they do not expect tr ' mm- many ot the devices employed 011 i their own farm come into general use J| but they nave good reason' to beliew I I hat a considerable number of the wa\> II of employing electrical energy, now i: - and being planned, will be utilised or hundreds of 'Maine farms within th< life-lime of many now living 0 " [-