Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-27
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Electric Light.

NEW YORK, July 25.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 So much has been said of late in the papers all over the land about electrical ight ting, and as it has already been put into practical use (to limited extent) in our own city, have taken some little trouble to go into the inves- tigation of particulars, for the reason that when 8 person once commits himself to an opinion he is apt to defend it to the last. and most certainly when that position has been assailed, and demonstrations can afterwards be found for defence. I was in Railway last evening and was talking with the per son of whom I have frequently spoken in your paper concerning this process, and we went over the ground of the past since the time we together visited Mir. Edison at Menlo Park. This gentleman (who is none other than my wife's father) said he had made many Investigations about the details of generating light by electricity, and had fully satisfied his own mind that for the immediate future it could not in economy compete with gas, and he then gave his reasons. Said he: ''The cost of gas coal is just $1 .50 when loaded on the car at the mines for shipment At the present cost of transportation that coal costs in Rah- way about $4 per ton, occasionally little more. Now, at cost of say $4.25 per ton for gas coal gas can be put in a retort for about 62 to 65 cents per thousand feet. Con sidering the cost of laying gas pipe and the keeping of it in order, the cost of the money the salary of the 4. employees (officers included two dollars per thousand feet is not 8 large price for the consumer to pay the producers. ''Yet," said he, "should the time ever come when it became necessary to come into sharp competition with other methods of lighting, the cost of gas, begin ming with the first cost of the coal at the l1 ro1uoad r,orfiou- larly on the cost of transportation. There is still strong argument on the other side to be listened to, viz. , The cost of lighting by kerosene is only about one-third the cost of lighting by gas, and yet many people had rather pay and do pay the additional cost and use gas in preference to the oil, and 1t may be true by the same argument that some people would prefer the electric light to gas" After lengthy discussion of the matter, in which many important points were brought out, took it into my head this morning to visit the well known store ofMessrs R. H. Macy & Co.,, New York, who were the first parties in that city to use the electric light. Being personally acquainted with MT c. B. Webster, the present head of the firm, I asked him to give me the exact cost of the difference of the two methods of lighting, and his reply was that he found that gas at $2 per l. OOO feet cost just as much in dollars and cents as electricity. But when 1t came to the question which was better liked, sup posing both cost alike, there was but sin gle conclusion, and that was decidedly in favor of electricity. One advantage of it was that you could match colors by it as we'll as by sunlight another that it gave no heat to speak of ; and although the power that sup piled their light came from nearly mile away, it was steady, satisfactory and so de- cided a success that his two years of expert ence convinced him beyond doubt that it was the coming light of the future.
 write this in answer to many questions from your readers, and trust they will find my statements and figures tolerably correct.
 M C. S.