05 October 1889
Editor of North American Review,
I’m sorry to hear about the tragedy of the Western Union lineman but how can we decide to outlaw the use of AC current just because one person’s live was taken. There have been more deaths in car accidents than there have been by electric current, but we continue to use horse-drawn cars because we can make improvements to make them safer. Had there not been a web of tangled wires, the lineman would’ve been safe to do his job. We should take this as a lesson learned to improve the conditions of wires and poles to make them neater. Even Edison’s workers are asking for alternating current, because it makes electricity much more efficient and economic. Lets work together to make alternating current as common as the horse-drawn car.
sincerely,
George Westinghouse
Details to incorporate:
“were it a question of prohibiting the use not merely of electricity, but of all other things dangerous to life, we would no longer have fires to warm us or light to enable us to see, and, in fact, would be deprived of most the necessaries and comforts of existence” – Westinghouse
source: page 653 on westinghouse article
Westinghouse explaination of the underground THICK copper wires and the problems page 656
bottom of 656 - safety issues in the Edison Company electric systems
