THE EAGLE, VERNONIA, ORE.
THURS., MARCH 21, 1946
6
Wiring for Electrical
Living, Article Subject
Note: The following article,
written by Mary Roche, has been
submitted to The Eagle for pub
lication because it tells of the
need of adequate electric wiring
in the home. The article ap
peared in the New York Times
on February 24, 1946.
By Mary Roche
The tempting prospect of all
play and no work, inspired by the
new and wonderful electric ap
pliances, may have distracted
us from the fact that these in
ventions will not, precisely speak
ing, work all by themselves. They
must
have
current—obtained
easily enough in theory by plug
ging into an electrical outlet and
flipping a switch. In practice,
however, this perfomance can be
multiplied just so many times
and then comes trouble.
En
gineers warn us that an electrical
wiring system designed to ac
commodate a dozen or so lights,
an iron and maybe a refrigerator,
just isn’t up to taking on a toast
er, a roaster, a blanket and a
freezer with a couple of radios
thrown in. So instead of gnash
ing your teeth over the tardiness
of appliances ordered last Octo
ber, it might pay to investigate
the load capacity of your present
wiring system and ascertain
whether it is prepared for the
new arrivals.
No house built prior to 1928
(and not rewired since then)
is equipped to take care of to
day’s electrical loads, according
to the National Adequate Wiring
Bureau, the authority in these
matters. And few houses built
between 1928 and 1941 are ade
quately wired for 1946 require
ments, much less the require
ments predicted for 1956. Hence
the bureau’s earnest plea to re
modelers to plan on a rewiring
job before they start in to add
a room, streamline a kitchen or
even redecorate.
New home builders are urged
to plan a system sufficient to
take care of all the electrical
equipment they have Or can af
ford to buy now, plus whatever
else they think they might like to
have some day.
For it’s ever so much cheaper
to install a good system at the
start than it is to improve an in
adequate cne after the house ¡3
built. To help figure it all out,
the industry committee of in
terior wiring design has just pub
lished a “Handbook of Residen
tial Wiring Design,” containing
diagrams for every room in the
house and suggesting outlet loca
tions f r every appliance you
have ever dreamed of having.
You can get it for 25 cents from
the
committee’s
headquarters,
Room 3650, 420 Lexington Ave.,
New York.
Don’t
pinhh
your car
—give it
the best
—give it
Signai
Oil
Products
HEATH’S
Service
Fh. 571!
I
Some of the trials of poor
wiring are obvious enough— too
few outlets, multiple sockets
trailing tangles of extension
cords. Others, if noticed at all,
are usnally blamed on the wrong
causes.
Lamps give out less
light. The radio seems to fade.
Irons and cooking ap dia .ces take
longer to heat up. Electric mo
tors turn sluggish. It’s not their
fault but just that the circuit—
serving a group of several out
lets and fixtures—is carrying too
much of a load. Meanwhile, you
pay for the same amount of cur
rent, without getting the same
amount of light or heat or power.
If the lights dim or flicker
when the oil burner goes on, that
is a bad sign. If fuses blow out
too often, that is another. A
fuse, in case you have wondered,
is merely an alarm device, a
weak bridge in the circuit that
will heat up and break when the
lead gets too heavy, before the
rest of the circuit has a chance
to heat up and start a fire. A
more modern version of the fa
miliar screw-in fuse ¡3 the cir
cuit breaker, a simple, self-oper
ating switch that springs out
of position when something goes
wrong. After the trouble is cor
rected, the switch is merely
flipped ba.k into place.
(No
frantic hunt for a new fuse.)
Circuit breakers for home use
weren’t made during the war, but
they are coming back again now.'
As a rule you can count the
circuits in a house by counting
the fuies in the fuse box. Un
less your hou e is very large or
very modern the number is prob
ably four or le s. B.t for post
war electrical living, the engi
neers recommend anywhere from
ten to twenty. Here is the way
they figure it out:
Fcr every 5000 square feet of
fl or area, at least one general
purpose ci cuit for lighting fix
tures and convenience outlets
serving portable lamps, radios,
vacuum
cleaners,
and
other
small and
<a ional plug-in de
vices. For kitchen and dining
room appliance., such as r'asters,
r’frigerotors, waffle irons and
toasters, at least one circuit of
ti :r own which is not used to
l;ght.-.
For laundry equipment,
a- ther. And f
certain individ
ual app.iances, individual circuits
t' wh "h no ether equipment or
Fghti’ig is c r.nc'ted ' enge, wa
le- ! eater, laundry drier, auto
matic controls for central heat
er.)
While the circuits are the back
bone of a home wiring system,
the intake (wires leading into the
house) and the outlets have to
measure up too. The arrange
ment of outlets, including light-
i n g
fixtures
and
multiple
switches, varies somewhat with
family requirements. But there
ought to be a separate outlet
for every appliance that is used
habitually in one place so that
multiple sockets and extension
cords can be marked “For Emer-
ency Only.”
LDS Conference For
District Attended
At Hillsboro Sunday
RIVERVIEW—Mr. and Mrs.
Billie Bassett drove to Hillsboro
last week end to visit her sister,
Mrs. Norman Carter and family
and were introduced to the in
fant son who arrived at that
home recently. Mrs. Carter was
formerly agent for the Avon Cos
metics firm in this vicinity.
Congratulations go to Miss
Martha Wells this week as the
only member of the VHS speech
class to win a place in the finals
held Saturday at the Willamette
University at Salem.
Several
members of the class were un
able to get tq Salem due to bad
weather. Miss Well?’ overnight
guests Saturday night were Hulda
White of Birkenfeld and Joyce
Kat-s of Vernonia.
Mrs. Polly Lynch attended the
L.D.S. district conference in
Hillsboro Sunday.
She reports
an attendance -f 300 or more
and a very genial, beneficial gath
ering.
Snnd’V dinner gu’ ts at the
L. L. Wells home were Pev. and
M-s. U. S. Childs of B li'-ar, M >.
Rev. Childs had c nd.ct-d serv
ices at the Christian church in
Vernonia that morning.
Visitors at the Chas. Pa'kie
home daring the week end were
Mr. rnd Mrs. Bert Keck and =on
Vrnnie cf Grand R nde and Mr.
and Mrs. Johnnie Kr"k who came
over from Sultan, Wash.
Just tn while awav a Sunday,
Mr. end Sirs. T. F. Hill ver d ove
tn Seaside Sunday via the Jewel-
Elsie route and returned by way
f Astoria and Clat kanie cir
cling the Oreg n northwest.
4th Birthday
Is Celebrated
RIVERVIEW—Mr. and Mrs.
Leo Violette, who -sold their
Vernonia home two weeks ago to
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Sutton, par
ents of Mrs. Walker, are now
stopping at the Louis Violette
home here.
They own other
homes in Vernonia but must wait
until the expiration of the rental
contracts on them before taking
possession.
A group of pre-school aged
youngsters had a jolly time Mon
day afternoon at the Harry Kipp
home when they gathered to help
little Dickie celebrate his 4th
birthday anniversary. Those pres
ent were Maryl, Mickie and Laura
Taylor, Darla Walker and Dick’s
young brothers. A dainty lunch
GIVE HARRY KING YOUR ORDER
FOR GROCERIES AND HAVE
THEM DELIVERED TO YOUR KIT
CHEN. THAT IS THE WAY TO
FASE THE WORK OF GROCERY
SHOPPING.
AND FROM KING’S YOU GET THE
BEST IN MEATS AND GROCERIES
WHEN YOU ORDER.
KING’S Grocery - Market
i
“Where Your Money Buys More”
At the Mile Bridge
Phene 91
Riverview
Dcn’t Let This I »
Happen to
Your Heme
i
Eecause cf
i
IHI LGE FI
♦
»
t
i
i
!
i
»
« »
I
♦
I
*
»
I
*
»
»
t
•
I
I
1
»
♦
I
I
t
I
♦
I
I
♦
I
»
t
»
»
»
I
»
I
»
»
»
»
t
I
I
f
I
i
of ice cream and cake wa3 served
by Mrs. Kipp.
Monty Dewey and John Wolf
helped Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bea
cons move their household goods
to their new home in Vernonia
Saturday.
Thursday visitors at the Glen
Hawkins home were Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Moore of St. Helens and
on Sunday the Hawkins family
drove to Trenholm for a visit
with Grandpa Serafin.
Mrs. W. D. Steele, who is still
suffering from her recent acci
dent, reports the following vis
itors this week: Mr. and Mrs.
James Walker and children and
Mrs. Rutledge of Eugene from
Tuesday until Thursday, Mr. and
Mrs. Cleve Brown of Jewel
Thursday evening and Mrs. Emil
Messing Saturday.
A week end guest at the
Mahar home was John Hendrick
son of Estacada.
fusing :
ÊF YOUR HOME HAS-
ONE FUSE OR NONE AND WIRE LESS THAN NO. 12 IN
THESE LOCATIONS: WASHROOM, KITCHEN, DINING
ROOM, OR PANTRY,
YOU NEED-
•
•
PROPER PANEL, PROPER WIRE SIZE, PROPER FUSE
SIZE TO PROTECT WIRE, PROPER INSTALLATION OF
APPROVED EQUIPMENT.
PHONE 113-
COST ESTIMATES AND WIRING SUGGESTIONS. SHOP
HOURS 8 A. M. TO 6 P. M.
I
I
•
l
1
♦
I
I
♦
»
t
»
I
j
»
I
»
»
♦
♦
t
I
I
1
I
I
I
t
:
Nehalem Dairy Products Co.
United Electric & Supply Company
:
Union Shop — I.B.E.W.
Mr. and Mr». Harry Kern»
Vernonia Oregon
Washington
and
A
State License No. 510
Sts.
Phone
113
II
•
•
•