Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

432

ELECTRICAL REVIEW.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The workpeople are practically in permanent employment, their weekly number not varying much during the year, and our workshops are large and well ventilated and lighted, and our appliances of the best.

Our factory is in the neighbourhood of the Docks, and the recent strike there appears to have unsettled the minds of some of the workpeople. The majority of them, however, have been intimidated into leaving their work, having when going to their meals to pass through a crowd who hissed and groaned at them, and used violent language. In some cases they have been hurt, but will not give evidence lest worse should befall them.

Yesterday about 115 women, who were satisfied with their pay, left work under intimidation; and there are now about 1,600 workpeople thrown out of employment, leaving only 250 still at work.

[blocks in formation]

Noticing in your last issue remarks on electric surging, I thought the following observations might be interesting to readers of the REVIEW. I was working with a 200-volt Phoenix machine on a process in lamp manufacture technically termed "flashing," that is, thickening the filaments in a hydro-carbon-in this case cotton seed oil. If the filament be allowed to stand for a time in the oil, and then the current suddenly passed through it, the oil is suddenly heated and expanded, bursting the filament and suddenly interrupting the current. In almost every case I have noticed the current jump across the conductors (insulated cables), and for a time form an arc; of course it has been at some weak point in the insulation, but the potential must have been very greatly increased, for in no place was the insulation very weak, and at times the conductors were several inches apart. I had always put it down to self-induction caused by the very sudden interruption of the current.

Panorama Niagara, Bois de Boulogne,
Paris Passy, October 3rd, 1889.

S. Emerson.

[OCTOBER 11. 1889

Coal Consumption in Central Stations.

I have noticed in a recent number of your REVIEW your reference to the high consumption of coal at Brighton, and I have read the comments upon the consumption made in the pamphlet issued by the Electrical Power Storage Company.

In that pamphlet it is stated that "This large en sumption of coal is mainly due to the comparatively large amount of energy required by the primary circu of alternating transformers when the secondary circuita are not being used at nearly the maximum capacity, s condition of affairs that must last about 20 hours is every day."

But I think it is fair to the transformer system to point out to you that the coal consumption of the Brighton station is exceptionally high in consequenes of the inefficient method of transmission from boiler to dynamo by heavy shafting and heavy leather belts, and also of the old-fashioned and imperfect system of overhead wiring at Brighton; and considering tha the Brighton Electricity Supply station is the oldest it England, it is natural that the appliances connected with the delivery of power to the dynamo are oldfashioned. It would be much fairer to take as a basis the consumption of coal at a station laid down like that of the House-to-House Electric Light Supply Company at Kensington, on modern lines, where the boilers are all of most modern construction, and no shafting is employed. This station has been running too short a time to afford data upon a large scale, but I hope that in the coming winter it will be possible to lay before you results which will prove how thoroughly the Brighton consumption of coal points to a period that is past.

In the meantime I should like to know whether the figures given by the Electrical Power Storage Conpany respecting the consumption of coal per unit it their system are the result of estimate or of actual experience in a station, as nothing is mentioned in their pamphlet to enable one to form an opinion on this head.

Robert Hammond,

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

A WELCOME INNOVATION.

WE are much pleased to see that the Institution of Electrical Engineers is at last making quite an innovation. We refer to the Institution dinner, which is arranged to take place on the 4th November, and which it is to be hoped will become a recognised feature in future years. We have often felt that the Institution was sadly wanting in the means for bringing its members freed from the trammels of papers and discussions together now and again. Certainly the habitués of the famous edifice in Great George Street could, if they felt so inclined, regale themselves on tea and coffee, and indulge in friendly chatter after the meetings had been dissolved; those who cared for something more substantial with their table-talk had the option of becoming members of the Dynamicable Society now, we fear, defunct; and latterly, the ElectroHarmonic Society has done much to bring members together to enjoy a few hours of relaxation from labours which are by no means easy. But all these do not meet the want which many of us have felt existed in the records of the Institution. An annual dinner is an important factor in the inner working of all wellregulated societies, and we congratulate Mr. Webb on having carried the matter through.

The public at large gains more information of the greatness of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and of the splendid engineering achievements of its prominent members, through the medium of its annual dinner than in any other way. The importance of this yearly gathering is evidenced the next day in the daily Press by the publicity given to the speeches of its President, the orations of eminent statesmen, and the remarks of the leading lights of the scientific, literary, and artistic world, the army, and the navy. The Institution is honoured by the presence of the representatives of all the world's intellect, and these, again, are honoured by becoming the favoured recipients of the Civil Engineers' gracious hospitality. Why should it not be so with the Institution of Electrical Engineers,

which is now entering upon what we trust may prove to be a great career? Hitherto the more recent electrical industries may be said to have been in more or less an experimental stage from which they are now emerging with every prospect of taking place among the most important factors in the future history of this country. The Institution is now the representative body of all classes of electrical engineering, and though it may not rival that of the Civil Engineers in the extent of its operations, it should eventually prove to be a good second. We are glad, then, to see that its annual dinner has at last sprung into existence, and we trust that the initiatory meeting may be so successful that all doubts as to its continuance may be set aside. Nothing but good can come of such genial gatherings, for friendships already made may yearly be more firmly cemented under the perfect good fellowship which must necessarily exist among the members of the institution. "Electricity is Life," and this annual festival will be not the least important item in the existence of the electrical engineer to make life worth living, for of its sweets until now he has had but few.

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.

PROFESSOR PERRY's address as president of the Junior Engineering Society, which we see published in the Contract Journal, is very interesting to young students and is well worthy their consideration, for it is eminently practical. The gist of the professor's remarks may be said to lie in the statement that an electrician must be a good mechanical engineer, and that applied electricity is merely a branch of mechanical engineering. A splendid practical example of this kind of teaching can be seen at the Sardinia Street Works of the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company, where the mechanical engineering is very perfect, the electrician's portion of the installation being decidedly a secondary consideration. Ten years hence, Prof. Perry believes that the electrician

B

434

ELECTRICAL REVIEW.

will be of as much importance as the steam-engine engineer, and that no man having a right to call himself an engineer will be without a good working knowledge of electricity. This last statement is, we think, going rather beyond the mark, for a man may be an eminent engineer even in ten years from the present time, and yet be absolutely ignorant of electrical data. There have been many important works accomplished previous to our day without the aid of electricity, and much will be done in the future, so we cannot help thinking that the president of the Junior Engineering Society has unintentionally misrepresented his actual meaning. Indeed, he says in his address, we are all specialists now; we can then only ask how much more will it be necessary to be specialists in the not far distant future?

When the Professor goes in for historical facts he becomes rather wild in his utterances. For instance, he says:- "In that year (1866) Varley, who was Thomson's partner, and others, made independently one of the grandest discoveries of the century, and presently a machine was in use which excited its own field magnets, the type of all dynamos ever since." Now, Prof. Perry knows perfectly well that the Varley he refers to is Cromwell Varley, and that S. A. Varley who patented the machine which forms "the type of all dynamos ever since," was never a partner of Thomson's. Mr. Perry is not the first public speaker who has overshadowed S. A. Varley's work by bringing into the foreground his brilliant brother; but is it not time that those who are supposed to instruct our embryo scientists and engineers should simply state plain truths, and not embellish their orations with figures of speech which are absolutely misguiding? Surely it is not a difficult task for men in high positions to be generous, and to give credit to whom it is due ?

With this one exception we do not think there is anything to cavil at in the address, which is full of good advice to the youthful aspirant for fame. We should be glad to see more of the kindly feeling which evidently animates Prof. Perry when talking to his young friends, for he must at once command the sympathy of his audience, and when this hold has once been gained upon their feelings the rest is plain sailing when an address is couched in the plain and practical language which characterises that of the President of the Junior Engineering Society.

Money must be reduced to the direst extremity when compelled to use such an argument as the following in condemnation of the electric light :-" Two noteworthy references to the respective merits of gas and electric lighting were made in the speeches of Sir Robert Rawlinson and Mr. George Livesey at the general meeting of the Commercial Gas Company on Friday last week. Speaking of the practical difficulty of managing the intense light of the electric arc, so as to be useful for ordinary purposes, Sir Robert stated that at the Forth Bridge, which had been advanced by night work, the electric lighting provided for this purpose worked it to an allowance of 700 candles per

[OCTOBER 18, 1889.

man employed on the works. This is a truly startling figure. Of course, a man does not want 700 candles, or anything like this glare of light, to enable him to work, or find his way about scaffolding. This represents so much waste of lighting energy; and the lesson of this statement may be commended to the wiseacres who make out that electric arc lamps for street lighting, for example, are cheaper than gas, because, although costing more money, they yield so much more nominal intensity of light. So much the worse, it may be replied; for who wants hundreds of candles to light him across a road? Moreover, the intense shadows thrown by the arc light render the crossing of crowded streets far more dangerous than when lighted by gas." If our financial contemporary will only go so far into figures as to give us comparative estimates of the outlay which would have been entailed in supplying the Forth Bridge works with the rival illuminants, the reason for the adoption of the electric light may make itself apparent. Money is at liberty to say what it thinks proper about men not wanting a light of 700 candle-power to do their work at night or so find their way about a scaffold-the latter indeed might be accomplished in an emergency by means of an ordinary lucifer match-but no one in his senses would deny that the nearer we can approach to daylight by artificial means, so much the better for the progress of the work. Gas, unfortunately, unless at a much higher cost, cannot give us this precious boon.

THE New York Tribune of September 19th contains the following amusing skit under the heading of "Mistakes about America." After briefly informing its readers of the remarks made by Mr. Preece at the B.A. meeting, to the effect that the dangers of shocks from wires carrying currents of high tension had been shown to be all nonsense, the writer goes on to say that it is understood that the electrician to the Post Office is engaged upon a work designed to correct some other misapprehensions among his fellow-countrymen with regard to the land of the free. Advance proofs of this valuable publication are understood to contain, among other interesting items, the following:-"The sensa tional news which has reached these shores regarding alleged disasters at the recent buffalo hunt on Broadway we are authoritatively informed is entirely erroneous. It is several months since the untamed bison has been permitted to roam at large on that crowded thoroughfare. Fifth Ave, and Central Park are in reality the only remaining places where the trans-Atlantic Nimrod can pursue this exhilarating sport within the precincts of New York itself. The Benevolent Order of Buffaloes is an association whose existence is due to this fact. Its headquarters are at the City Hall. William Waldorf Astor, otherwise known as Buffalo Bill, is its president." "The absurd rumours afloat here during the past week concerning the damage by a recent cyclone at Coney Island are absolutely without foundation. Coney Island, as every schoolboy knows, is the ground on which New York City is situated. It is not a peninsula, as Lord Brassey recently asserted, but is likely to become one, the dumping of ashes by outgoing steamers to Liverpool having already begun to choke up the Harlem River, through which they pass. The reported washing away of bath houses is evidently an allusion to Castle Garden and the Barge Office, where the steerage passengers from Europe are obliged by law to wash themselves before landing."

OCTOBER 18, 1889.]

ELECTRICAL REVIEW.

MONTREAL is much perturbed with its electric light

ing. There are 800 arc lights in the city, but the distribution over the various districts is said to be neither fair, just nor judicious. The only way out of the difficulty is to put up 125 more arcs, and then Montreal will be the best lighted town on the American Continent. There are, however, some signs of trouble with the rapacious gas company, which is offering to undercut the prices for the electric lamps, but we anticipate that the matter will end in a way favourable to electricity.

A WRITER in the County Gentleman begs to inform theatrical managers that electricity does not heat theatres. It appears he was present at the revival of the "Profligate" and suffered great inconvenience from draughts. While not denying the non-heating effects of the electric light, we might point out that no heating apparatus of any description would obviate the ill effects of draughts. Free a theatre from these and no heating apparatus whatever is required.

OUR contemporary, Money, is of opinion that an advertisement which has recently appeared in the Daily News, for writers on the commercial aspects of electric lighting, is the last despairing cry of a lost cause. We fail to see the reasonableness of such a conclusion. It does not follow because writers are required on a subject of which so little is known that that subject is in the last stages of decay. Then again, we do not see exactly why electric companies should require hack writers as Money seems to think. It appears more reasonable to suppose that non-technical journals are finding it necessary to pay attention to what is undoubtedly a great power; at any rate our contemporary cannot deny the fact that writers possessing the requisite knowledge are wanted badly on even a few financial journals.

A COMPANY of gentlemen interested in the problem of imparting initial mechanical motion to vehicles after temporary stoppages assembled at the Manchester Carriage Company's Works, Openshaw, last Friday afternoon, to witness a trial of an invention for this purpose, patented by "The Brake and Starter Company, Limited," and which practical experts are satisfied will supply what has been desired for many years -viz., an effective method of storing power hitherto wasted, either in stopping a tramcar or other vehicle with revolving axles, when the brake is applied, and utilising that power for restarting the vehicle when desired. It is calculated that there is as much power required to start the dead weight of a car, however driven, as would suffice to run at least a quarter of a mile. Amongst those present was Mr. Arthur Shippey, electrical engineer, London. After several trials had been made in the company's premises, a journey was made as far as Audenshaw and back, during which the brake and starter were frequently tested, and gave general satisfaction. After the return journey, when the horses were removed and the gentlemen present had alighted, the brake was released, when the car was propelled a distance of 30 feet. In the evening, at dinner, Mr. Shippey said he had never been so pleased as with the invention put before them that day. In America they had not a brake and starter equal to it. It was a marvellous and ingenious invention, and Manchester

435

ought to be proud of introducing it to the world. It must, indeed, have been a red-letter day in the history of Manchester to have its inventive genius trumpeted abroad by a gentleman possessing Mr. Shippey's influence and weight in the commercial and scientific world.

"THE Boston Board of Fire Underwriters" are having much trouble with the electric light wires. They report that the loss by fire occasioned by electric lights in Boston for the year ending May 30th, 1889, aggregated nearly $60,000, and they have proposed to advance the insurance rates upon risks lighted by electricity. The electric light companies naturally object, and urge that the fault lies with the inspectors appointed by the Board of Underwriters.

THOSE who have studied both old and new science text books can hardly have failed to notice the marked difference in style between the two. The somewhat cramped and uninteresting descriptions of experiments made with philosophical instrument makers' apparatus (generally very expensive) have now largely given way to practical details of apparatus which the student is instructed how to make for himself, thus learning theory and practice together in a style which enables him to grasp both at the same time in a very thorough manner; in fact, paradoxical as it may seem, he learns as it were two trades simultaneously, and conquers each one more thoroughly than would be the case if he spent the whole time on one alone. Formerly, for a professor to be able to handle or teach how to handle a tool would be thought rather out of place, but now all is being changed through the spread of technical education; and although the improvement progresses but slowly the character of the teaching will eventually prevent so many mistakes being made, and, as a consequence, so much money being wasted as has occurred in the past in all branches of mechanical art, and in none more so than in the case of electric lighting installations. The student who is capable of working out the most abstruse mathematical calculation will have to keep in the background unless he is able also to roll up his shirt sleeves and work creditably at the anvil, bench and lathe, and thus know how to make his theoretical knowledge of practical value.

THE dead-lock which has been brought about between the electric lighting companies of New York and its Mayor is a very lamentable occurrence. It is said that public feeling has been roused to a high pitch over the numerous deaths from contact with electric light wires, but, as we have previously pointed out, the change from overhead to underground mains is a matter involving much time, and cannot be instantly accomplished at the sweet will of the gentleman who presides over the destinies of New York. It is stated that until the law disputes between the different companies are settled, that city will have to be lighted by other means. Luckily we are not likely to have such a calamity befall the City of London, so, perhaps, the watching and waiting tactics adopted in this country are preferable to that spirit of enterprise which characterises our neighbours across the water, at least so far as electric lighting is concerned.

436

ELECTRICAL REVIEW.

THE TELEGRAPH IN WARFARE.

As already briefly reported in the ELECTRICAL REVIEW, Col. Jelf, late commanding the Telegraph Battalion of the Royal Engineers, in the course of a paper which he read at Aldershot last week, threw light on the subject of telegraphing in warfare. He stated that it was no error to say that two sections of telegraphists could be raised to a war footing, ready to start in 48 hours after the receipt of the order to mobilise. Of course, this meant the nucleus of 200 miles of telegraph There was a great drawback in the organisation of the Telegraphic Department of the Royal Engineers. That defect was that there was no head to the battalion, either as a director of telegraphs or as a lieutenant-colonel commanding. This important appointment had to be made in war time. When a war was declared these telegraph officers were involved in a great responsibility. The anticipation of all requirements was not only the most serious and difficult of duties, but also the surest guarantee of success. It was true that direct communication with home might seriously hamper a general's movements by being at the beck and call of wavering counsels at home. In these days of cheap newspapers, great interest was always taken in the smallest details of a campaign. The fact that the home population now knew day by day exactly what was taking place, and how the army was faring in time of war, added a great deal to the popularity of an expedition, which was highly essential to its being approved of and appreciated by them. Nobody who remembered the blank feeling of insecurity which came over the country after the Isandula disaster, when there was no cable communication with the Cape or field telegraphs to Lord Chelmsford's forces, or the dull sense of uncertainty which prevailed after Herbert Stewart's gallant column started across the desert without a telegraph, could doubt the truth of what he said. It was a fact that whilst the German Kaiser, on his recent inspection at Aldershot was complimenting the troops, he was at the same time communicating his observations to the Empress at Potsdam. The value of the Telegraph Battalion might be better illustrated than it was on field days at Aldershot. He thought the hands of young non-commissioned officers, and even private soldiers, who often, in active service, found themselves in charge of solitary offices, the whole responsibility of which rested on their shoulders, should be strengthened in every possible manner. In many cases these men were involuntarily the repositories of burning secrets, and he should like to make it public that in no one case had a breach of confidence occurred.

Captain Glen (Inns of Court Volunteers) described a light and portable field telegraph, invented by himself, for the purpose of continuing the electrical communication to the units of a force from the terminus of the trunk of the Royal Engineers' line.

A discussion followed, in which Major Beresford said that, owing to there being a great insufficiency of military telegraphists, they had had to employ some 60 civilians. He had often endeavoured to rectify this by employing soldiers, but his attempts had invariably been frustrated by the Treasury. The debate was taken up by several well-known military authorities on telegraphing in warfare, including Gens. Walker, Sir Evelyn Wood, Colonel Hutton, and Major Davidson.

A NEW ERA IN TELEPHONY *

DURING the past three or four years much has been written and said about long-distance telephoning and the work of the American Telephone and Telegraph Com

* Paper read before the eleventh meeting of the National Telephone Exchange Association of America, by A. S. Hibbard, J. J. Carty, and F. A. Pickernell.

[OCTOBER 18, 1889.

pany, of New York. It has been announced that in the experiments carried on by this company a perfect telephone service has been accomplished, either for long or short distancés. As the extension of the so-called "long distance " lines has progressed, it has been shown in many of the Eastern cities that these results are accomplished, not only experimentally, but practically. and so reliable and perfect is this telephone service, even at very long distances, that it has become an integral factor in the most important departments of trade and commerce, and as much to be depended upon as mail or railway service.

The steady and gratifying increase in business over the "long-distance" lines has shown that the public will appreciate good and satisfactory telephone service when it is provided, and the demand for this perfected service may be said to have created a new era in telephony.

While some improvements in apparatus have been incident to the new service, the principal factor has been the proper use of metallic circuits in telephone work. By means of metallic circuits properly arranged, all inductive interference from adjacent lines of tele phone, telegraph, electric light or power wires, as well as disturbances from atmospheric or earth currents, bas been overcome. Circuits have been successfully operated through longer lengths of submarine or underground cables than has heretofore been prac ticable, and late conferences have provided a standard specification for cable manufacture. Metallic circuit switchboards have been provided, even in large exchanges with the multiple system, and the long distance cabinet instrument has been applied for the convenience of the subscriber. Thus there has been supplied what would seem to constitute all the necessary provisions for the new service. These component parts, however, although essential to it, will not, in themselves, accomplish the desired result.

It has been the experience of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company that grounded circuit methods, as they have been generally practiced in telephony, are not satisfactory when applied to metallic circuits. Many radical changes have been made. The great underlying principle has been found to be that a perfect balance of the two sides of the circuit throughout its entire length is necessary to the best results and to maintain and preserve this balance requires the closest attention to every detail. In other words, the new service requires, first, proper engineering; and second, a force educated and trained to carry out the plans provided.

As representative of the practices in vogue at the present date, we give in detail the specifications of a local metallic circuit and its usual extensions.

At the subscriber's stations should be placed a long distance cabinet set; this is in the form of a small desk, and is supplied with the usual working parts of a magneto bell, wired with waterproof insulated wire on a grooved base board, so laid out that no two wires cross each other at any point. The telephone hook is provided with platinum contact points. The binding posts are of the double lock nut style, and provide a large bearing surface for the attached wires. The line wires are led to fusible coil arresters, which burn out with a current of one half an ampère, combined with two plate arresters, having an area of about one-half a square inch and insulated from the ground plate by a strip of mica. Underneath the desk a battery box is provided, which is capable of holding three 6 x 8 jars. A push button is placed conveniently, by means of which the subscriber is enabled to cut out the secondary coil of the transmitter, thus lessening the retardation in the circuit, and at the same time removing the microphonic disturbances caused by his own transmitter.

Three cells of an open circuit battery should be generally used on this cabinet set. The internal resistance of each cell of battery should not exceed onehalf ohm, and the electromotive force should not decrease over 15 per cent. after the three cells of battery connected in series are short circuited through

« ZurückWeiter »