made of pipe and located so as to bring the center of gravity a little forward of the rear axle, thereby giving horizontal stability with the gin pole in either a vertical or horizontal position. Figs. 454 and 455 show another type of pole erecting outfit attached to a horse drawn wagon. Both of these outfits have been successfully used for both line construction and maintenance work, their success being due principally to the fact that three or four men are sufficient for construction work and one or two men can care for maintenance work. The type of derrick shown in Fig. 454 also has the distinct advantage that it can be easily lowered to clear obstructions in moving from place to place. The "whipping-in" method of erecting poles is shown in Figs. 456, 457, 458 and 459. This series of pictures will probably be selfexplanatory, and no additional information is necessary to understand the operations. This method has been successfully used in open country.

Tractors

Perhaps one of the newest labor saving practices has been the use of the caterpillar tractor. Not only is such an outfit capable of moving poles, but substation or power station equipment can be moved to out-of-the-way places not accessible with a truck. One instance which came to the attention of the Committee was the moving of thirty to forty tons of machinery over eight miles of an abandoned railroad grade.

Another company successfully used a small caterpillar tractor in constructing a wood pole line across a salt marsh which was inaccessible to horses or trucks.

Portable Substation

To insure prompt restoration of service resulting from transformer failure, or to provide for temporary service installations, several companies have

Fig. 462. Horse Drawn Portable Transformer Substation.

duplication of transformation and metering equip

ment.

Another type of portable substation, horse drawn, is shown in Fig. 462.

The portable substation shown in Figs. 461 and 463 is equipped with two 100 kva. 2200, 110-220 volt transformers. These transformers are arranged to provide five wire 110-220 volt two phase secondary and 220 volt three wire three phase secondary. The primary is introduced to the transformers through roof bushings at the front end of the truck; the bushings connecting to a non-automatic oil switch. The secondary leads from the transformer connect to a five pole fusible secondary switch mounted in an iron box at the rear of the truck. The leads from the house side of this switch pass through secondary roof bushings at the rear of the truck. The portable substation can be placed in service on lines from twenty-five to sixty feet in height, and is used in restoring service to important customers. That it has been successful is evidenced by a case reported in which the transformers feeding one of the largest bakeries in a large city failed in the midst of their

Fig. 466. Flare Lamp for Illuminating Work at Night.

Fig. 467. Cartridge Fuse Holder.

bladed knife propelled by an air driven turbine. The speed of the knife is varied by varying the amount of air controlled by a hand-throttle located in one of the two handles. The machine consumes from 20 to 40 cubic feet of air per minute, depending upon the rate of cutting, requiring from four to eight horsepower. It can be used for smoothing, roofing and gaining the poles.

In a recent demonstration, a very knotty western cedar pole was shaved in twenty-six minutes, during which time the knots were smoothed off flush with

Fig. 468. Unanchored Guy Stub Reinforced with Old Steel Rails.

Fig. 469. Lineman's Hammer.

Fig. 470. Lineman's Wrench.

the pole and the entire surface dressed. The pole was roofed in less than half a minute. It is estimated that this machine did the work at one-sixth the usual labor cost. With a draw knife it is practically impossible to smooth up holes caused by chopping out the knots, but with this machine, in most cases, the surface of the knots is left flush with the pole, thereby eliminating most of the water pockets. The outfit has plenty of power and speed and has no complicated mechanism to get out of order. Fig. 464 shows the pole shaver or planer in use, and Fig. 465 shows the "before and after" effect.

Illumination for Night Work

The increasing need of working on circuits during the night has resulted in the use of flare lamps similar to that shown in Fig. 466. This light is equipped with a reflector, and has been of great usefulness in many emergency jobs.

Torches for Construction Work

In some companies the common blow torch has been replaced by "acetylene gas" torches. The outfit consists of a compressed gas tank of motorcycle size, a flexible rubber hose six or eight feet long and a specially designed burner of very simple construction. A hand line is used in raising the outfit to the top of the pole. The torch has the advantage of being easy to ignite and can be used in wind or rain. It has a lower maintenance cost than the gasoline torch.

Cartridge Fuse Holder

An eye bolt in the door of a fuse box to hold cartridge fuse when removed, as shown in Fig. 467 instead of placing the removed fuse in the bottom of the box, will prevent much trouble.

Reinforced Unanchored Stubs

Fig. 468 shows a home made, yet serviceable, way of reinforcing a guy stub by means of pieces of old rails.

Linemen's Tools

An improvement over the hand axe and monkey wrench is shown in Figs. 469 and 470. The hammer has a bolt running through the handle with a washer which prevents the possibility of the head loosening and coming off. The bolt and nut are recessed into the end of the handle and the recess plugged with wood.

The wrench has openings which will fit all standard nuts used for through-bolts, brace bolts and lag screws on wood crossarms. This wrench is much lighter than the ordinary monkey wrench and is made in one piece, thus avoiding the difficulty so often experienced where monkey wrenches fall apart and the parts become lost.

Method of Changing Oil in Switches and Transformers

Fig. 471 shows a pump successfully used, for changing oil in switches and transformers while in service. The outfit consists of a single action intake. and output reversible pump with a volume of about one-tenth of a gallon. The brass cylinder of the pump is 24" in diameter and 18" long. The pump