Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-06-06
N EMPHIS APPEAL
TIE ELECTRIC RAILWAY PRoGLEn.


After much discussion aud experiment,
and some failures, people are arriving at the
conclusion that electricity, TO some extent At
least, is to take the place Of steam upon
railroads. This il a strange fact, but not
more 30 than the fac! that streets, and iacto-
riep, and theaters would be lighted by cleo
tricity appeared very few years ago. At
the Railway Exposition at Chicago rail-
way has been put up on which the care run
by electricity, and the Electric Railway
Company Of the United States has recently
become q chartered institution, and "mesns
business" The officers are practical men,
officials of railroads, moneyed men and
others. S. G. Read, the President, was form
erIy Vice-President Of the Oregon Steam
Navigation Company. Electricians are now
expressing great confidence of what
will be done in the way of locomotion
by electricltyI aSylvanus ?. Thompson,
high authority, says there ia a far greater
feature for the transmission of power through
the agency Of electrical energy, than for the
Transformation OF electrical energy into
light. That more than 100 miles of railway
are now ruD, on short tracks at various
points, proves how thoroughly the practica-
biiity Of the electrical railway IS demon
strated. There are three persons who claim
priority as the inventors of electric motors
for railway, Mr.. Edison, Mr.. Field, and
Prof. .Siemens. Whoever may prove TO be the
individusl, one fact il incOntsstible, which is
that the invention ia an American one. The
peculiar advantages claimed for electricity
are-that every wheel can be utilized either
in running or stopping trsin-by adapta-
ton seventy per cent. Of the useful effect Of
the generators can be converted into motion
ono horse power can be obtained for every
fifty pounds dead weight OF motor
by proper arrangement train
running into a section upon which
there is already train, can be brought
10 stand until the preceding train has
passed of, making danger signal to prevent
conducted by the rails broken rail sewers
the connection and an open drawbridge
breaks the electrical circuit, so accidents
from these causes are prevented. For street
railways the electric conductor lie sunk below
the surface, and is thus protected. 10 Europe,
in some instances, the electric current is con-
veyed by cables overhead. A street railroad
il projected for Paris, from the Bastile to the
Madeleine, with two branches and five gene
rating stations OF 100 horse power each, which
and also The necessary lights. o. Edison's
railway at MEMO Park the engineer, instead
OF being smoke-begrimed and sooty, is a
neatly dressed parsonage doing his work with
his gloves on. At turn OF the lever the
locomotive, which has much the ordinary
appearance, starts without smoke or cinders,
or other noise than that from the wheels.
The speed is increased or deere ased or stopped
and the direction reversed, curves turnsd
and 30 on, with as much ease as where steam
is used. The current of electricity is gen.
Grated at the central station and fed by wires
10 the rsilp, which are electrified their whole
length. 1t is taken from the bars by the
wheels, metal brushes then gather it and
convey it to the dynamo motor 10 the for
ward part OF the locomoti ge; the direcLiA.-<k
=, lasseTsed IT will. The
American Electric Company combine the
patents of both Ellison and Field. There is
a saving OF fifty per cent. in the coal con-
suned, as stationary engines require two and
half pounds only where the locomotive en-
gines take from eight to fourteen pounds,
and commoner quantity of coal can be
used. The engines and cars are lighter than
on the steam roads. Experiments
are to be tried to determine the
highest degree of efficiency, then the
electric current il to be applied upon the
elevated railroads. In tunnels the electric
system will be special blessing by removing
the nuisance of smoke. Experiments are
now going on at Menlo Park for the purpose
of definitely ascsrtaining the best manner OF
running street cars BY electricity, and that
system is expected to produce excellent re-
cults for street service, and bring about the
dismissal OF the mules. The degree Of
, speed likely 10 be attained ia not yet ascer-
tanned. One great advantage that electricity
has is that where there is available water on
the route, by the use of turbines electric
power can be generated at a very light cost.
From all we have said it is very evident that
travelling BY electricity is at present only in
its infancy, somewhere where the electric
Light was ten or fifteen years ago. There ia
sufficient done, however, 10 demonstrate that
trains can be run by electric power. Actual
use, observation and experiment will in time
make known the most favorable ways Of ap-
plying the power. We have the horse, we
only want to know how 10 harness and drive
him, and that will not take long to learn.