The Hickman courier., 1878-07-12
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
Il. Advantare. in s1anufaelories.

THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
IFS Advantages In Manufaetories.
The application of electricity for llgnt-
ing seems at last to have been accom-
plished. For some time the magneto-
electric machines of Gramme have been
used in the lighting of certain factories
in Paris and its neighborhood, and the
number goes on increasing, and where
the ceilings are lofty and direct light
applicable the success ia perfect. Among
the establishments SO lighted are those OF
Call q Co, engineers; Lautier, Lamon-
nler q Co, the makers of the Gramme
machine, both of Paris; and Thomas d
Powell, OF Rouen, and at the Eiyes-L Lille
works. The system of direct lighting,
however, Is not applicable to weaving
and spinning sheds, the ceilings OF which
are too long the light is much too in
tense, and everything which impedes 1T
shafts, driving bands and machines
creates intense black shadows. The
problem was to get a light which, like
that of the sun, allows objects to be seen
by reflection and thi, has been achieved
by throwing the light by means of
hyperbolic reflector nm the whitened
ceilings and walls, when he machinery is
suhciently Illuminated by reflection to
cause everything to beseen as on bright
sunny day, while the eye is not fatigued,
nothing is painfully brilliant, and
nothing obscure. wool-spinning
the thousand sGa%s' .svse "a a. tbi2iT fGqF
square feet it is ! s1ssnd floor, one
hundred and forty feet bong, thirty FIVE
feet wide, and the ceiling Is twelve feet
from the floor. This ceiling is composed
of planks and laths, and is, like the walls,
lime washed. The electric light is sup
piled by two lamps, placed at a hight of
six feet from the floor and thrown upon
the ceiling by means OF conical re fectors,
which prevent the diffusion of any direct
light whatever. The detected light is
reflected and diffused in all walls, and
without shadows. The light is much
superior to that given by ordinary gas !;
it is soft and at once local and general
in all parts of the work. The foreman,
seated at his desk, has plenty of light for
working at his books, and sees all over
the building; thus the grand intensity
of electric light is at once utilized and
moderated. The machinery is at one
end of the factory, and is driven by
belt from a water wheel This mode OF
lighting has been in use for more than a
year; the cost of the motive power is
almost nil each lamp consumes from
three to four inches Of the carbon point
per hour, and the cost of this being
one cent per inch, the cost of the
two lamps is twopen@ per hour. The
seventy gas jets by which the factory
was formerly lighted cost one shilling
and eightpence per hour. We could
enumerate several other factories where
the light has been usd successfully for
more than year, bu.will only sum up
some of its advantages. Besides its
cheapness the effect upon colors is an
important consideration it is found
with the electric light that even the
darkest colors are worried at night quite
as easily as in the 2ytime. Another
important consideratim is that of fire
an electric lamp replaces from fifty TO
seventy jets of gas they require no
hand lamps or matche to light them-a
most important considsation-and lastly
the lamps are compstely inclosed in
glass lanterns. So inpertant are these
facts that insurance cnpanies have Of
fered TO insure factorie lighted by cleo
triclty at lower rates han usual. The
electric light requires mt little prepara-
tlon. Inc necessary machines and lamps
| can be set up in few aours; all that is
required is to keep tie grease-boxes oi
the machines full, andto clean the latter
daily. The electric llht does not affect
the temperature of TN factory, and con
| sequently does not dsxthe air, neither
| does 1t consume any OXYGEN, nor charge
the atmosphere with arbonic acid anc
other products of combustion The fac
| of its not having altered the appear
ance of coloTs has caused it to be useC
| by dyers. The expense of the cleo
trio light is given as fellows: The cos
of the machine, with lamp giving hght
| equal 10 five hundred carcel jeIs, ii
about ninety pounds, and these viii
represent from fifty tossventy gas Jets
according to circumstances. The power
required is equal to about twc-horst
steam power, and the cost OF carbon
points, as already stated, istwopence PEI
hour for each lamp. When the power i,
that of water, the cost ls inconsiderable
| and when that of coal has to be takeI
! into account for the steam engine, i
amounts to twopence per hour, bringing
the total up to tourpence per hour, anc
fabrication is set down at about one
| fourth pence more, while the wear o.
the machinery is regarded IS nil. Taking
for the basis that the electric lamp only
replaces the minimum number of gai
jets, namely fifty, it is seven time,
cheaper than gas, motive power not in
cluded. and tour times cheaper, taking
the cost of driving as estimated above
These facts compose astIoIg case, and the
success which has been obtained is easily
ascertained. A perfect light, as regard,
colors, which neither inJues the eyes o.
the workpeople, nor rendes factories un
healthy by contaminatiDgthe air, while
immensely reducing the risk of fire
and which saves seventyive per cent
on the cost of gas lighting, possesses SC
many advantages that II is only sur
prising that the manufacturers are moi
more eager to accept 1t at once. The
experiments in the electric lightning
with the Gramme machine are now daily
repeated at the Palsis PIndustrie, in
PaIis. An area of twelve THOUSAND
square yards is lighted by two electric
lustres of six lamps each, suspended al
twenty.seven yards from the ground
The power is supplied by two steam
engines of twenty-five horsepower each
1t would take ten thousand candles tc
yield an equivalent light on the floor, OF
three hundred Thousand to illuminate
the whole space as thoroughly. At first
there was single luster, they then used
two, and it is proposed soon to introduce
three. 1t is understooS4hat during the
International exhiJuS,SA ahefe will be
tests made of thed aFd1ethods OF
lighting streets ana .s-TT1ngs with cleo
tricity, and the relaR value of the
different systems will be determined.
One division of the exhibition is to be
devoted exclusively to electricity. AL
though it is conceded that the light
Afforded by electricityis far superior to
any otherwise available, some difference
OF opinion exists regarding the supe-
riority OF the several apparatus now in
troduced, and the GONNA rstive expense.
Measures are to be taken to insure the
utmost inpartiality in the experiments,
and the results will be anticipated with
great interest London Journal of Ap-
piled Science.
Now, heaven help US, the metric sys-
tenn agltators are preparing to carry this
country by storm. Away with the con-
spirators. Welcome the communists,
even, if they win slsy for us the men
who would send a ten-year-old boy to
the store to buy three-quarters of hec-
tometer OF unbleached muslin (; half a
milliliter of bran, a mynagram of nut
megs and dekliter OF buckwheat, and
ask the clerk how he sold dress braid q
hectometer when you bought six decline
ters of il. Away with them.-T Bur.