File:Bell telephone magazine (1922) (14569486629).jpg

Identifier: belltvol20elephonemag00amerrich (find matches)
Title: Bell telephone magazine
Year: 1922 (1920s)
Authors: American Telephone and Telegraph Company American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Information Dept
Subjects: Telephone
Publisher: (New York, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., etc.)
Contributing Library: Prelinger Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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creased use ofengine-driven equipment for emer-gency sources of power, remarkedthat The A. T. & T. Company real-izes the likelihood of interruptions sowe are seeing scores of emergencyDiesel plants being installed by theBell Telephone System. What is the emergency equipmentthat is thus referred to? Briefly, itconsists of an engine driving a gen-erator for furnishing power to keepthe batteries in the central officecharged during an interruption of thecommercial power service. Shouldthese batteries be allowed to becomedischarged, the office could not func-tion, and, while a failure of a tele-phone office even under normal con-ditions might be termed a calamity,it takes no great effort to realize thevital importance as a defense measureof making sure that under no condi-tion will there be an interruption ofthe current required to keep thestorage batteries in telephone centraloffices in a properly charged condi-tion. Experience has indicated that un-der normal conditions the large ma-
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jority of power failures are of shortduration and do not approach theperiod during which the batteries willcontinue to carry the office load be-fore they become discharged. Tele-phone service, however, must bemaintained under abnormal as wellas normal conditions, and it is theseabnormal conditions which determinethe need for providing emergency en-gine equipment. Such abnormal con-ditions arose, for example, during theunprecedented floods of 1936 and1937 which made it impossible fordays to supply electric power serviceto such cities as Pittsburgh, Hartford,and Louisville. For another illustration, there wasthe short circuit and fire in the HellGate power station in January, 1936,which interrupted power in a largepart of New York City for severalhours. A fire in the Essex powerstation in December, 1936, resultedin power failure in the central partof Newark, New Jersey, and in somesuburbs, for intervals of from five toeight hours. The March, 1938, floodsin Southern California, reported

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