In the Trenches.
The systematic laying out of street mains in the first company district was begun in the summer of 1881. It must not be thought, of course, that these old-time conduits resembled strikingly those of the present day. The method then used was to dig a trench in which were laid the pipes measuring twenty feet in length. Through these the conductors were drawn, two half-round copper wires kept in place first by heavy cardboard and afterward by rope. The conductors having been drawn in, a preparation of asphaltum and linseed oil was forced into the piping to serve as insulation. The spending of three and four arduous nights a week in these trenches by Mr. Edison and his associates suggests the rigor of the later European warfare. This work, together with that incident to the operation of the new station, often proved too much even for Edison’s phenomenal endurance. At such times he slept on a cot close beside the running engines, while the rest of the crew crawled in on the lower row of field-magnet coils of the dynamos, a place warm enough, though a trifle bumpy. One of the inventor’s early assistants tells of going to sleep standing up, leaning against a door frame—this, after forty-eight hours of uninterrupted work.
The Dynamo Room of the First Edison Electric Lighting Station in New York
September 4th saw a full 400 lamps turned on from the Pearl Street station. From that day on the station supplied current continuously until 1895, with but two brief interruptions. One of these happened in 1883 and lasted three hours. The other resulted from the serious fire of January 2, 1890, and lasted less than half a day. The record in the second case would appear astounding, as no less a handicap occurred than the burning down of the station itself. The situation was saved, however, by the presence of an auxiliary plant that had already been opened on Liberty Street.