be taken as is taken in the selection of any other machine for the application of power. Price is a poor criterion, the cheapest is rarely the best; and furthermore, the extraordinary attempts now made by the electric companies to underbid each other and get work on whatever terms, lead to all kinds of disastrous results, not only to the seller but to the buyer as well. There is another fact that we have to meet, and that is, that while the electric motor car takes the place, not only of the present car but of the horses as well, it only gets the care that is now given to the car, and none of the care that is given to the horses. Now you cannot expect a mechanical thing to run well and successfully, unless it is well taken care of, and unless the same care and attention is given to it as is given to other machinery. Somebody must take care of all mechanical things; somebody must keep the mechanism in good and proper shape, and unless so kept up, it will be a dismal failure. Mr. Woodworth: I should like to hear from the ThomsonHouston Company. Mr. Mansfield is here and represents that system, and a good many of us would be glad to hear from him. REMARKS OF MR. GEORGE W. MANSFIELD ON THE Mr. George W. Mansfield, of New York, of the Thomson Houston Electric Company: Mr. President and gentlemen of the Association. I know that it is rapidly approaching the hungry man's dinner hour, and I think that the merits of the Thomson- Houston system in incandescent and arc lighting, stationary motors and its new railway work, are so well appreciated and being so thoroughly recognized by all, that any lengthy remarks made here would be unnecessary. I would, however, like to state one or two facts on one or two matters which I think pertinent. First and foremost, we invite the most accurate and minute inspection of all the street-railway men at this gathering or in this country to our system. There is nothing covered up, there is nothing to be hidden, and there is no secret about it which we do not want you all to possess. We clearly recognize that to have our system adopted by street-railway men, they must first know about it, and they can only know it by thoroughly investigating and ascertaining all that it is possible to learn. For my part, I should prefer to have every street railway manager or superintendent an electrician; and I agree with Mr. Blackwell in his remarks that the electrical motor, as a mechanical construction, must have care and supervision, and must have intelligent inspection. They cannot run covered with slime and grease; they cannot run where moisture is prevalent, and where the rain is going to beat down upon them and flood them, and they cannot run under a great many other circumstances, which many street-railway men suppose they can run under. We have here in Washington, running from Seventh street out to the boundary line, and then beyond to Eckington, about two miles of road. Upon that road is exemplified most of the details of our system, our truck, with its mode of suspension of the motor, this motor being one with the truck and not suspended from the car, the form of the motor, the form of the gearing, the contact arm, the armature, the brush-holder, the brushes, and the manner of controlling the motors, all of which are pertinent points that every one of you must familiarize yourself with before you can intelligently select an electric motor for your roads. Upon this road you will see two cars running. We did not intend originally to hurry the line through so rapidly, but to take proper time and adjust everything carefully, but due to solicitations we have pushed matters, and now, as I say, we have two cars in operation on the line. Regarding the overhead work, and it is entirely constructed with the overhead system, I would say that the three methods most generally in use are there shown. One method which has not been applied in any other city in the United States, to my knowledge, and is destined to take a prominent position in the construction of overhead lines in large cities, is the location of the poles in the centre of the street between the tracks. New York avenue is broad, and, therefore, this method is permissible. Along through a cut just beyond the boundary is what we call the bracket method; that is, one pole on the side of the street, and arms extending from that pole. Further out is what we call the cross suspension method. In this method the poles are upon both sides of the street, with supporting wires reaching across. If you give this road your careful inspection, you will see there these three methods exemplified. We would like to call your attention to our commutators and cone insulators; also to the attachment of the car to the top of the conductor, so that it allows a perfectly smooth and free surface on the under side of the wire for the trolley wheels to roll upon. We would like, also, to call your attention to the frogs for cross-overs and the curve-ears. I note that the electricians and electrical constructors of different companies are sometimes prone to offer apologies and excuses, and say we are not quite ready and have not got everything done; but we are going to do such and such a thing, and are going to do this and that. We have done in the limited time which the United States Senate would allow to us, we feel, a fairly creditable amount of work. This line, it must be remembered, was put up under some opposition. There was a law framed by the United States Senate that no more wires should be put up after a certain day. This law bothered us a good deal, and we had to push around very lively to get our overhead work up before the expiration of this date. But we succeeded in accomplishing our object, and our cars are now running, and we invite your careful inspection of the line. Before taking my seat I would like to ask one other favor of the street-railway men, and that is, that as the Thomson-Houston electricians do not know to-day all there is to be known in regard to street-railway management and street-railway requirements, on our side of the house we would like to ask questions of you; we would like to have your hearty co-operation; we would like to hear from you every time we can. Call on us, go to our factory, and assist by your practical railway experience. In this way the Thomson-Houston Company feel they can build what you require, and will construct apparatus that will meet your wants quicker and better than to go along thinking that they know it all, and that they can manage a street-railway as well as you. Trusting that we shall have the pleasure of seeing you on the road this afternoon, I will take my seat, unless there is some question that you would like to ask in regard to the Thomson-Houston system. Mr. Sinclair: I would like to hear from the gentleman in regard to the relative danger or safety of the system, in regard to accidents to passengers. I ask that question for the reason that I believe that yours was the Van Depoele system originally. Mr. Mansfield: The only connection of our system, as put forth to-day, with the Van Depoele system, is, that the ThomsonHouston Company purchased all of Mr. Van Depoele's electric railway patents, and they have the services of that extraordinarily ingenious and practical man. While the system which we put forward embodies a great many of his ingenious points and ideas, and which are protected by his patents, yet the motors, the method of suspension, and a great deal of the other work is done purely and entirely on the Thomson-Houston system and principles. Mr. Sinclair: I ask the question for this reason: I am told that the road at Montomgery, Alabama, has had a number of serious accidents resulting from the electrical conductors. Mr. Mansfield: That road was built by Mr. Van Depoele before the Thomson-Houston Company decided to go into the field. They have absolutely no connection with the road, and the question of danger cannot be thrown upon their system any more than on any other. I presume the only danger you had reference to was the liability of the construction wire to fall, or something of that kind; or possibly the question of shocks from the potential used in a very leaky conductor. The potential which we have used varies; in some instances it is four hundred, and in some cases six hundred volts; it usually averages about four hundred and fifty. That question was very carefully considered, and gone into in detail by the Committee appointed by the United States Senate; and that Committee decided that the Thomson-Houston system was not dangerous at all; and, therefore, granted the permit to put it up. In regard to the only accident which I have ever heard of personally, occurring at Montgomery, I believe it was caused by the falling of some wire, telegraph wire or something of that kind, which came in contact with the overhead wire of the railway, and then a portion of it fell to the ground; and some man driving his horse upon the wire, had his horse receive a shock. We protect our wires by means of guard wires, so that any falling wire cannot touch the conductor; and our methods of construction are so well known and are so perfect that no road need have any accident of this nature. The Thomson-Houston Company means to do what is right, and to throw every possible safeguard which the ablest of electricians and engineers can devise around their system. LETTER OF INVITATION FROM MR. ROSS THOMPSON TO VISIT THE CYCLORAMA-"THE BATTLE OF SHILOH." The Secretary then read the following letter of invitation. from Mr. Ross Thompson, to visit the Cyclorama, "The Battle of Shiloh:" OFFICE OF THE CYCLORAMA, E. V. CAVELL, ESQ., Manager, STREET-RAILWAY GAZETTE, Dear Sir:—Permit me to extend to you, and through you to the delegates of the American Street-Railway Association and their ladies, the courtesies of the Panorama of the Battle of Shiloh, during your stay in our city. The white button worn by the members of the Association will secure an entrée. Respectfully, ROSS THOMPSON, Manager. The President: The Chair will request the Secretary to acknowledge the invitation. Mr. Wason, of Cleveland: I would like to say just one word. I am one of the representatives of the East Cleveland Railroad Company. Mr. Sprague spoke of equipping a portion of our road with electricity; and for the benefit of the Association I wish to substantiate what he has said. We are not a West End Company, though we have a very creditable plant in the "Forest City;" and of our twenty miles of line, we expect to equip about eight single track miles with the Sprague system of electricity; and that with the hope that in the future we shall see our way clear to equipping the entire road. Our power-house is of sufficient dimensions to supply power for the entire line, which we contemplate operating with electricity; and if in the course of the next month or six weeks any of the gentlemen are passing through Cleveland, we should be very glad to show them the system, which we are in hopes of having in operation by that time. REMARKS OF MR. HENRY W. SAGE ON HORSE ROADS. Mr Sage Mr. President, it strikes me that we are getting off the track. At St. Louis we heard mostly of horse railroads ; at Cincinnati we heard a great deal about cable roads; at Philadelphia it was hardly anything but electricity; and at this Convention we are hearing nothing but cable and electricity. Throughout this beautiful city we see nothing but horse railroads, yet at this Convention we hear nothing about running horse railroads; we hear nothing about the kinds of cars we should use; we hear nothing about accommodating passengers; we hear nothing about lighting or heating cars; we hear nothing about coming down grades and holding our cars; we hear nothing |