Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-10-21

uhFc Dteu nohNu III the street, lut
photograph which you have in the report
OF the paper read by me gives you some
idea Of whore The cars have been kept.
or course you are aware that when a
machine is running it is exposed TO more
or less wear. Il needs some care and
attention. 4 locomotive that makes two
or three hundred miles is sent into a
round-house, thoroughly overiiauied,
cleaned, aud taken care of. 10 j. a
very good locomotive that viii run
with safety. anl it is very poor
management that will permit it 70 run
more than two, or three, or fOur hun
bred mics without looking II over. The
Richmond machines have run sometimes
- high as 5000 or 10000 miles without
being sent inside q covered shed. They
have run without covers Of any kind Or
character. They hover1n witt the street
six inches deep in water, and brake
beams running in the water, and the
water spiashing on the machine. They
have uu until You could not fe.-
what tho machine was until mo ae-
emulation Of mud, and Oh. and q th
WAS 81 such n character that ro otter
piece Of machinery ia the world would
ever have run. sm not rtspou1b.e.
unfortunately, for the management o..
tao ilchmOnd railway. "a wac W.
would not have any such possibility as
laying q number OF cars ont iu the stre.t
or IN the car-sued teo called after tcu
days continuous uin, unit for dutY. Tie
report from one Of NY own inspectors q
week ago WAS that there was 40 more
trouble IN running iOrtv-car road by
electricity than by any other means. he
is a levcl-headed, practical, eau
tOas man, not given 10 unnecessarily
strong statements and very conserva-
tive IN what he says or does.
lie says that out OF thirty car'
designed to be- on the road there Is no
difficulty whatever IN mainiamngtHcntY-
nine on the road il only legitimate Orii-
nary, reasonable care is given 10 the ma-
chime which ought ~ be gwen 20 10, amt
that IS the record OF everybody who
knows the exact circumstances Oh the
Ncbmond management auj tie care
which tie machines have II. Nr-
there ifIO other car .n Oh. world nl. .
lls ever made ant'.-t i..
records sometimes $3.50 or I.O .I i-.
miles day On er.1.s as ue.,aa li p.'
cent under loads tJ Or BOT
cen. above t1o Douah cap g.
tue mas hiuo i'm the laLi. ,. rau
ON duty twenty hour' "'y I'D
make 900 or 900 miles without -
ipo,fr.ido q abe7 ia bp cleaned OIL
have been called crank an" some ,lL.e
ag0 when made the statement rs oII
In this paper tbot was read here, that
we wGuid get to that position IN eIeciu '-
motor machinery m winch 1t would Doe
almost an lmpOsruhlty to break ID Gown.
aud that J propose To- wash machlhrs
down occa, onell. to ct them clean, tl-e
remark was made" Well, that iello"
must bee ID fool y ELL ] quietly
pocheted that remark, and "iihh tue
next thirty DAVIS We viii nave thnt na-
chine ont, and ue will pat one OF these
nrmatures that people have laughed
about into a barrel Of water tor twenty
four hours and we VIII take 10 ont onI
run It. There l. no piece al oiectrcal
machinery III existence to-day that WILL
stand 1t.
The breaking OF trolley-wire, some
times caused by trolley catching in 1t,
can be. Of course, invariably ohyiated
by one or two precautions one OF these
rs the nOn-use Of solder IN the erection
of line. In putting up the Richmond
Inc We used hsrd-drswn copper. Hand
drawn copper AS 1t comes ont OF the mil
has remarkable tenaclty. but when 1t
has been handled and when under the
heat OF tho soldering IRON 1t hiss been
warmed up, you reduce It practically 10
the strength Of soft-drawn copper; 80
that YOU will have 1T the point where
soldering has been applied a weak spot
which nearly nullliics all your other pre-
cautious In our future work this iroubio
will be entirely removed, because We
will not use solder from one end OF the
line to the other. The use OF silicon
bronze OF aluminium bronze drawn Tor
mgn couductiyIty and great teuacity
viii likewise render less possible any ac-
cidents due TO tho breaking OF the wlrc.
Ills VII NAu 10 'Ati"tA '+N''-t
to 10000 pounds tensile strength TO tho
square inch, aud being put up without
solder can see no possibility oil That
wire coming down.
SO far as the use OF poles ID concerned,
if you use green poles, as the poles IN
Richmond were, they will bend ; II set
in a clay soil without proper concreun8'
A.
are set in concrete there IS no reason
Why they should bend. One OF tine
most important roads that we haye-@e
have some twenty SIX OF twen'y-seyen
now-is the West Ind road OF Boston,
rights tor an overhead system having
been granted WITHIN ie" Gays tueIe'
aud We are putting mp % Inc that COSTS
four times as much as the hlchinohd
road did per mile. ] pelicNe SAID IN my
recent paper That the Oulectlohs 10 tne
overhead wires were entirely reasonable
because people did not put money
enough into theE Having put all the
money which | did IN the Richmond
road, do not propose to put any more
in new road. Where 1 can make my
own conditions before the contract IS
signed am wiling TO put III ROAD luSt