DECEMBER 6, 1889.]

Price of Copper.-Messrs. Frederick Smith & Co. aform us that at the end of last month the price for igh conductivity copper wire was advanced d. per lb., haking the present basis price 0 to 20 83d. per lb.

Galvanic Batteries.-We understand that the primary attery which is being fathered by an esteemed conemporary is the "Eclipse "in a new guise, and, indeed, we could not help thinking that the name of the inentor was familiar. Readers of the REVIEW will oubtless remember the peculiarities of this element.

Batteries v. Dynamos.-How is it that Mr. Bridghan's pet scheme for lighting the City without ynamos and steam engines has fallen through? It eems that the Perreur-Lloyd system cannot possess all he virtues with which that worthy committeeman ndowed it. At all events we should be glad to know vhen it is likely that the technical press will be invited o view the apparatus.

Elmore Copper.-If one might presume to judge of he value of a commercial undertaking by the price at vhich its shares were selling on the Stock Exchange, t would appear that Mr. Elmore's process for depositng copper by electricity has commenced its career of revolutionising the whole copper industry." From the Stock Exchange official list of quotations we notice that he £2 shares in the company were dealt in yesterday t over £4, this being a rise in value of over 100 per ent. within a fortnight. We are given to understand hat this substantial rise is due entirely to the heavy ›uying of enthusiastic believers in Mr. Elmore's proess, many of whom are well known in the electrical world. The works of the company, which have been pecially built near Leeds, we are informed will be in operation one day early next week, and it is the intenion of the directors to submit the first product in the way of tubes and wire to a comparative test by the Board of Trade authorities.

Underground Conductors. We learn that the Siemens concentric cable laid down in the Strand for the London Electric Supply Corporation has broken down under a pressure of 5,000 volts, and with about half its normal current. We understand the cable was ested by the manufacturers to 10,000 volts, and for the moment we are unable to state accurately the reason of the collapse. But we shall not be surprised to hear of similar catastrophes in the near future.

Accumulator Installations. We have received a communication on accumulator installations, but it arrived too late for insertion this week.

NEW COMPANIES REGISTERED.

T. Potter and Sons, Limited.-Capital £7,000 in £5 shares. Objects: To take over the business of T. Potter and Sons, electric light, sanitary, and general engineers, of 44, South Molton Street, 361, Oxford Street, and West End, Hampstead. Signatories (with I share each): Thos. Potter, sen., Ardingly, Sussex; Thomas Potter, jun., and Hy. Arthur Potter, 44, South Molton Street; John Richards, 48, Liverpool Street, Walworth; G. T. Clarke, 73A, Beak Street; C. Mills, 50, Jackson Road, Holloway; J. Newman, 2, Cedar Villas, West Hampstead. The management is vested in Mr. Henry Arthur Potter, who will be entitled to a salary of £30 per calendar month. Registered 27th November by Goren and Tapp, 27, South Molton Street.

Dalziel's Cable News Agency, Limited.-Capital £1,000 in £5 shares. Objects: To supply the daily press with news from America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and all foreign countries. Signatories: Robert Dunlap, 57, Barbican; Harold King, Exchange Build

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ings, Liverpool, 1 share; Davison Dalziel, 1 share ; Mrs. H. H. Dalziel, 95 shares; and W. H. Lingard, 1 share, 22, Elm Tree Road, St. John's Wood; G. Dalziel, Greenhill, Hampstead; A. D. Lavendair, 67, Myddleton Square, 1 share each. The subscribers are to appoint the first directors. Registered 27th inst. by Mr. S. Bird, 41, Finsbury Pavement. Registered office, 263, Strand. Liverpool Silver and Copper Company, Limited.Capital £50,000, in £10 shares. Objects: To treat, by electricity and other processes, gold, silver, copper, or other ores, regulus, and metals, and to manufacture wire, sheets and other forms of copper and copper alloys. To acquire land, works, and premises at Widnes, Lancashire. Signatories (with 1 share each): *James Lewis, *A. Hornsby Lewis, *F. Farrel, Thomas Court, and J. H. Atkins, of 5, Fenwick Street, Liverpool; J. H. Kenion and Alfred Tyrer, 14, North John Street, Liverpool. The first three subscribers are the first directors; qualification, 50 shares. The company in general meeting will appoint remuneration. Registered November 28th by Burton and Co., 37, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

Birmingham Electric Supply Company, Limited.Capital £100,000, in £5 shares. Objects: To purchase a transfer of the Birmingham Electric Lighting Order, 1889, and generally to carry on the business of an electric light and power company. Signatories (with 1 share each): G. S. Albright, Edgbaston; G. Hope Johnstone, 38, Northampton Street, Birmingham; F. W. V. Mitchell, Edgbaston; J. F. Albright, C.E., Edgbaston; Sir David Radcliffe, K.B., Thurstaston Hall, Cheshire; E. Mackintosh Sharp, Edgbaston. The signatories are to appoint the first directors; qualification, £500 in shares; remuneration £350 per annum. Registered 2nd inst., by Messrs. Waterlow Bros. and Layton, Limited, agents for Messrs. Smith, Pinsent and Co., of Birmingham, solicitors.

Foreign and Colonial Electrical Power Storage Company, Limited.-Capital £100,500, in shares of £5 each, 100 of which are founders' shares. Objects: To adopt a provisional agreement of 22nd ult. with the Electric Construction Corporation, Limited, relating to the purchase by this company of certain patents for improvements in storage batteries and other property. Signatories: Sir Daniel Cooper, 8, De Vere Gardens; "J. Irving Courtenay, The Temple; James Balfour, 4, Marlborough Gate, W.; "James Pender, Thornby Hall, Rugby; *F. Green, 13, Fenchurch Avenue (1 founders' share each); R. Mackenzie, Dingwall Lodge, Croydon ; and T. H. Horwood, 43, Woodstock Road, Bedford Park (1 ordinary share each). The signatories denoted by an asterisk are the first directors; qualification, 100 shares or £500 stock; remuneration, £1,000 per annum, and in addition 10 per cent. of profits in excess of the amount required for the payment of 10 per cent. per annum divided, provided that £5,000 per annum be the maximum remuneration. Registered 3rd inst. by Messrs. Renshaws, 2, Suffolk Lane, E.C.

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East Strand and District Electric Light and Power Company, Limited.—At an extraordinary general meeting of this company, held on 17th July, at 24, The Outer Temple, it was resolved to wind up voluntarily, and on 27th ult. a final meeting was held, when a statement was made showing the manner in which the winding up has been conducted and the property of the company disposed of.

Halifax Mutual Electric Light and Power Company, Limited.-An agreement of October 19th (filed 29th ult.) between Blakey Emmott and Company, Limited, and this company, provides for the purchase from the former of all the electric plant and appliances in connection with their installation at Halifax, at a price to be agreed upon, and, failing agreement, at a valuation to be made by Messrs. Wheatley Price, Kirk and Co., of London, the amounts to be paid threefourths in cash and the remainder in fully paid shares. Westinghouse Electric Company, Limited.-An agreement of July 20th (filed 20th ult.) with the American company of the same title, provides for the purchase of the goodwill, the patent rights, &c., of the American company, other than for North and South America. The purchase consideration is £488,000, payable by the issue of 30,000 fully paid ordinary, and 18,800 fully paid preference shares of £10 each in this

company.

The statutory return of the company, made up to the 22nd ult., was filed on the 29th ult. The nominal capital is £600,000, divided into 30,000 preference and 30,000 ordinary shares of £10 each. 3,155 preference shares are taken up, and upon 1,735 the full amount has been called, and 10s. per share has been called upon 1,420 shares. The calls paid amount to £18,060. Registered office, 4, Victoria Mansions, S.W. Llanelly Electric Light and Power Company, Limited. An extraordinary meeting of this company took place on the 9th ult., at 3, Vaughan Street, Llanelly, Carmarthen, when a resolution was passed authorising the striking out of clauses 18 to 23 of the articles of association. The resolution was confirmed on the 26th ult., and was duly filed on the 29th ult.

Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company, Limited.

-The directors on December 4th declared an interim dividend of 3s. per share, or at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, free of income tax, for the quarter ended September 30th last, and payable on the 24th inst. The books of the company will be closed from the 16th to the 23rd inst., both days inclusive.

TRAFFIC RECEIPTS.

The Cuba Submarine Telegraph Company, Limited. The estimated traffic receipts for the month of November were £3,000 as compared with £3,107 in the corresponding month of last year. The receipts for the month of August, estimated at £2,700, realised £2,815.

The Western and Brazilian Telegraph Company, Limited. The traffic receipts tor the week ending November 29th, 1889, after deducting the fifth of the gross receipts payable to the London Platino-Brazilian Telegraph Company, Limited, were £4,259.

West India and Panama Telegraph Company, Limited. The estimated traffic receipis for the half month ended the 30th November are £3,089, as compared with £2,969 in the corresponding period of 1888. The August receipts estimated at £4,502 realised £4,529.

The Great Northern Telegraph Company, Limited. The receipts in November, 1889, £23,200; January 1st to November 30th, 1889, £252,406; corresponding months 1888, £250,200; and of 1887, £242,880.

The Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company, Limited. The receipts for the month of November, 1889, amounted to £44,147, as against £44,234 in the corresponding month of 1888.

The Eastern Telegraph Company, Limited. The receipts for the month of November 1882, amounted to £60,578 against £59,862 for the corresponding month of last year, or an increase of £716.

The Direct Spanish Telegraph Company, Limited. The estimated receipts for the month of November, were £2,497, against £1,950 in the corresponding period of last year.

The Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company, Limited. week ending November 29th, 1889, amounted to £5,931, The West Coast of America Telegraph Company, Limited. the month of November were £6,600.

The receipts for the The gross earnings for

LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL AND ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

Ar the usual weekly meeting, on Tuesday last, Mr. F. WESTACOTT brought up a report of the Highways Committee on the subject of electric lighting. The committee stated that the electric lighting legislation of last session imposed certain duties and obligations

[DECEMBER 6, 1889

upon the Council, and the committee had had under considente the manner in which these were to be discharged. One of most important duties devolving upon the Council under the Acts was that of the appointment of competent and impera persons for the purpose of inspecting lines and works, and a certifying meters; and the inspectors were also, when required the Council, to test for insulation and conductivity any poran i any undertaker's main through which energy was to be supple The duty of testing meters would involve the establishment di station for the purpose, with the necessary apparatus; and the committee had ascertained that the cost of the instruments wi accumulators and of fixing the same, together with other necessary incidental expenses, would be about £2,000, to which muÀ added the cost of connecting the station with the electric en panies' mains, which would probably amount to about 20 Premises suitable for the purpose of a testing station would be have to be secured, and the committee were making inquiria ve a view to obtaining them. As the instruments would be of ca siderable value, it would be necessary that a reliable careture should reside on the premises; and it was desirable that the c taker should be qualified to attend to the accumulators and otherwise assist the inspectors. The committee recommended—(a) Täm subject to an estimate being submitted to the Council by the Finance Committee as required by the statute, the High Committee be authorised to obtain premises suitable for an electr testing station; and also to obtain and fix, at a cost of aber £2,100, the necessary apparatus for the station. The comme were of opinion that at present one inspector would be suficia to carry out the work under the Acts, and that the services of person competent to discharge the duties could be obtained at a salary of about £200 a year. They therefore recommended.-" That a competent person be appointed at a salary not exceeding £200 a year, to discharge the duties of inspector under the Elects Lighting Acts; and that it be referred to the committee to seler a person suitable for the appointment; (c) that a person b appointed, at a salary of £2 a week, as caretaker of the electric testing station, and to attend to the accumulate and otherwise assist the inspector; and that it be refere to the committee to select a person suitable for the appointment The electric lighting companies were required before commenting any works which they intended to carry out in the public stre to serve notices upon the Council with plans showing how it proposed to carry out the work, and the Council might appro such works subject to conditions, or might disapprove the sam Several such notices have been dealt with by the Council, whiz had attached to its approval certain conditions as to the mas in which the work was to be done. There was at present, howeve no means of ascertaining that the conditions imposed by th Council were complied with; and the committee were of opina s that a person should be employed to supervise the works of companies with a view to insuring such compliance. The com mittee had ascertained that this duty could not properly be cas upon the existing staff in the engineer's department; and they recommended that a person be appointed at a salary of £ & a-week to supervise the works of the electric lighting companies s the public streets, and to see that the requirements of th Council are complied with; and that it be referred to the o mittee to select a person suitable for the appointment.

Mr. WESTACOTT, chairman of the committee, said they felt the the Council ought to take care that the work was carried c properly to prevent such a catastrophe as recently happened at Boston.

Mr. HUNTER moved, and Mr. BURNS seconded a motion to the effect that the inspector should be in the engineer's departme and this was agreed to.

Mr. CAMPBELL pointed out that the local authority had em power with the Council in making regulations with respect to the electric light, and he suggested that the report should be refers back for further consideration and report after communicatam with the local authorities in whose districts the electric ligh works were proceeding.

This suggestion was not adopted, and the report of the com mittee was approved.

WORKS OF THE WESTMINSTER and Kensington COMPANIES The Highways Committee further reported that they had a sidered a notice dated 22nd November, 1889, from the Westminde Electric Supply Corporation, of its intention to lay mains and & tributing boxes in Victoria Street, Great Chapel Street, Carta Street, and Dacre Street, Westminster, as shown on plans mitted with the notice. The committee recommended, and it wa agreed :

The the Council do approve of the works specified in t notice of the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation, de 22nd November, 1889, on the following conditions, viz. t where two culverts are to be used, they shall be so constructed & to occupy as little space as possible; that the York stone covering for the culverts under 20 inches in width, shall be not less that 2 inches thick, and for the wider culverts 24 inches; that when the culverts are laid under the carriage way there shall be not is than 9 inches of Portland cement concrete between the cover stiam of the culvert and the under-side of the paving."

That committee having considered a notice, dated Novemie 18th, 1889, from the Kensington and Knightsbridge Ele Lighting Company, of its intention to extend its mains in le Vere Gardens and Canning Place, and also in Beaufort Garde as shown upon plans submitted by the company, recommend "That the Council do signify its approval of the works referreć

DECEMBER 6, 1889.]

o in the notice dated November 18th, 1889, of the Kensington nd Knightsbridge Electric Lighting Company, such approval eing subject to the same conditions as were imposed in respect f the company's works previously sanctioned by the Council." The recommendation was approved.

The committee had considered a letter from the same company, ated November 18th, 1889, submitting a drawing showing a point t Rutland Gate, at which two main culverts joined at right angles, ecessitating the placing close together of two straining-up boxes. The placing of one box at this point was sanctioned by the Council n October 8th, and the company now asked for sanction to the lacing of the second. This was an exceptional case, and as there ppeared to be no serious objection to what was proposed, the Ommittee recommend:

"That the Council do sanction the alteration shown upon the lan submitted with the letter from the Kensington and Knightsridge Electric Lighting Company of November 18th, 1889, subect to the conditions that there shall be a space of at least 2 feet etween the frames of the boxes."

The committee's recommendation was approved without disussion.

PROCEEDINGS O

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

The Institution of Electrical Engineers. "Electrical Engineering in America." By G. L. ADDENBROOKE, ssociate; read Thursday, November 28th, 1889.

The last eighteen months or two years in America have been much more characterised by commercial and industrial progress with already existing types of plant and apparatus than by a umber of new inventions. Inventive ability seems to have been more concentrated on improving and elaborating already existing nventions than on the evolution of new forins and ideas.

The leading types of machines and apparatus are all well nown to you, and have been so fully described and illustrated hat to enter into a minute account of them now would only be o traverse old ground. I therefore propose to devote myself his evening to central station, construction, and internal work, and the application of electricity to tramway and other industrial purposes. Finally, I propose to make a few remarks on the tone, policy, and aims of American electrical engineers, and those commercially interested with them in advancing the application f electricity.

My visit to America was not quite of the ordinary character, s I came through on my way from Australia, and consequently ad to traverse the whole breadth of the continent before reaching he better known towns on the Eastern Coast. I was thus able to nake a general, if rapid, survey of what is going on in the far West and in towns remote from the manufacturing and engineerng centres, as well as in New York and some of the larger cities.

OVERHEAD WORK.

Throughout the continent, from shore to shore, the main thing hat forces itself on the observer is the prevalence of arc lighting. Hardly any what we should call moderate sized village outside the oil region appears to be without its arc lamps.

Arc lamps, when used for public lighting, are usually fixed on poles from 20 to 40 feet high, according to the caprice of the parties interested in their erection; or they are slung from the corners of intersecting streets, in which case they usually hang low down; or the tower system is adopted. When posts are used they are of rough pine, never painted, often out of the straight, and warped or bent. If the lamps are fixed, iron spikes are asually driven at intervals on each side of the pole, starting about 8 feet from the ground, and forming a sort of ladder by which to reach the lamp. During my whole journey from San Francisco to New York I can hardly recollect seeing one shipshape, neat, and smart-looking post, whether for carrying arc lamps or for any other electrical purpose. Everything has a temporary and expedient look about it, which is very offensive to English eyes. Creosoting does not seem to be practised, and the only protection applied to the poles which I saw anywhere, consisted of boards fixed round the base and reaching about 6 feet high; but this protection was, I think, only applied to large poles carrying circuits or telephone wires.

The lamps themselves are always entirely without ornamentation, and are usually very roughly fixed on the poles. If the globes are not clear glass they are usually only lightly frosted, so that the light glares in one's eyes in all its nakedness.

When the lamps are hung over the centre of intersecting streets, four wires are brought down from the corners of the neighbouring houses, the lamp hangs from the centre, and is lowered and raised by a pulley and cord. The wires from which the lamp hangs, the cord, and the leads all festoon about in accordance with the chapter of accidents, and look, as we should think, both slipshod and untidy.

The only relief to this state of things is afforded by the towers. These towers are usually erected at the intersection of streets, with the four legs at the four angles of the pavement. They are constructed of exceedingly light ironwork. Tapering gracefully upwards to a great height, they are at any rate neat and not unin

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teresting-looking objects in themselves, and certainly form very definite landmarks. Three or four arc lamps hung round the top of one of these towers shed a sufficient light over a great area where the houses are not high. With this method of distribution a 20-light machine can be employed to great effect; especially as in country towns and villages, where these towers are chiefly employed, the object is rather to make darkness generally visible, if I may so express it, than to provide bright illumination in welldefined places.

By using the tower method one's eyes are not dazzled by the brightness of the light, which is so much the case with lamps at a low level.

In my own case I used sometimes at night to get quite an irritated feeling when walking about, if at all tired, from the incessant glaring in one's eyes of naked arc lamps, and the impossibility of finding rest anywhere. I mentioned this effect to two or three Americans, but they did not seem to notice it. Important, however, as the public lighting is in the large towns it occupies a comparatively inconspicuous place in comparison with the numbers of lights used for illuminating stores, saloons, hotels, restaurants, and all sorts of public buildings. Arc lamps are so lavishly used in these places, both inside and out, that the principal streets are often literally a blaze of light. There were, as far as I could ascertain, about 2,000 arc lamps in nightly use in San Francisco, 3,000 in Chicago, and I understood that 3,500 were shut down in New York while I was there, owing to the accidents which had taken place, and of which so many accounts have been published.

The majority of the arc lamps used outside are fixed by means of light iron rods projecting from the buildings, though some, of course, are hung.

The circuits feeding lamps hung either inside or outside of a building, either run direct from the nearest poles on each side of it, thus making an angle over and across the pavement which is very unsightly, or a sort of barrel-shaped glass insulator is used. This insulator has a hole through the centre and a groove round the middle of the outside. The wire coming in one direction is passed through the centre of the insulator, turned back on itself, and made off; the wire in the other direction is passed round the outside, and also made off on itself; the two ends of the loop are then carried to the lamp, through which the circuit is completed. Nearly all the wire I saw was insulated with "underwriters' insulation." Where lamps are used internally, this is often carried through wooden window frames and such other like places without any further protection or care. Once inside, the wire is carried along ceilings and walls quite exposed, but separated about 3 inches by small wooden cleats. Sometimes, instead of cleats, small white porcelain insulators are used.

As far as I could learn, it is the invariable custom for all companies to run, fix up, and entirely look after the lamps they operate. The customer simply pays a rent for the use of the lighted lamp of so much a week, month, or year, as the case may be, and has no further trouble of any sort. The rates differ according to the time the lamps are to be in use each night. To see that the lamps burn properly, linemen promenade the streets all night, and are supposed to see every lamp on their circuits at certain intervals.

The circuits themselves are almost invariably carried on poles erected along the edge of the kerbstones. A fair estimate of the average height of these posts is, I think, about 30 feet; of course some are much more, and many less. Long wooden cross arms are fixed near the top of the poles, carrying from two to six, and even eight insulators on each arm. These arms are not so strong as we should make them for the purpose. Owing to the length of the arm, and to their not being very securely fixed to the poles, the weight of the circuits often pulls them out of the horizontal. To see a warped and bent pole, set crookedly in the ground, and with the arms at various angles with each other, and the wires on it all hanging in different curves, seems about as dismal and woebegone a piece of engineering as can well be imagined.

I must make some exception, however, in the case of the Thomson-Houston Company in New York, who, at any rate, had got light iron stays attached to the poles and arms, at an angle so as to give more support to the arms, and keep them in their places.

The insulators are supported on the arms by wooden pegs, which have a screw-thread cut on the part that projects. On this one of the ordinary green glass insulators is screwed. Green glass insulators are used for every purpose in America, whether for electric light, telegraphs, or telephones. They are very cheap, and answer the purpose well. Still, the effect of green glass insulators on arms painted a dull red, fixed on bare poles from which the bark has just been stripped, is not æsthetic.

The majority of the poles for circuits have no steps provided for ascending them. On the frequent occasions when it is necessary to go up to the top to make alterations or add new circuits, the linemen use climbing irons. The tearing of the wood by the spikes of these climbing irons gives the poles a jagged and frayedout appearance from top to bottom. One could fancy they lead to the habitation of some immense squirrel.

The Americans nearly always use solid wire for running their circuits, covered, as I have mentioned already, with underwriters' insulation. Little trouble is taken to keep the various circuits on one pole in regulation with each other, so long as they do not touch. Indeed, the whole construction of the poles and arms is so flimsy, that no great strain could be put on the wires. The poles themselves are fixed at short intervals, often not more than 30 yards apart, and seldom above 60.

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The circuits are rather hung up on the poles than run, in the sense an English lineman attaches to the word. Separate suspenders I never saw used, except for telephone cables. For alternating incandescent circuits of 1,000 volts several separate cables of small size are also used, instead of running a large one with suspenders, as has been the custom here.

What I have just said about short spans for electric light work also applies to telephone and telegraphic work; the spans used in this work are generally also short. In the latter case, since the wires are light, they are run pretty taut without putting much strain on the arms, so that there is not much sag. Wires run in this way are, of course, not so liable to sway about as long spans are in high winds, and make intermittent contact or get overlapped. Further, the wires, being run along the streets, are protected from high winds in a great measure, and are not particularly exposed to them, as our over-house work is. This method of erection, therefore, rough as it is, and notwithstanding the enormous number of wires which are often suspended from one pole, gives an immunity from contacts and accidents that an English engineer at first can hardly understand or appreciate.

For leading in wires into houses, or for putting on extra wires on a pole-in fact, for general purposes of the sort-a block of wood is used, the lower end of which is cut off at an acute angle, the upper being cut away and turned down, and a screw-thread cut on it to carry an insulator. When the face of the angle is fixed against the side of a house or a pole, and a spike or screw put through it, the insulator projects somewhat, and forms a support for taking off the wire. The whole thing is of the cheapest description, but, nevertheless, seems to answer its purpose.

Wires are led in from the outside with much less care than is generally used in England; and this applies also to telephone and telegraph work. It often puzzled me how they worked at all after they had been put up a few months. But the fact that the climate is much drier, and fine rain not so frequent as here, has no doubt a great deal to do with it. In the case of arc light circuits entering and coming out of houses, and worked in series-as they always are-it is, of course, a material point that although the difference of potential between the circuit and the earth may be 3,000 volts, yet the difference between the outgoing and incoming wire is only some 50 volts; so that the tendency of the current to break across the leads is really small. Again, the chance of the current going to earth on dry ceilings and walls is, when one comes to look into it, not great. Thus, notwithstanding the rough character of most American work, and the poor insulation of the wires, in this class of work there is a greater freedom from faults and a higher margin of safety than one would at first imagine. The only place where the margin of safety is really low is where the wires enter buildings.

I have now, I think, gone over all the main points in arc lighting construction work. Construction work for alternating currents is generally carried out on much the same lines as for arc lighting; the only difference is that in the latter case converters are stuck against the outside of buildings instead of arc lamps, which, of course, are in parallel instead of in series. A rough hole is knocked through the brickwork just under the place where the converter is fixed, for the secondary leads, which are slipped through a couple of rubber tubes and carried inside. But little attempt is usually made to execute this part of the work in what we should call a neat or workmanlike manner.

Let us now make a resumé of this branch of the subject.

There are in America now, I believe, more than a quarter of a million arc lamps in constant use. In the large towns these arc lamps are fed by machines equal to keeping going 50 or 60 lamps each.

Outside a central station, supposing it to be for 1,000 lights, we shall find tall and untidy-looking poles 30 or 40 feet high. At the top these poles will have four or five cross arms, each carrying six or eight insulators. These poles will be continued along the neighbouring streets at intervals of 30 to 60 yards, according to circumstances. Every here and there a circuit will leave the rest for the side of a neighbourihg house, supply one or more lamps, being run in the latter case along the face of the houses, and then return again at the next pole. Or a circuit may jump across the street, supply a lamp or two, and then return again to the nearest pole on the side it first started from.

Here and there one or two circuits will leave the main line of poles altogether, and turn up a side street; in this case the poles in the side streets are generally smaller. It is surprising the length some of the arc circuits extend in this way-not unfrequently over a dozen miles.

As all the machines in a station are usually of the same size, and are run at the same speed, when the circuit is long the number of lamps fed off a nominal 60-light machine may perhaps have to be reduced to 45 to allow for the resistance of the leads. As you are aware, some of these arc machines are now used on power circuits in the daytime, which forms a very welcome source of extra revenue.

I trust I have not wearied you by a too minute description of this, a not very interesting part of electrical engineering in America; but I was anxious to convey as clearly as I could on what a remarkably simple and crude basis almost the whole fabric of American electrical engineering in this particular at present rests. For I think I am not overstating facts in saying that at least nine-tenths of all the electrical work in America-putting aside isolated plants-is carried out, as far as the construction work is concerned, in the manner I have described. In all this portion of the work I saw next to nothing which showed particular ingenuity, skill, or brilliancy of idea. Simple and crude means

[DECEMBER 6, 1889

were everywhere used to effect in a rough and crude man " end desired. In the means employed there is little to exate", admiration or interest. The interest lies in the fact that a simple and elementary manner so much has been done. UNDERGROUND Work.

Turning now from this branch of the subject to undergr work, I must confess that I had a good deal of difficulty in 2 really accurate and reliable information on this subjectrate, of a comparative character. The Edison Company har course, buried their wires all along, and their three condaenclosed in an iron tube, run solid with insulating m inside, are well known. As far as I could ascertain, the var systems of conduits have not proved very successful so far. since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the fact that Subway Company in New York are, I believe, laying do r. pipes entirely-at least, they were in every place I saw work g on-points to this conclusion.

The system of construction for underground work at pres being carried out in New York is as follows:

Manholes at convenient distances are made in the roadwy not, as a rule, in the pavement, but just on the rise of the and clear of the gutter. These manholes are circular, sale covered by a heavy iron lid. Below the manhole is a bell-sha pit 8 or 9 feet deep, and bricked round, and of sufficient size at bottom for a couple of men to stand fairly comfortably to Iron pipes, such as are used for water or gas, are laid m 2 ground from one manhole to the next. I understand that electric company will, as a rule, have a separate pipe, so tas there are several companies running along the street, they each require a separate line of piping opening into the man There will, therefore, often be several pipes entering at esc of the manhole. These pipes enter the manhole at such a b as, roughly, to come between the hips and breast of a man standi on the bottom-at a height, in fact, to bring them in a fairly venient position for working. The cables are drawn through iron pipes in the ordinary way. Branches are taken from the holes under the roadway and pavement to any house betwee manholes requiring current.

As regards the class of cable which is being largely laid de in these conduits, the conductor consists of seven strands of ' 16 copper. These are insulated by a layer of a hard bot what flexible material, containing, I believe, some rubber in junction with other materials, but the complete material is chesty than rubber used alone. The thickness of this material surre ing the conductors is one-twelfth of an inch. It somewhat sembles ebonite, and is of a consistency to stand rough usage hard wear. It will be interesting to see how it lasts in practi I must say it seems to me a very suitable material for the pose for which it is intended; and as far as insulating qual go, I was able to see the record of tests of a good deal that been laid, and they were excellent, going up to several thous of megohms per mile. The insulating material is covered lead pipe about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and containing believe, a percentage of tin. These lead-covered cables are ust jointed at each manhole, and a little slack left on them the The jointing is done by a special system, and when it is cor electrically the two lead tubes are drawn together over a sin of brass tube, which protects the point of junction; they are "wiped" together with a hot iron like an ordinary plumber joint. No doubt this work is heavy and expensive, but it loota if it should last when once put down.

INTERNAL WORK.

Coming now for a moment to the internal work in build.:: most of what I saw had a rough, temporary look about it, ende being put up as cheaply as possible. I do not say that no po solid work is done, but the proportion of it to the remainder fancy, a good deal smaller than in this country.

Gas fittings are freely utilised, and I think I am corrad stating that in the arrangement of lights the gas-fitting managing things is adhered to much more closely than in t country, where we have rather tried to avoid imitating the orc nary ways of arranging gas lights.

Turning aside for a moment, it appears to me that one of great wants all over the world now is, if I may so term it, a of illumination." Up to and as far as providing light, we are n ceedingly scientific. But in utilising it when we have got i proceed in an elementary and haphazard manner.

Mr. Preece has, I know, from the first paid a great deal of attr tion to this point, and appreciated its value. It seems to me it would really be of great practical benefit if a committee this Institution, or some other responsible body, would a late some accurate and authoritative data on the subject. W once started properly, these data would increase of them and would soon form a guide which would be exceedingly e in drawing up specifications and arranging to the best se tage the lighting of either open spaces, public buildings, or pri houses.

We all have our own indefinite notions on the subjects result of experience, but if they could only be put into de shape-and I think the subject does admit of being pati definite shape-it would, I feel sure, be a great advantage

Of course there are innumerable patterns of switches and outs and fittings in America, as here, but none came to my showing any very brilliant conception in design. Lampor. and fittings are generally somewhat larger and clumser with us.

REVIEW

The chief difference I noticed was that a switch is almost nvariably included in each lamp socket. Americans, as a rule, o not go to the same amount of trouble and expense that is eneral here to fix switches in handy places near doors. If you Fant the light on or off, you turn it on or off at the burner as you -ould do gas.

(To be continued.)

F, H; then the potential at E would be represented by the dotted line, E, G, and the total charge on E, F would be represented by the rectangle, E, G, H, F. We will assume that this charge is of the minus sign. The existence of this charge on E, F pre-supposes the presence of a charge of opposite sign on C, D, which would be represented by the rectangle, a, c, d, B.

A NEW VIEW OF TELEPHONE INDUCTION.* By JOHN J. CARTY.

Ir. President and Gentlemen of the Electric Club:

One of the most peculiar developments connected with the introuction of the telephone was the presence of remarkable sounds which were heard when the telephone line was of any considerable ength. Sometimes it sounded as though myriads of birds flew wittering by; again, sounds like the rustling of leaves and the roaking of frogs could plainly be heard; at other times, the noise esembled the hissing of steam and the boiling of water. Even a lisplay of Aurora Borealis causes powerful currents in the telehone.

At one time, I think it was in 1882, during the prevalence of un spots and after the appearance of a comet, the auroral current became so strong on a line from Boston to Brockton as to operate miniature arc light which I improvised ont of a pair of lead pencil carbons and connected into the line.

Some of these disturbances have been more or less satisfactorily accounted for by assuming differences of potential at the two ends of the line; by the sudden heating or cooling of the line; and by he passage of electrified bodies of air or clouds.

Another very curious effect was observed when the first two telephone wires were run parallel to each other on the same crossarm for the distance of even a few miles; it was found that although the insulation of the lines was high, a conversation carried on over one wire could plainly be heard on its neighbour. This overhearing is commonly called "cross-talk." As the number of telephone wires increased and their bunching together in cables became necessary, it was found that in addition to the cross-talk, there was another element of trouble added, which was due to the electro-static effect of the cable, and caused the voice to be transmitted in an indistinct and muffled manner. This evil exists to such an extent that where cables are used the speaking limit is soon reached.

While a study of the strange noises heard in the telephone might be of interest, I shall in this paper limit myself to the consideration of cross-talk and to the action which takes place when wires are bunched in cables. In the simple case of inductive cross-talk first cited, in which two telephone wires are strung parallel on the same cross-arm, the presence of cross-talk is said to be due to dynamic or current induction; that is, if a current commences to flow in one of the wires from north to south, it will at that instant cause an induced current to flow in the other wire in the opposite direction, from south to north. As the telephone current is constantly changing its direction and strength, this explanation seems to apply and is the one given in the text books. This is the kind of induction referred to in the law of Lenz, and applies to induction coils and to parallel wires when the current is of sufficient strength. I shall speak of this hereafter as electromagnetic induction. To-night I shall describe some experiments which seem to prove that the induction between telephone wires is due to electro-static rather than to electro-magnetic action.

+I will first show a case of electro-static induction between telephone wires in which there is a neutral point at the centre of the secondary wire, at which point there is no induction, while at the ends marked inductive effects are noticeable.

In fig. 1, E, F and C, D are two well insulated parallel telephone wires, each 200 feet long, and placed 4th of an inch apart. E, F is open at one end and connected to ground at the other through a Blake transmitter, L, in the ordinary manner. In front of the Blake transmitter I place a vibrating tuning fork, which acts on the transmitter in the same manner as the voice, and which produces impulses on the line, E, F, of the same strength as voice currents. At the centre of the line, C, D, we have the telephone, Y, and at the extreme ends the telephones x and z. With the tuning fork at L in operation, tones are heard at x and z, but the middle telephone, y, is silent. A study of the changes of potential produced in the wire, E, F, by the transmitter will give us an explanation of this phenomenon. As is well known, the telephone current is an alternating one, and the potential of the line, E, F, varies constantly and is changed from positive to negative many times per second. The wire, E, F, being open at E would be at the same potential throughout. It is assumed that at a given instant the height of potential at F would be represented by the dotted line,

* Paper read before the Electric Club, November 21st, 1889. In explaining an experiment of Mr. Culley before the Society of Telegraph Engineers in 1875, Mr. Preece pointed out that in a certain telegraph line subjected to induction from a neighbouring telegraph line, there was a neutral point. I can find, however, no reference to this in Mr. Preece's book on "The Telephone," and its practical application to telephone induction seems to have been lost sight of.

Now, suppose the potential on E, F becomes zero, owing to the operation of the transmitter, then the whole charge on E, F gets to earth at the grounded end of E, F, but the charge on C, D has two paths to earth, one at c and the other at D. This results in two currents, as shown by the arrows, one flowing to earth through the telephone, x, and producing sound at x, and the other flowing to earth through the telephone, z, and producing sound at z. No current flows through the telephone, Y, and consequently no sound is produced therein. Again, changing the potential of E, F causes a corresponding set of currents, but in opposite directions to those first described, meeting in the centre and producing no sound in the centre telephone, but causing the end telephones to give out sounds the same as in the first instance. Inasmuch as the line, E, F, is opened at one end and therefore has almost an infinite resistance, it is clear that this phenomenon is purely an electrostatic one.

In this and the succeeding experiments I have not attempted to give the exact shape of the induced charge, as it would unnecessarily complicate the subject and would not in any way affect the result. As a matter of fact, the dotted line, A, B, should slope off from the centre toward the ends.

With the line, E, F, grounded through an ordinary subscriber's line and instrument, the effect is the same as when the line is open, and the neutral point is still found. This is because the telephone current, even when flowing in a close circuit, is so weak that it is not capable of producing a magnetic field of sufficient strength to affect the neighbouring wire, or the magnetic effect is so small that it is obliterated by the movement of the static charge. For convenience in some of the succeeding experiments, the disturbing wire will be shown open at one end.

If there is no current flowing at the neutral point, opening the wire at that point should have no effect on the telephones located at the ends. In fig. 3, A, B, is the disturbing wire with the transmitter, L, arranged as before; K is a key located at the neutral point of C, D. With the transmitter, L, in operation, no change is produced in the tones heard at the telephones, x and y, by opening and closing the key, K. If this induction were electro-magnetic, opening the line, C, D, would prevent current from flowing in any part of the circuit. In fig. 2 we have another proof of the electrostatic nature of telephone induction. A, B, is the usual disturbing wire with the transmitter, L. C, D, is the secondary wire with the telephones, x and y, located at the ends, as in the previous experi. ment. By means of the key, K, the telephone, x, may be cut in

A

K

FIG. 3.

and out of the circuit. With the key open, the usual tones are heard at x and y. Now, if the induced current flowing in the circuit, C, D, is due to electro-magnetic induction, upon short-circuiting the telephone, x, and thereby reducing the resistance of the circuit, C, D, the strength of the induced current should be increased and the tone at the telephone, Y, should be correspondingly louder. But this is not the case, as on closing the key the sound at Y, instead of being increased, entirely disappears. This is because the charge on the wire, C, D, finds an easy path to earth through the key, and such a small portion of the charge goes to earth through the telephone, Y, that no audible effect is produced therein.