AMERICAN NOTES.

By DAS TELEPHON.

REVIEW

Mr. MITCHELL, the new Commissioner of Patents, is kept busy reviewing the decision of principal examiners, and scarcely a week passes that he does not reverse their decision, especially those made by Frank Brown, Principal Examiner in the Electrical Division. This Brown has been several times mentioned in these Notes," as eminent for his total ignorance of electrical matters. The following decision was made by the Commissioner a few days ago. Westinghouse is about to take another turn at litigation by suing all the electric light companies of the United States using the alternate current system, for taking advantage of the benefits of a patent of which he is the sole owner by right of a patent which was issued to-day. The patent in question covers very broadly the system of alternating current distribution, and it represents the fundamental patents of alternating currents and converter in multiple arc systems of distribution, and nearly all electric light companies, except the Edison Company, have used this system for years. The great advantage of the invention is to render the expenditure of power required in operating a plant to be at all times directly proportional to the amount of work done, and also causing the lamps to burn with the same brilliancy irrespective of the number of lamps. The invention was made by a Scotchman, Mr. Rankin Kennedy, of Glasgow, who wrote a number of articles about the advantages of his invention in an electrical paper in 1880*; but nobody seemed to take any notice of the matter, and Kennedy was frequently ridiculed. Mr. Westinghouse, however, who realised at once the great benefits of the invention, entered into negotiations with Mr. Kennedy, which culminated in the purchase of Mr. Kennedy's patent. This fact, however, has been kept a secret among the Westinghouse people, and while they have used the invention they never made any public claims. Now that the patent has been issued, Mr. Westinghouse intends to prosecute his claims, and proceedings will be entered against all the parties using the patent. The ThomsonHouston Electric Company, the Fort Wayne and Jenney, and the Brush Electric Company are all using the invention, and Mr. Westinghouse will enter suit against all of them either to-day or Saturday.

This invention is of the utmost importance to these companies, and if they lose the suit the financial loss will not only involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the companies will also lose the advantage of the invention and be forced to use another system more expensive and less practical.

Gas in the Subways.-Dr. Edward A. Martin, chemist of the Health Department, has made a report to the board in relation to the electrical subways in this city, in which he says that there are about 1,100 miles of gas mains in the city. The leaky joints and imperfections in these mains allow nearly 10 per cent. of the gas made to escape into the earth and air. Dr. Martin says About 8,660,000,000 cubic feet of gas was made during the past year, 10 per cent. of which would be 866,000,000 cubic feet. A large amount of this leakage finds its way into the subways. Many of the complaints of gaseous odours in this city are, in my opinion, due to the gas escaping from the electrical subways. The danger of explosion, should the gas accumulated in the subways be ignited, is great." Dr. Martin recommends that the electrical subways be properly ventilated to prevent the dangerous accumulation of illuminating and other gases, but he does not suggest any definite plan for such ventilation. A copy of the report will be sent to the Board of Electrical Control. The death penalty by electricity is creating a sensation in New York among electricians and self-styled electricians. some of the statements made before the committee.

Here are

Councillor Charles H. Hatch, of Buffalo, has been trying very hard to avoid having William Kemmler, the murderer, made a practical test of the efficacy of the electrical apparatus supplied to the State by Expert Harold P. Brown, but he has no objections to serving himself as a subject for Mr. Brown's experiments, though he would probably draw the line at the full voltage of a Westinghouse alternating current dynamo.

Without a moment's hesitation the lawyer sat down on a chair in Edison's laboratory at Orange, N.J., calmly took off his shoes and stockings, and placed his left foot on a large zinc electrode covered with thick felt, while Electrician Wirt bound a towel around his neck and held on the top of his bald head an electrode measuring 4 by 6 inches, also covered with felt, and moistened with a solution of sulphate of zinc.

If Mr. Hatch had been a condemned murderer, I should not hesitate to say that he looked like a hardened guilty wretch as he sat there waiting for the shock that was to determine his resistance to electricity.

"Have you any dying requests to make?" asked Mr. Brown. "No," was the stolid reply.

The eyes of a dozen men were fixed upon the lawyer as the full force of the current ran through his frame. There was a moment of breathless suspense. Then the electrician operating the Wheatstone bridge, after pulling one peg after another from the board in front of him until the deflection of the magnetic needle in the background showed that it had reached the proper point, exclaimed:"The contact is not good. The resistance shown is 9,870 ohms." With this result in mind, Mr. Hatch may safely be described as

is doubtless meant for the ELECTRICAL REVIEW, and the be 1883.-EDS. ELEC. REV.

"I'll guarantee to do it with 1,000," was the confident answer, and although Mr. Hatch looked incredulous, he did not ask to have the experiment tried. When he placed both of his bare feet on the lower electrode, his resistance was recorded at 8,170 ohms.

Dr. Frederick Peterson has not the slightest doubt that William Kemmler, the Buffalo murderer, could be instantaneously and painlessly killed by electricity. The doctor has made a special study of electricity, using it constantly in his practice in treating nervous and mental diseases. He took part in the experiments made last year upon dogs, horses, and calves at Edison's labora tory at Orange and at Columbia College, to determine the death dealing power of the electric current. The interesting results of his observations were spread upon the records of the Kemmler habeas corpus proceedings before Referee Tracy C. Becker.

He said emphatically that vivisection proved that lower animals could endure more severe attacks upon life than men. Operations upon the brain or intestinal canal that would almost invariably result in the death of a man usually had no serious consequences upon dogs. The best authorities agree that the nerves carry sensa tions about 90 feet a second-infinitely less velocity than the electric current shows.

"Can an electric current be produced by artificial means, in your opinion, and be so applied to a human being as to cause death in every case?" asked Assistant Attorney-General Poste. "I think so," replied the physician.

"And do you think that death could be caused in every case instantly and without pain?"

"Yes, sir."

Dr. Peterson thought that if the electrodes were properly arranged there would be no danger of any burning. If they were applied to the head and feet of the criminal, as proposed, the current would diffuse itself throughout all the tissues of the body inside of the skin. He did not think it was possible for the current to fail to strike a vital part. He said he considered the effect of the alternating current twice as great as that of the continuous current.

Under cross-examination by Counsellor Hatch the doctor said he was satisfied of the death of the dogs upon which experiments had been made, as they had ceased to breathe a certain sign of death if continued for any length of time. Death was also evidenced by the ceasing of the beats of the left ventricle of the heart. He declared that for his part he declined to believe in the possibility that men could show every sign of death and lie for days apparently dead before reviving. There was no doubt that the dogs operated upon were dead, though for 36 minutes after one of the bodies had been cut open the auricle of the heart continued to beat. This was due to nervous ganglia, and was by no means unusual. Dogs' hearts sometimes beat for half a day after they have been removed from their bodies. Rabbits' hearts often beat for ten hours, and those of frogs and turtles for ten days under the same conditions. The idea that any of the dogs were merely suffering from suspended animation never occurred to him, and he made no efforts to restore any of them to life. dissected some of the bodies and examined sections of the viscera and muscles under the microscope. He found that the blood was unusually dark and that some of the capillary vessels in the nerves had been broken. The dogs that exhibited pain when they first received shocks were those upon which experimental currents were tried. Just why death results from electricity and why the heart stops nobody knows.

He

John H. Noble, a young man in the employ of the Westinghouse Company, followed Dr. Peterson on the witness stand. About fifteen months ago, he said, he was fixing a safety catch in Denver, when he slipped and both of his hands came into contact with the wires of an alternating current machine having a pressure of over 1,000 volts. He jumped back and escaped with bad burns. He was very nervous for some hours afterward, and he could not entirely get rid of the unpleasant feeling for three weeks. He declared that he did not know of any electric current that was absolutely certain to cause death.

Francis W. Jones, assistant general manager and electrician of the Postal Telegraph and Cable Company and general manager of the United Lines Company, was asked to describe a number of experiments he had made in testing on the Wheatstone bridge the electrical resistance of different men. He began by measuring himself, and the first test on a one cell battery, with one finger of each hand on an electrode, showed 80,000 ohms resistance. He increased the battery to ten cells and found his resistance reduced to 37,000 ohms. Other tests that he made upon himself on the same day showed variations of from 16,000 to 36,500 ohms. With a two-cell battery and electrodes on his head and at the back of his neck his resistance was recorded at 31,000 ohms. By taking the electrode from his head and placing it under his fifth rib the resistance changed to 26,000. Repeating the experiment with five cells, the first position showed 11,000 and the second 8,100 ohms, and a few minutes later the bridge marked less than one-half of this resistance. He made similar tests on a number of different subjects with widely varying results.

What Mr. Jones has read about Mr. Brown's experiments upon dogs has raised the doubt in his mind whether any particular electrical current can be relied upon to kill. Mr. Brown in his own published report showed that he had killed one dog in 15 seconds with 106 milliamperes of a continuous current, but had failed to kill another dog with 140 milliamperes alternating current. The

dogs operated upon by Mr. Brown varied in resistance from 2,600 to 36,500 ohms; while a dog that was twice tested by electrician Kennelly showed a resistance of 200,000 ohms.

The number of volts necessary to kill a man depends upon his resistance, and that is affected by hot and cold weather, and it may be materially increased if his blood has become impoverished and contains less than the usual quantities of salt and iron. The saline fluids of the body are good conductors, but the flesh, fibres and bones of themselves are non-conductors.

Alexander McAdie, who described himself as a student of atmospheric electricity and an expert in lightning, was the next witness. He said the general effect of a current such as was proposed to be used on Kemmler would be unconsciousness, rupture of the corticle cells of the cerebrum, paralysis of the nerves and muscles, suspense of respiration and then suspense of circulation. He thought, however, that it was a serious question whether or not the current would kill, as the physical resistance of man differs materially. Then there is a possibility that the current would pass entirely on one side of a man's body, causing absolute paralysis of that side, but perhaps not killing him. If the current were continued and the sponges at the end of the metal electrodes became dry, carbonisation of the body would result. It was possible that a man might be burned even with the sponges wet. He cited the case of a woman who had been struck by lightning and who was thought to be dead for some time, but who was revived under medical treatment. English medical journals, he said, had reported the case of a man struck by lightning and thought to be dead, who was given medical aid 24 hours later and revived. In experiments made abroad a rabbit was placed before a machine that could throw a spark 29 inches. This spark flew around the animal without killing him.

Mr. McAdie does not think that the tests made upon animals form any criterion upon which to base a calculation of the effects of electrical shocks upon men.

"What, in your opinion, would be the effect of an electric current applied to a criminal in the manner which it is proposed to try it?" asked Mr. Cockran.

"Well," the witness responded, halting through his answer, "it is a question whether it would kill or not. Its deadly effect would depend upon the subject's resistance and upon the route through the body which the current took. It might only paralyse one half of his body and leave the other half unharmed. The route taken by the current would largely depend upon the subject's physical condition."

"Does it follow that because an electric current is sent into a man it will pass through any vital spot?

"Not at all. It might kill him, and if it didn't kill him instantly it might carbonise him-burn him up."

The moistened sponges which it is proposed to use in the death chair to lessen the heat at the point of contact, the witness said, would not inevitably prevent the burning of the flesh. The current might burn up the sponges too.

"If the sponges were kept wet and the current were kept up, as the law provides, until the subject is dead, would it burn the man up, provided it did not kill him at first?

"Yes, I think it would char his flesh," the witness responded, . and Mr. Brown and other experts present laughed quietly at the reply.

He did not think that any safe conclusion could be drawn from experiments on animals as to the effect of electricity upon human beings or as to the electromotive force which would inevitably kill. There is no known means of generating a current which would always kill.

"

That is," he added, "when we deal with electricity we are not sure of anything. We have no means of knowing whether a man who has been killed by electricity was killed instantly or not, or painlessly. We don't know how it kills; we simply know that the man is dead."

Mr. Poste then cross-examined Mr. McAdie at considerable length. He asked the witness some questions about books which he had read, and the witness seemed to experience a good deal of difficulty in replying. Mr. Poste enumerated several works by standard authors which Mr. McAdie had never read, and finally he admitted that he had never read any book upon the effect of lightning upon human beings, and had never observed the effect of a stroke of lightning upon a human being. He was asked as to his opinion of the works of Silvanus Thompson and other writers upon electrical subjects, and said that he would prefer not to express an opinion, his manner conveying the impression that he regarded Mr. Thompson and the others as of no account, but he would not wound their tender natures by saying so out loud. Mr. McAdie was then further questioned concerning his right to testify as an expert, questions which he did not answer in a very satisfactory manner, and a recess of half an hour was taken.

When the gentlemen reassembled at 2 o'clock they found a splendid looking dog in the room. He was a big fellow, a cross between a Scotch collie and a St. Bernard, and his legs were done up in bandages. He was introduced as Dash, the dog which had been revived after it was supposed that he had been killed by an electric shock. Charles Tupper, an excitable gentleman, who keeps a restaurant at 226 Eighth Avenue, is the dog's owner, and he told of the animal's experience. On July 3rd, he said, the dog stepped upon a telegraph wire lying on the ground which had been crossed by an electric light wire. He jumped about four feet in the air and fell back upon the wire, where he lay for several minutes. When he was taken off he was, as far as anybody could see, absolutely dead. Somebody suggested that if the body were buried the earth might draw out the electricity from the dog's

body. He tried the experiment, half buried his dog in loose earth, and watched the result. In a few hours the animal began to show signs of life, and he kept on getting better and better until, barring the wounds on his nose and legs, which were rapidly healing, he was as well as ever.

This Mr. McAdie is employed by the Bell Telephone Company of Boston as a detective, hence his high opinion of Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson.

In the hearing before the referee of the Kemmler electrical execution case, Thomas A. Edison was put on the stand as a witness, and if his testimony were to decide the fate of Kemmler, the murderer would surely meet his death in the electrical chair. The witness had no doubt whatever of the power of an alternating current to kill a man instantaneously and painlessly, and was sure it could be done without burning. The case of Mr. Smith was spoken of, who was said to have received a shock of 1,500 volts without serious injury. Mr. Edison said he would pay Mr. Smith $100 if he would come over to his laboratory and successfully withstand a shock of 1,000 volts.

During the examination the following interesting dialogue occurred between the Wizard and the ex-Congressman with the big head, who is trying to save Kemmler :

"Now, Mr. Edison," asked Mr. Cockran, "suppose I was to give you a lump of clay containing a number of metals, and asked yon to measure the resistance of the clay, could you do it?"

"Yes; I would simply give the resistance of the moisture, as the clay is a non-conductor."

"Well," said Cockran, "you would be then giving me the resistance of the metal moisture, as well as that of the clay. Cannot you measure the clay alone?"

"I think that question is nonsense," Mr. Edison replied, after thinking a moment or two. "I would give the resistance of the whole thing."

"This obtaining of the resistance of the human body by the Wheatstone bridge is simply a matter of late experiment, is it not ?"

"No; I measured human resistance by the Wheatstone before the question of electrical execution was brought. I consider the bridge as an accurate means of measurements.'

Mr. Pope, an expert we had here to testify," continued Mr. Cockran, "said that a man could be completely carbonised by an electric current. Is that so?"

"Yes; but it would take 1,500 horse-power to do it."

Q. If you took the Westinghouse current of 1,050 volts and kept it applied to a human being five or six minutes, wouldn't it be carbonised?"

A. "No; it would be mummified." "Ah!" said Mr. Cockran,

no possibilities arise. He wouldn't be carbonised, but mummified, eh? Let us hear how, Mr. Edison."

Mr. Edison: The water or moisture in his system would be gradually absorbed.

Q. What current would be necessary to kill Kemmler? You said 1,000 volts. Does that mean anything? Couldn't you give a man this shock so as not to be fatal ?

Mr. Edison: What! An alternating current ?

Mr. Cockran: Any one. How many ampères would be required? A. I think one ampère would be ten times too much. "You mean to say," asked Mr. Cockran, "that if a man wanted more than one-tenth of an ampère he would be mean and rapacious?"

Yes," answered Mr. Edison, amid much laughter. Another witness was Dr. Cyrus Edson, of the Board of Health, who conducted the experiments made by Harold P. Brown lately. The doctor said that all the dogs experimented upon, except one, were killed instantly by the alternating current. There was no question about it, the dogs were dead, and not just knocked senseless, as Mr. Cockran seemed to believe. Some other questions were asked the witness about these experiments, and then Mr. Poste put his usual question :

"Do you believe that an electric current can be artificially generated which will inevitably kill in every case when scientifically applied-kill instantly and without pain ?"

"I have not the faintest doubt of it," Dr. Edson replied with much emphasis.

Mr. Cockran then took the witness suavely in hand, and asked him if he did not consider the science of electricity to be still in the experimental stage. It could not be called an exact science, Dr. Edson said, but there were many things in it which had beccme demonstrated facts. Mr. Cockran, in his playful, inquiring way, expressed a desire to know one of those facts, and the witness promptly replied: "We know that electricity can kill.” "How do you know that?" asked Mr. Cockran.

"We know it from experiments on animals, and we can reason that if electricity will kill an animal it will kill a man. And electricity has killed many men, as you know.”

The witness was then questioned as to Dr. Petersen's assertion that one auricle of an animal's heart might continue to beat after the animal's death. He said that it might, but not with the rhythm of the heart of a live animal. The witness said he had no difficulty in believing that a man might be struck by lightning and not be killed, but he could not believe, in such a case, that the whole force of the charge had been sent into the man's body.

Rudolph A. Witthaus, Professor of Physics and Chemistry in the University of the City of New York, succeeded Dr. Edson in the witness chair. He had devoted a considerable amount of time to the study of electric currents. Dr. Sachs had a day or so before testified that in his opinion an electric current such as it is pro

194

posed to try on the Buffalo murderer would burn the subject woefully. His testimony was read to the witness, and he differed from Dr. Sachs absolutely. Where the contact made was perfect burning would be impossible, and Mr. Witthaus went on to explain just why it would be impossible. His explanation was such a purely technical one that even Mr. Cockran, with his vast knowledge of technicalities, could not understand it, and the witness was permitted to go un-cross-examined.

EXPERIENCES OF SEVERAL MEN WHO SURVIVED SHOCKS OF

ELECTRICITY.

They were Too Tough to Kill.

The Current to be used on Murderers Not as Strong as They Received. Ajax defying the lightning would have cut a sorry figure beside some of the men who related their experiences before Referee Tracy C. Becker. There was one witness who had received a stroke of lightning and had felt the static current playing all around his body. Another salamander had on several different occasions the full electromotive force of powerful alternating and continuous current dynamos whizzing through his veins without sustaining any permanent injury. The voltage in some instances was nearly half as great again as that of the machine upon which it is proposed to execute William Kemmler. This witness was succeeded by others with almost equally startling tales to tell, all going to show that while electricity may kill with promptness and despatch it is by no means certain of doing so.

Mr. Alfred West, of No. 441, West Forty-seventh Street, was the original Ajax of the day. He was spending the summer at Fort Lee, N.J., a few years ago, he said. One bright morning he started off for a walk along the Palisades. A storm came up, and he sought shelter under a large tree. There was a terrific clap of thunder, and then Mr. West sank peacefully down to the ground. As soon as he was in condition to investigate he found that the bolt had entered his clothing at the top button of his waistcoat, passed through his shirt and undershirt and then blazed its way down his body to his right leg, through his right shoe and then jumped over to his left leg and twisted around the calf until it got tired and left. What remained of his clothes was scarcely worth speaking of, not much more than sculptors give to their statues of Ajax. He was carried to his hotel and revived. He suffered considerably for a couple of weeks, but recovered fully after that. At first he had a wide mark on his breast and a network of little lines. The only permanent scars are three small spots above his right ankle.

T. Carpenter Smith looked strong enough to resist almost anything. He is a great big fellow, about 6 feet 2 inches tall and of massive proportions. His age is under thirty-three years. The first shock he described was received from just such a machine as is expected to kill Kemmler-a Westinghouse No. 1 with a power of 1,050 volts and 35 ampères. He unintentionally took the full current through his hands and promptly dropped to the floor. He felt as if the filling had been knocked out of his teeth and as if he had been scourged all over with a bundle of loose steel rods. He was not very badly hurt, however, as he was able to jump up and turn on the lights that he had extinguished. He continued with his work, though he felt very stupid for half an hour. His hands were slightly burned, but not enough to trouble him very much.

In Mr. Smith's opinion, a 1,000 volt shock from an alternating current machine is not enough to trouble a man very much under any ordinary circumstances. The men employed around Westinghouse machines receive the current from time to time and usually relieve their overcharged feelings afterward by the use of glowing profanity, but they do not die except at rare intervals. Mr. Smith got a second one of the presumably death-dealing shocks at the works of the Alleghany County Light Company, in Pittsburg, and he spoke of it as a mere trifle. He also dallied for a moment with an old Westinghouse No. 3 machine, with a voltage of 1,000 and a capacity of 125 ampères, giving nearly three times the force the State calculates will kill. As a usual thing electricity knocked Mr. Smith down when it struck him, but he always came up smiling for the next round. Once a man rushed up to him and enquired, “Are you killed?”

"No," replied the electrician, "but I feel like it." On that particular occasion he found that he had two little rows of holes in the soles of his feet just over where the nails were in his shoes.

Dr. Alfred L. Loomis, of No. 19, West Thirty-fourth Street, testified that he knew of no electric current that would kill absolutely, instantly and painlessly in every instance.

Benjamin D. Acker, who is the employ of the Keystone Light and Power Company, of Philadelphia, said he had received several powerful shocks himself. He knew that a man named William M. Wright had received the full current from a 1,000-volt alternating machine for a period of seven or eight minutes. Wright's face became purple, and it was thought at first that he was dead, as there were no signs of life and no breathing could be detected. He was revived, however, and he suffered a great deal. Although there was no burn on the surface his flesh along his arm was badly burned under the skin, and two or three days later it began to fester.

Dr. Rockwell, who has had 25 years' experience, made the following statements :

Mr. Poste went over the testimony of Dr. Sachs. It is stated," said the lawyer, "that the resistance of the human body under application of electric currents reaches a point between 1,200 and 1,400 ohms. How can the resistance of the human body be reduced?"

"By increasing the size of the electrodes the resistance of the human body is very materially decreased."

AUGUST 16, 1889.

This was a point in favour of the State. Mr. Poste followed it up by calling the attention of the witness to the experiments on

various resistances.

"I feel certain," said Dr. Rockwell, "that the same electrical effect could be produced on every human being in the careful application of the current. I was present when Mr. Harold P. Brown experimented on animals at Mr. Edison's laboratory. Four dogs, one horse and four calves were operated upon. Death was instantaneous in every case except one, and that was a dog."

Mr. Bourke Cockran quietly remarked that that must have been a very sad dog indeed.

The witness went on to say that a human being could be pain. lessly and instantaneously killed without the flesh being burned He was told to describe how the current would act.

"In the case of a man," he said, "in a recumbent position, with one electrode placed at the base of the skull and the other at the feet, the current would follow the course of least resistance." "And what is that course ?"

"That would be determined by the condition and temperature of the subject."

Mr. Cockran brightened up at the last answer, and he afterward said that was the whole point at issue, for no two human beings were alike in those conditions. In his next answer, however, Dr. Rockwell said he would be very much surprised if 1,000 volts did not kill in every case. "I have no doubt whatever," he added, "that 1,500 volts would kill instantaneously. The current would follow the line of least resistance—that is, the muscles and blood vessels, as these are the most saline points of the body. In my opinion the pathological effect of a charge of 1,000 volts would be to paralyse the nerve centres, rupture the tissues, and instantly stop the action of the heart and respiration."

"What is electricity ?"

"I don't know, and I don't think anybody else knows. It is an unknown agent, and it is not known even if a current exists." This last statement by Dr. Rockwell is about the most sensible thing said by any of the famous!! scientists who have testified on this subject.

At a meeting of directors of the New-England Telephone and Telegraph Company, a dividend of 75 cents per share was declared, payable August 15th. The net earnings of the company for the quarter ending June 30th, 1389, were $93,814; surplus, $75,858, showing an increase in net earnings over the corre sponding period last year of $489, and an increase of surplus of $8,814.

The Edison Company offers to supply electric lights after October 1st at the equivalent of $1.50 per thousand cubic feet of gas, the price now charged by the city.

The Thomson-Houston European Electric Welding Company has been organised in Boston by the election of the followingnamed gentlemen as directors: Oliver Ames, S. Endicott Peabody, B. F. Spinney, J. W. Smith, W. O. Boland, Charlton T. Lewis, S. O. Van Hoffmand, S. B. Babcock, and Henry D. Hyde. Oliver Ames was chosen President and W. A. Boland Treasurer. The capital stock is $1,500,000.

The Postmaster-General gives out the following concerning the report that he made an order reducing the rate on Govern. ment telegrams from one cent to one mill per word. He says that he had suggested this rate and notified the telegraph companies to this effect. To some of the companies objecting to the rate he had written a letter which stated, among other things:-"I desire to say that the rate proposed was fixed upon information furnished to this department that your company has been making rates to various large corporations that are, in some instances, a low as the figure now proposed for the Government service. With the notice of this fact I would not be justified in making for the Government a new contract at higher rates than were charged other patrons, especially so in view of privileges and benefits extended to your company by Acts of Congress. I submit to your own sense of right that the Government under existing conditions is entitled to the minimum rates."

One more Conduit Bursts.-A thin dazzling streak of fire darted from the pavement on the corner of Twentieth Street and Broadway about half-past 7 o'clock on the evening of the 25th. A moment later a sound like the breaking of a thunder bolt shook the air, and before you could say "Jack Robinson," two tons of cobble stones, each weighing about 10 lbs., were shot 20 feet into the air, falling promiscuously within a space of 20 square feet.

Strangers who happened to be in the neighbourhood imagined a live volcano had broken loose on Broadway, but this was an exaggeration. It was merely another case where the electric subways refused to hold the pent up gases that find their way into them, and, having no natural way for getting out, expand, blow up 20 or 30 square feet of good American soil, and make things generally lively for people who are compelled to live in a loaded neighbourhood.

Baltimore, July 19th and 26th.

THE PROPOSED DIRECT CABLE FROM HONGKONG TO SINGAPORE.*

THE following official correspondence on this subject has been handed to us for publication by the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce :

* Hongkong Daily Press,

AUGUST 16, 1889.]

THE MANAGER OF THE EASTERN EXTENSION TELEGRAPH Co. To THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.

Hongkong, 6th April, 1889. Sir, I have the honour to state the following for the informaLion of His Excellency the Governor :

It will be within His Excellency's recollection that in 1885, 1886, and 1888, the question of a cable from Hongkong to Singapore, not touching on foreign territory, was considered by this Government, without, however, any definite decision being taken. I am now instructed by my directors to inform His Excellency that the authorities of British North Borneo have addressed them with a view to the extension of our system to that place by means of a cable from Singapore to British North Borneo, touching en route at Labuan and Sarawak.

Should this arrangement be carried out, an opportunity would be afforded, by continuing the new cable from North Borneo to Hongkong, of giving this colony direct communication with that rapidly developing country, and at the same time providing that alternative route to Singapore, touching only on British territory, which has been so generally recognised as politically and strategically important.

I would point out that the existing cables are amply sufficient to carry a considerable increase of the present traffic, and as the additional traffic due to the establishment of the proposed new cable would be entirely insignificant in proportion to the large outlay, my directors instruct me to state that the extension could only be carried out in consideration of the undertaking being subsidised by the Governments interested.

I would mention that the subsidies named in my letter of April 14th, 1888, were for a duration of 20 years, that being the period upon which all our actuarial calculations are based, and I am now instructed to enquire whether the Government of Hongkong would be disposed to grant a subsidy for 20 years for this purpose, and, if so, of what amount?

As I gather that one of the objections taken by the Chamber of Commerce to our former proposals was that the advantages were purely political, I would now beg to point out that the present proposition, if carried into effect, would subserve both political and commercial interests.-I have, &c.,

WALTER JUDD, Manager in China,
Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph
Company, Limited.

The Hon. F. Stewart, LL.D., Colonial Secretary.

THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Colonial Secretary's Office,

Hongkong, 12th April, 1889. Sir,-Adverting to previous correspondence, I am directed by His Excellency the Governor to transmit to you, for the consideration of the Chamber of Commerce, the enclosed copy of a letter from the manager in China of the Eastern Extension, Australasian and China Telegraph Company, Limited, and the Great Northern Telegraph Company of Copenhagen on the subject of a proposed direct telegraphic communication with Singapore; and to state that the offer now made differs from the previous one inasmuch as having all the advantages offered by the latter, it includes also that of communication with an island of rapidly growing importance, in which Hongkong is likely to have special interest.

I am to add that His Excellency Admiral Sir Nowell Salmon has, since the date of the last correspondence with the Chamber, impressed on the Governor the great importance of a second line of communication with Singapore, being of opinion that, even if the line were cut after a declaration of war, the passage over it of a single message to the effect that war was imminent, might be worth to this colony more than the whole of any subsidy that has ever been asked.

Sir Nowell Salmon is also of opinion that in case of war the line via Borneo would be of special value as being near the route of the trade between China and Australia.

Under the circumstances His Excellency the Governor would be glad to receive the views of the Chamber on Mr. Judd's communication.-I have, &c.,

FREDERICK STEWART, Colonial Secretary.

To the Secretary, the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce.

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TO THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. Hong-Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Hong-Kong, May 11th, 1889.

Sir,-On the 17th April I had the honour to acknowledge receipt of your communication of 12 idem handing copy of a letter from Mr. Walter Judd, manager in China of the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company, being in continuation of previous correspondence from that gentleman, and having reference to a proposed special cable between this colony and Singapore.

Since the date of my letter, as above, the subject of telegraphic communication with Singapore, has again received careful consideration at the hands of the Committee of this Chamber, and I am directed to state for the information of his Excellency the Governor that though circumstances have somewhat altered since the 31st July, 1888, when they had last the pleasure of addressing you on the same subject, they do not consider the changes are in themselves of sufficient importance to necessitate any modification of the views then expressed.

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The suggested connection of the proposed cable with the promising territory which British North Borneo has now become is no doubt a factor of very considerable commercial importance, but the committee are not of opinion that it in any way lessens the obligation attaching to the Imperial Government to do all in its power to increase the effectiveness of two such important coaling stations as Singapore and Hongkong.

These views are strengthened by the fact that the Home authorities readily admit the necessity for complete effectiveness at eastern coaling stations, and the committee of this Chamber therefore still deprecate the appropriation of any portion of the colony's revenue to subsidising a special cable.-I have, &c., F. HENDERSON, Secretary.

Hon. F. Stewart, LL.D., Colonial Secretary.

12082. Improvements in the arrangement and regulation of electric motors for traction, marine propulsion, and like purposes." A. J. JARMAN. Dated July 30. (Complete.)

12135. Improvements in electric cut-outs, and apparatus for opening electric circuits." W. E. HEYS. (Communicated by N. Chaize and J. Chaize, France.) Dated July 31.

66

12145. Improvements in generating electricity or magnetism by the application of heat." P. M. JUSTICE. (Communicated by E. G. Acheson, United States.) Dated July 31. (Complete.)

12161. "Electric alarm rug or mat." J. J. PERKINS. Dated July 31.

12185, "An improved mode of distributing electricity." A. H. HOWARD. Dated July 31.

12188. "Improvements in apparatus for regulating and utilising electric currents." H. H. LAKE. (Communicated by F. M. Maquaire, France.) Dated July 31.

12236. 66 Improvements in appliances for the generation, distribution, measurement, and use of alternating or commutated electric currents." J. SWINBURNE. Dated August 1. 12251. Improvements in electric couplers." I. A. TIMMIS. Dated August 2.

9745.

"An improved system for driving moving electric motors or locomotives in series." E. MANVILLE. Dated July 4. 8d. Claims:-1. In a system of traction by electricity, the arrangement of the main conductor in alternate zigzag sectional parts overlapping one another, so that a part of each sectional conductor lies parallel to a part of the sectional conductors immediately preceding and following it, the connection being made by contact boxes to place the said parallel conductors in series, substituted for by the motor as it passes, substantially as and for the purposes described. 2. In such a system of traction by electricity, the relative diagonal disposition of the breaks between sections to the construction and length of the rubber contacts carried by the locomotive, so as to effect its passage from section to section without break or difference of potential, other than that due to the motor in the various sectional parts of the conductors, substantially as described. 3. In such a system of traction by electricity, the adaption of warning signals to the opening and closing apparatus, whereby the driver of any car or locomotive may have due notice as to the position of the preceding car or train, substantially a described.

11100. "Improvements in permanent ways for vehicles propelled by electricity." J. KINCAID. Dated July 31. 8d. The

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main object of the invention is to provide a permanent way wherein the parts are more readily accessible and renewable than hitherto, and the rails and conduits for which are more conveniently and economically made than is the case with such conduits as hitherto formed or constructed. 7 claims.

11106. Improvements in electrical signalling apparatus." H. H. LAKE. (Communicated from abroad by E. Davis and E. B. Welch, both of America.) Dated July 31. 11d. Relates more particularly to contrivances of that kind designed for use in police street signal boxes, and in similar places for the purpose of giving signals or alarms. The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which shall be capable of giving certain common signals or alarms, such as a signal indicating the number of the box in which the operator may be calling an ambulance, giving an alarm of fire, calling to the telephone, or the like, and also an individual or particular signal which shall indicate the particular officer, watchman or person making the signal. 10 claims.

11570. "Improvements in electric arc lamps." H. PIEPER. Dated August 10. 8d. Consists in the application of the difference between the speeds of rotation of two moving bodies rotating in the same direction to produce the advance of feed motions and regulate the relative positions of the carbons in arc lamps, the said difference being dependent on or produced in any suitable manner by variations in the current. 2 claims.

11573. "Improvements in electric lamps." H. H. HEAD and L. SAUNDERSON. Dated August 10. 4d. Claim:-Impregnating or mixing the carbons of electric lamps with colouring matters. 12163. 66 Improved cell or containing vessel for electric batteries." H. G. C. SERRIN. Dated August 23. 11d. Claims:1. A cell or containing vessel for an electric battery, made of a block of wood or of equivalent material without joints. 2. In a cell or containing vessel of the kind referred to in the previous claim, the arrangement consisting in totally enclosing the elements in a block in such a way as to enable the apparatus to be placed in a special box, and applied to such purposes as the lighting of a lamp, the illumination of a watch, or the operation of a bell, the whole substantially as described and for the purpose specified. 12289. 66 'Improvements in electric propulsion on railways." S. Z. DE FERRANTI. Dated August 25. 8d. The inventor supplies the propelling current to the motor on the train for the most part by means of insulated conductors laid along the line; but to enable the train to pass over spaces where the insulated conductors are not laid, or where from any cause they are not supplied with current, he carries also secondary batteries on the train. He feeds these secondary batteries from the insulated conductors on the line. Where these conductors are supplied with continuous current, the secondary batteries are either fed from them directly, or through a converter which suitably adjusts the electromotive force. 6 claims.

12452. 66 "Improvements in electrical locomotives or traction engines." A. SANDRON. Dated August 29. 6d. Two beams or girders, one on each side, constitute the frame for the dynamo and the support for all parts requiring a fixed and rigid support. To these beams are fixed the axle boxes by means of lugs or projections formed on the axle boxes and engaging in seats or sockets rivetted to the said beams. The dynamo is placed between the two axles of the vehicle, and carries on its axle two pinions which communicate their movement to the axles of the vehicle by means of spur wheels mounted thereon. The said pinions are provided on each side of their bosses with conical cups, the inner ones of which engage with fixed cones keyed to the axle of the dynamo, while the outer cups engage with cones which slide longitudinally on the axle, but turn with it. These latter cones are under the influence of springs by means of rods acting on cross-pieces arranged or placed in slots formed in the axle of the dynamo. 1 claim.

13215. "An improvement in electrical batteries." W. CLARK. (A communication from abroad by L. Maiche, of Paris.) Dated September 12. 4d. Claim:-The employment of citrate of ammonia dissolved in water as an electrolytic exciting agent for galvanic batteries, and especially those intended for continuous use, as specified.

13987. "Improvement in electric arc lighting." L. SAUNDERSON. Dated September 28. 6d. The electrodes are either made hollow or they have small gas burners close to the arc flame, so as to feed the flame with either coal or mineral oil gas. The hollow electrodes also can be partially filled with solid petroleum or with vaseline, which is vaporised by the heated electrodes, and thus feeding the flame with petroleum vapour.

4 claims.

15648. Improvements in electric switches." W. B. CLEVELAND. Dated October 30. 8d. The invention consists, broadly speaking, in combining together a primary actuating device, a movable contact bar, and a spring connected respectively with said two parts; said primary actuating device having a range of movement wherein the line of said two spring connected points may pass respectively to opposite sides of the dead centre line of the spring movement; the spring being under compression or tension between the primary actuating device and the contact bar, thereby throwing the latter in a quick movement either to open or closed position, accordingly as the line of spring power may be shifted to one side or the other of said dead centre line. 5 claims.

[AUGUST 16, 1889.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Alternate Current Working.

In the issue of the 2nd inst. of your esteemed journal I am reading a reproduction of Mr. Mordey's reply to the discussion on his paper, "Alternate Current Working," in which he quotes two statements from my writings for the sake of demonstrating some contradiction between them.

To this I beg leave to oppose that, in fact, there does not exist any contradiction at all. By saying "We state that we have not reduced the periodicity because of the coupling in parallel," I purposed only to declare that we absolutely have not reduced the periodicity— as, indeed, there did not exist any necessity at all for us to reduce it. I have observed the periodicity of 42, or nearly so, in my dynamos at a time when the idea of running alternating machines parallel was still unknown, because the necessity of such a coupling was not recognised until after the invention of the transformer system. The experiments we made with coupling in parallel afterwards showed that the periodicity above mentioned proves advantageous, among other things for the coupling in parallel of my machines. Now, nothing was more natural for me than to preserve this periodicity, the further advantages of which became already notorious from the experience of a period when of Mr. Mordey's respective working nothing had yet received publicity.

As for our silence on the particulars of our alternate current motor we fully agree with Mr. Mordey's opinion that there are no doubt good and sufficient reasons for this reticence. Chas. Zipernowsky.

Buda-Pest, August 7th, 1889.

Cheap Telegraphy.

The Editors of the Journal des Economistes, in the number I have the honour of forwarding herewith, gave me great satisfaction by granting space to the scheme of a telegraph system which I still consider as being the best means of affording a greater relief to the public, not only without injury to the revenue, but even with an enlargement of receipts.

I need not point out that, when adopted in the service of the United Kingdom, such a regulation, while leading to a lowering of rates for those telegrams which do not require all possible speed, could bring into perspective the threepenny rate, at least for a part of the correspondence, as I aimed at in my writing which was kindly taken up in your issue of March 30th, 1888. Linckens.

The Hague, July 30th, 1889.

[The article to which M. Linckens alludes may be found in our other columns.-EDS. ELEC. REV.]

American Patents.

We have just received the following cablegram from Mr. George Westinghouse, jun., of Pittsburgh, U.S.A., the contents of which may interest your readers :

"Decision yesterday Judge Wallace in United States Court, in case conducted by Edison Company, construing Supreme Court decision holds American patent expires with prior patent abroad, even when void for failure to work or pay taxes. This decision overthrows high resistance carbon filament patent, main reliance of Edison Company for maintaining monopoly incandescent lighting in United States."

J. E. Pickering, Secretary,

THE NATIONAL COMPANY FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY BY SECONDARY GENERATORS, LIMITED. August 10th, 1889.