Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-09-03
IN MECHANICAL SCIENCE.
Prsare'' >" S""'e'iing Electricity to naa'.
service : Lighting English House.-Au
Electric RAILWAY.

''hI StIENCE.
prsare,s In subieotInR
service Lighting English House. An
Electric Railway.
A Montreal special Of No,l,,, s.-. -r,,,
has been the most Succession s,.s;a,, =, 49,,
section devoted 10 mcchap,caI science Tic
attendance has been large. and thn snIjsc,s
discussed nave been Of great nr,c,,csi I'm.
portance. The first two related 20 lich,.
houses ana coast signals, and wera c,n.
uibu'en ~ W. smith, Deputy Minister Of
Marine III 'ahnd1. and by sir James Doug-
VS., one oi rle veterans Of Trinity House,
En2iahu' me next speaker was w. II.
Ire ,, y i"i''o,s electrician I'm the English
ci'h ssI,Io1; ne read two pipers-One on
Seeohuny n'ucIles OF Great importance In
It's Apphca,'uIs 10 Electric Lighting, and
lhe otn.i VI, Dotacsle Systems OF Electric
| Lighting. These papers were admirable
| IN form. and were delivered mo, or,o,.
lively, Mr.. Preece havIny ,no,oJ,o,s
voice and a charming simn,ic,,r 80 l,,a
ner. He described the system of - 80 ~, r'c
lighting which he has introduced IN b,s
own house, in England. Tho sn,nlv :,
regulated every morning nv the .,IrJe1o.
aud at every hour, night and d,y. evory
room can be lighted on the ins,aof
| He also has movable electric mn.
paying out from wire behind. wheYewiib
he can go around the grounds AZ u,yht
| He has little daughter. who has Arg,
dolls house with several rooms. Every
one Of these rooms in the dO's house his
| its electric lamp. which the little Girl en-
| light by the pressure Of her inner. one
OF these lights Of hali-candle power he OK
| hibited to the audience. He described thc
facility with which electricity was used i'm
his house. There was no mitch-ii .ht-
ing; switch was turned, and
room was filed with a brilliant.
steady hight. % far ~ economy was
concerned it cost more than gls, bat mo
had not tried 20 introduce il in any cholp
way, havin" efficiency solely IN view. Us
general conclusions were that 1t must De-
considered a luxury at present and paid
for a. such. and. secondly. that The duribi,-
ity Of the system. tn absence Of hels and
destructive agencies. the hex OF viiil.el /
air, and he increased efficiency of the light
amply compensated for any increas. IN
cost.
ADVANTAGES or ELECTRIC LIGHTING.
Sir William Thomson acquia-crd i'm cyery- /
thing Mr.. Precce hal said respecting the |
plca-lntncSS and Wholesome quah,ios 81 |
electric light. He referred tu the economic /
Use which could be mad, 81 watrr-powcr /
in transmitting electric energy. showed /.
how wns'eful was the ordinary hmpor gqs- /
JET. and how marked was the improve. /
ment in ventilation i'm houses lighted /
iy electricity. lie admitted that electric
light would cost more than gls II |
manufactured Tor a single house. hui con-
tended that on large scale n could Already
almost compete with -. NJ the London
rate Of three shillngs thousand. An in
ieie,tiHg debate followed, in the course Of
which several speakers referred TO the
enormous advantages possessed hy Canada
and the United States m watcr-pOwcr suit
able for generating electricity At low cost.
They agreed IN regarding IL a. only que,-
ton OF time when the electric LIGHT will be
introduced In all the cities Of the world.
Matthew Carpenter described ? house IN
Scotland lighted by electricity. through
TIE grounds ran small STRAIN; this was
damned and fall Oi five feet produced,
and then, with the sid Of an American tnr.
hlnc wheel and conducting wire. Il circuit
OF ninety lamps was established. The own
or o. the house had lamp at IA, bedside,
Whi,h he could light AZ any moment, aud
he could also control bv another key IN,
watrr-supply OF The place. This man hal
not found the system expensive. and IL hld
worked most satisfactorily. Another
householder, not having watcr-power on hi,
grounds, had 10 Use y e1s.engInc in gen
Grating electricity, but. nevertheless, ne did
not consider II an expensive luxury.
Sir Frederick Bramwc!l described Mr..
Freezes house aS Il model OF comfort and
luxury IN respect TO the method OF lighting
II. and predicted that the delay in dryel-
opng the system caused by vcou, legi,h-
ton in England would Infinitely prove a
decided advantage. since an improved
would be used.
TIE ELECTRIC RAILWAY.
After Mr.. Prcecc had explained tha. he
used gas-cngine and secondary blltcry
in generating electricity, and tia. hehoped
To be able to store enough energy - last
single week, "A new topic was introduced in
the electric railway now operated near the
Giants CauscWay ireland. DR.. IT. Trail.
the president OF the company. explained
he system in detail. aud illustrated it by q
working model. by which toy car was run
and forward on a toy trlinWlv. ,
DR.. Trail revealed rich vein Of Irish ,
humOr, and the audience was Frequently {
ronyul>ed with laughter. He described all
he methods OF electric locOmOtOn ever de-
,ised and the various difficulties and fail.
lrcs % their experience at Port Rush. He {
th}t they hal at last succeeded !
IN operating the road with positive success 7
md At a low rate OF cost. lie told a great Il
number Of comical anecdotes, illustrating Z
popular prejudice against electrical ways. \
Ic described a superior mode Of insulation /
md the operation Of the brush, ~ which d
Electricity was taken mp rs the ear moved
long the track. He referred 10 tie .
power OF the electric
rake, and hCmorously told how it had
zen demon >tratcd 10 the sa.i,fac.
ION OF the English Commissioner He \
tatcd that the motiyc-power was cleo.
richly generated at the outset OF their
experiment. bya steam-engine in connec- +,
ion with a Scimen's machine. but now by i
ydraulic power and m American turbine. f.
n operating the road the company never !,
sed more than fifiy-horsc power at any n
mc. But after Introducing second 81
ynamo they would have l00hor,e
over. lie called upon inventors 10 sup II
~ them with suitable electric governor
nd a turbine governor. The advantage, !:
IN electric tramwaY were described. \
nd the economy OF the system stoutly Ii
Or. Trail closed his address t.
y directing attention to what he consider h.
l The latest Irish grievance. This was the
eglcct OF Lord RayleiSn TO refer to the "
eetric railway in his inaugural address. e.
Mir. Prcecc outlined paper contributed IL
y Ilolroyd Smith on an electric railway p
which the current was underground, n
ID was picked up by means OF shuttle. II