When the electrical illumination of the
Exposition first came under discussion two serious
problems were presented. An artistic success must
be achieved, and this must be done without
anything like the expense which was incurred at
Chicago. Economy must be the keynote of operation.
It was not necessary, of course, to have as many
lights as were used at the Columbian Exposition,
but it was absolutely essential that each light,
whatever the number, should be installed at much
less cost than had been the case at Chicago. The
manner in which Mr. Hasson, assisted by the
mechanical engineering efforts of Mr. Hunt,
attained the object for which he worked, can be
best illustrated by the statement that while at
Chicago every incandescent electric lamp cost
$5.30; the cost of each lamp at the Midwinter
Exposition was $1.50.
The contrast between these figures becomes more
striking when it is remembered that at Chicago
some of the most prominent electricians of the
United States did everything in their power to
provide the electrical illumination as cheaply as
possible. A great deal of the saving in this
expense was accomplished through a reduction in
the cost of wiring. At Chicago every lamp was
wired separately. Mr. Hasson's method at San
Francisco was to wire the lamps in series of five.
By wiring in such series it was necessary to use
only one-twenty fifth of the amount of copper wire
which would necessarily be used if the lamps were
wired separately. At the very outset, therefore,
an enormous expense was saved. This system of
wiring in series has for some time been in vogue
on railroads, but had never been adopted on such
an elaborate scale as at this Exposition To follow
the example set at Chicago would perhaps have been
safe and absolutely secure. To attempt the new
scheme was to face a strong element of
uncertainty. If one lamp in a series should go out
it would disturb the other four, and thus
interfere with the entire illumination. The first
experiment, however, made with the series system,
showed that the Exposition management had actually
secured for $1.50 the same effect which it had
cost the Columbian Exposition $5.30 to obtain.
It would be a difficult matter to determine the
relative economy of the entire lighting of the
California Exposition. The electric plant could
only be looked upon as an emergency plant, and
could not be established on the same basis as a
commercial plant. The only temporary lighting
plant of a similar nature, operated under equal
conditions, with which it is possible to compare
it, was the one at the Columbian Exposition. At
Chicago, however, the industrial center of the
United States, there was ample time to prepare
plans and secure competing bids, and the company
securing the contract for the incandescent
lighting was required to deposit a bond of
$500,000 as a guarantee of the fulfillment of the
contract. At the Midwinter Exposition, through the
personal efforts of the Director-General, who went
on to Chicago when the decision regarding a
general electric illumination was reached,
valuable concessions from the railways were
obtained for the transportation of electrical
machinery, and the electrical companies were so
impressed as to the magnitude of the Exposition as
to believe that the gain from a display of their
machines in operation would more than
counterbalance the expense incurred by loaning
them. The result was that the total expense to the
Midwinter Exposition for the transportation and
rentals of machines and lamps was less than six
thousand dollars for materials which, on the basis
of rentals paid at the Columbian Exposition, would
have cost forty-five thousand dollars. It may be
fairly estimated, therefore, that in this item
alone there was a comparative saving of nearly
forty thousand dollars.
The successful illumination of the Exposition was
entirely dependent on the rapid installation and
successful operation the boiler and engine plants. A
complication was encountered in this connection,
early in the history of the Exposition, by the
declaration of prominent engine builders of San
Francisco, that their support of the Exposition
would depend largely upon whether the Executive
Committee would agree to use only engines
manufactured on the Pacific Coast. Eastern parties
who had offered to furnish electrical facilities
insisted that engines must be designed to fit the
machines they operated, and before this problem was
successfully worked out it really looked as if the
illumination of the Exposition would be very meager
indeed. The engines, boilers, and dynamos, necessary
for furnishing the proposed illumination, could not
have been purchased and installed for less than
$200,000. The Executive Committee could not for a
moment contemplate such an expense, and their only
salvation came through the successful efforts that
were made to induce the various manufacturing
companies to loan machinery and to operate their
engines as exhibits.
Pacific Coast engine-builders were finally
aroused to the great commercial advantages of the
Exposition, and several of them seized the
opportunity afforded in the enterprise of calling
attention to the excellent quality of their
machines. The representatives of Eastern companies
furnished a number of high-speed engines suitable
for the operation of arc-light machines, and then
came up the question of fuel. The disadvantages
arising from the use of coal were definitely
recognized, but oil was out of the question at the
prices quoted in San Francisco. An arrangement was
subsequently made, however, with the Union Oil
Company, and the boiler plant which was at first
installed was retained simply as one of the
attractive exhibits of the Exposition, and to meet
a possible contingency. The boilers were painted
white, and were kept without a stain. Between two
of them a pair of crossed shovels were hung, tied
with a pure white ribbon, in token of the triumph
achieved over dust and dirt.
It was impossible to have all the electrical
effects in readiness at the time of the official
opening of the Exposition. The are-light system
was in readiness, however, and was first put in
operation on the evening of January 27, 1894, the
occasion of the grand ceremonial opening
demonstration. The Exposition remained closed
during the evenings until February 3rd, and after
that date there was no interruption in the
lighting service. Incandescent service was
furnished from February 13 to July 9th, with but a
single interruption of four hours due to the
breaking of the valve gear of an intried engine.
Incandescent service was given from from 10:00
A.M. to 11:00 P. M. for one hundred and forty-nine
days. The total service offered purchasers of
light was 1,937 lamp hours, the charge for which
was $8.00. Service of a similar nature could not
have been obtained commercially in San Francisco
for less than $15.50. Arc-light service was given
for one hundred and fifty-four days, the charge
being $75.00 per lamp. The same service could not
have been obtained commercially for less than
$86.00.
The general features of the illumination of the
Exposition included the illumination of the
grounds and main buildings by arc lights, the
illumination of all Exposition offices by
incandescent lights, the decorative illumination
of the cornices of the main building facing the
central plaza by means of incandescent lights, the
decorative illumination of the Boriet Tower, the
operation of the Electric Fountain, and the
operation of the great search-lights. The
Electrical Department experienced great difficulty
in wiring the buildings for their decorative
lights. The sockets and lamps had to be placed
while the big structures were in process of
construction, and painters and carpenters were
constantly disturbing the arrangements made by the
electricians. And yet the triumph was complete.
The illumination of the Exposition buildings and
of the central court was the sensation of the
Exposition. The effect of the turning on of the
two hundred arc lights which surrounded the court
was surprising in itself, but when the three
thousand incandescent lights with which the
buildings were outlined came into view, the scene
was beautiful beyond anything which had ever been
seen in this part of the world.
These incandescent lights were run in continuous
lines along the caves and up and down the spires
and minarets of all the main buildings, outlining
their prominent architectural points as accurately
as the clear cutting of the cameo. The
illumination of the Administration Building was
particularly effective, the lines of incandescent
lights outlining its dome, culminating in a great
mass of light at the apex, and throwing the
beautiful structure like a vivid picture against
the dark background of the night. The illumination
of the Agricultural and Horticultural Building was
also particularly interesting. The broad, round
glass dome of that structure presented an
appearance, with its glittering surface reflecting
a thousand incandescents, quite as beautiful as
that of any of the handsome structures which were
on this occasion seen at the best possible
advanousand for thtage. The regular lines of the Egyptian
structure, where the fine-art treasures were on
exhibition, formed a pleasing contrast to the
curved line illumination of some of the other
buildings, and the irregular effects produced by
the illumination of the turrets and deep cornices
of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building all
went to make up a picture of light that
constituted one of the paramount attractions of
the Exposition.
But there was a still greater attraction in the line
of illumination when the wonderful Electric Tower
shown forth in all its brilliancy. This feature was
the result of an idea originally offered to the
Midwinter Exposition management. It had been thought
of by its projector, Leopold Bonet, before the
Columbian Exposition at Chicago, but he was unable
to make the necessary arrangements there. The tower
itself was not so much of a novelty as an
engineering construction, since it was somewhat
after the same design as the famous Eiffel Tower,
but in the matter of its illumination it was it was
a decided novelty, and as decidedly an electrical
sensation. The tower was two hundred and seventy-two
feet high. In its illumination there were three
thousand two hundred incandescent bulbs. One
thousand of these were employed for outlining the
tower, one the fixed decorative light
effects, and twelve hundred in the changing
geometrical designs.
The variations in the designs shown in
incandescent lights on the four sides of the tower
were in the form of spheres, Greek crosses,
diamonds and irregular rosettes, one change
following the other in quick and beautiful
succession, the instrument of transformation being
a controlling switch, the principle of which was
somewhat similar to that of a music box, a
revolving cylinder with wooden stops of different
lengths. By shifting these blocks an infinite
number of combinations could be made. It was
something like playing one song in many keys, the
length and position of the blocks determining the
key. Several times each minute the cylinder
completed a revolution, and in each revolution all
the combinations of each design were shown. A more
technical description of the automatic revolving
switch, which controlled the disappearing figures
on the tower, and which was situated on the lower
or ground floor of that structure, gives some
interesting details of its operation. The cylinder
was eighty-five inches long and twelve inches in
diameter, made up of a number of cast-iron disks
set with five-eighths inch space between them.
Each of the disks was furnished with holes and
slots along the edge, through which bolts could be
passed for securing pieces of hard wood, which
projected three-fourths of an inch above the
surface. These pieces were one-half of an inch
wide, and curved and set concentric with the
cylinder. They were of various lengths, depending
upon the time the circuit was to be closed. Two
rods, the length of the cylinder, were placed on
each side, acting as centers upon which swung
fifty-six bell cranks of cast brass. One main from
the dynamo was connected with these centers, thus
making the bell cranks a part of the electric
circuit. The horizontal arms of these levers had
holes formed by pieces of spring brass, bent round
and bolted to the ends of the arms, and in these
holes were secured, by spring pressure, short
pieces of arc-light carbons, making contacts with
corresponding pieces held in springs secured to
circuit boards, one of which was placed on each
side of the switch. The springs in which these
second carbons were secured were quite stiff, so
that the carbons could be pressed together with
considerable force, and each spring was connected
with a binding-post, by means of which it could be
placed in a circuit leading to a group of lamps on
the tower. Springs acting on the bell cranks kept
the circuits broken at the carbon contacts, except
at such times as they were pressed forward by the
pieces on the revolving cylinder.
The cylinder was turned steadily by a one-half
horse-power motor, the speed of which was much
reduced by one spur and one worm gear. Usually the
cylinder had a speed of about two revolutions per
minute, but, by means of a rheostat in the field
of the motor, could be varied from two to thirteen
revolutions. The switch was arranged to control
twelve figures on the tower. each of which
consisted of several sub-figures. As the cylinder
revolved there came a point where all the lamps of
the figure were lighted and a little further
movement of the cylinder caused all the contacts
to break away and the figures begin again. The
carbon contacts opened about one-half inch, and
with one hundred and ten volts the arc would hold.
To avoid this a blower, run by a motor placed
beneath the switch, discharged air into a two-inch
pipe running the length of the switch and close to
the carbon contact, one for each, and a continual
blast of air played upon them and blew out the
arcs when the circuits were broken.
In addition to the illumination of the Exposition
buildings, and the effective illumination of the
tower, a peculiar charm was added to the scene in
the Grand Court every evening by the playing of
the wonderful Electric Fountain. When the fountain
played, all the other lights were extinguished, a
whistle signal being given fire minutes before the
turning op of the water and lights at the
odd-looking fountain basin at the end of the court
nearest the Manufacturers and Liberal Arts
Building. The fountain was circular in form and
had a diameter of sixty feet. It presented an
appearance by day similar to that of a couple of
dozen tin chimney-tops, but a bulkhead was built
around this so that, except from a bird's-eye
view, these unsightly protuberances were not
always in view. At night, however, and when the
fountain was in operation, it was nothing but a
thing of beauty, and a joy as long as it lasted.
The plan of operating the fountain was extremely
complex. Beneath the upper deck, as it was called,
was a chamber, sixteen feet in diameter and high
enough for the operators to walk about standing
erect. This chamber was filled with great electric
lamps, enormous reflectors and colored screens.
Beneath each big nozzle was a revolving screen.
There were nineteen of these in all. Beneath each
screen was an electric lamp and its reflectors,
which flashed the powerful rays through the
colored glass and onto the water which jetted into
the air.
To operate this fountain a large supply of water
was, of course, absolutely necessary, and to
secure this, the water was used over and over
again. To accomplish this a canal was constructed
at the western end of the fountain, so that after
water was thrown up, it would fall into the canal
and be carried back through a thirty-inch riveted
wrought-iron pipe to a receiving tank situated
near the fountain pumps which were located in the
annex to the Mechanical Arts Building. The pumps
used in this connection consisted of three
compound, duplex, direct-acting Dow pumps. These
had a capacity of 12,500,000 gallons per day. The
water was pumped from a tank sunk in the ground,
and was forced through a pipe two feet in
diameter. When it reached the fountain it was
forced into the big nozzles, each of which had two
central jets, surrounded by sixty smaller ones.
The fountain was operated two hundred and
fifty-two times during the Exposition, and in no
instance was the operation anything but a success.
The effect of the operation of the Electric
Fountain can never be described so that the mere
reader may realize its beauties as well as one who
witnessed the scene. It must be remembered that
the fountain played in the midst of the darkest
surrounding. When the signal bad been sounded for
the fountain to begiu there were great crowds
always within view of the spectacle. The clear
light first showed up through the great iron tube
from the electrical regions below. An instant
later came the jets of water. In the center arose
the great geyser-like jet, higher than all the
rest, and flanked by a curtain of gracefully
falling spray. On the outer circle of the fountain
a row of sheaves of wheat were formed by hundreds
of spiral spouts. These sheaves at first took on
the golden hue of ripened grain, each yellow spray
in the bundle being distinct. Gradually the
sheaves assumed a vivid Nile-green tint, and the
great geyser in the center, which had formerly
been white, changed to a pale lavender. The
blending of colors in this way added greatly to
the effect, and the combinations of colors that
had hardly been deemed possible were in this way
produced without offense to the artistic eye.
Suddenly there would be an entire change in the
operation of the fountain. It seemed as if a volcano
of water had broken loose. From the outer row of
nozzles great streams of water gushed up and met at
the apex of the central geyser. All these would fall
away again, and then the operation would change to
something between the giant spouting and the
garnered sheaves of grain, and there would be an
effect something like a golden field of waving
grain. And then the sponting would follow once more,
and by and by the garnered sheaves would stand once
more in military precision around within the circle.
For fifteen minutes on each occasion the fountain
played with alternate solid and prismatic effects,
over twenty changes being thrown out by the colored
disks. It was by far the grandest electrical
illumination ever seen on the Pacific Coast, and
many who witnessed the similar fountain at the
Columbian Exposition averred that the experience
there gained had made it possible to produce a still
more beautiful effect in the new setting accorded to
the wonderful mechanical contrivance at the
Midwinter Exposition. The fountain was played twice
every evening, once as soon as it became dark, at
first at 7:30 P.M., but later in the season at 8:30
P.M., aud then again at 9:30 P.M., when fireworks or
other special evening features had been finished.
Thousands of people who felt as if they could not
spend their whole evening on the Exposition grounds
lingered until after the first playing of the
fountain, as if that were a treat they did not dare
to miss.
Another feature of the electrical operations at
the Exposition was the great search-light on the
top of the Electric Tower. This was the largest
search-light in the world. It was the same one
that had been used at the Columbian Exposition.
The power of its beam of light is estimated as
equal to that of three hundred and fifty million
candles. This great light, located two hundred and
seventy-two feet from the ground, threw its strong
arm of radiance out over all the surrounding
country, illuminated the further shores of San
Francisco Bay, and shone full in the faces of
mariners coming in from the sea and steering for
the Golden Gate.
