Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-01-19
THE STEAM ENGINE.
Edward n. DIckessOn's Lecture Re
fore tho Electric club.

At last nights meeting ~ the Electric
club. held st the clubhouse, i east Twenty
second street, Mr. Edward y. Dlckerson de-
llyered an interesting lecture upon " lhe
steam Engine" The meeting was well A.
tended. and the audience cyinced deep
interest ln tue lecture
I'm Is3O. the lecturer said. Professor Jo-
seph Henry produced the first ccclrO-mo-
tor ever known to man. and prophe'ied that
future discoveries would render the princl-
ple then discovered available and valuable.
A year later Henry. i'm this country aud
Faraday in England, almost simultaneously
discovered that electricity could be pro-
dueed in indefinite quantities by the cOmbina-
ton Of HORSEPOWER with magnet and flcc-
tricity thus produced W0s called magnetic
electricity. This, the greatest Of all the dis
coyeIips In electricity. opened the door 10 m
unlimited application ot power for IFS pro-
duction. and IL vas leit 10 ingenious clec-
trrians 10 invent the iorm, Of apparatus 10y
which the desired result could be ac'
cOmplished.
Pacinott's apparatus, somewhat modified,
now IN general Use, produces practical re-
sults 80 near 20 tle Theoretical ones th1t
more than 90 per cent. ~ the power eN-
pended uron the generating machines r.
appears iu The form 0i electricity. Ihls a
complete system for the creation and dis
| trtbution Of power through the Intervention
OF electricity ha, sprung up, Occupying tne
attention oi thousands OF skilled ana sell
! enuGc men and giving employment TO hum
| dreds OF thousands oi operatives
50 flr a. we know uOw this whole system
| depends upon the steam engine, and IL must
| continue TO depend upon that means of
! generating power until in the future the
| discovery shall be made oi some means for
converting the heat % combustion directly
1 INTO electricity without the Intervention OF
apy other agency. TIE first steam engine
/ was made by Hero u Alexandra more
| than 1000 years ago. 10 was per-
| fecily practical, operative machine, its prn-
! cipIe beng that OF tangental REACTION he
/ discovery was lost IN The ignorance aud su'
perstitlon II the Dark Ages. and not unill
| Lord BlcOn's advent did the team engine
again apUear. James Watt, about century
| ago, took up the subject and Brought 10 bear
| upon il one Of the greatest and most pro.
| found intellects that has ever been directed
/ 10 the practical sub0rdiaati0D 0f the laws oi
! nature TO The wants 81 man. He discovered
and dem0nstrated ell that IS now known
( about The steam engine.
The problem OF the steam engine Is TO con-
/ vert the potentially ot combustion into
/ -
| best which can Obtain the most power from
the least coal. Three laws are a key 10 the
I problem: FIRST, cubic inch Of water viii
/ I'M a ton foot high inverted IN steam; se-
/ c0nd. il costs no more fuel h fyapOfaie cu-
| bic inch of water al the pressure OF 200
hounds 10 the square inch Than
1t doe. 10 eyapOrate It IN an open vessel ;
and, third, The gain oi power depends
upon the number u times tbe compressed
steam I. permitted 10 expand after It has
done the work Of lifting ton loot high.
| Two conditions are essential 10 perfect obe-
dlence OF these laws: First. the valves 0f
the engine must be absolutely tight when
closed, and, second, the closure Of tie steam
valve when the time for cutting of has ar
| rived must be instantaneous
The astonishing fact exists to-day that
nearly every steamboat running Oh the
waters Of New York is wasting not less than
/ H. Der cent. Of the fuel consumed by leaking
! through The valves, and almost any OF them
will run at the rate OF four or i've miles an
hour simply by the leakage through those
valves. The third law mentioned had been
controyerted by The Navy Department
of the United states, but unsucccss-
fully. and the new steiner Nesuuus, ex-
hiDiting higher speed iban any similar yes-
sci known, expands MS steam seven times,
aud the performance ylndicates the law.
The present efficiency Of the best non."on'
denslng eBgInes IS probably not grestsr than
al The rate OF two aud one nail pounds OF
coal an hour a horsepower, and OF a good
condensing engine about two pounds of coal
an hour horse-poger. or not materially dii'
fsteut from james Watts engine OF fifty
years ago.
The lecturer gave II as his opinion "thAt
with our preseut knowledge OF machinery a
steam engine can be built thar will produce q
HORSEPOWER Of three quarters Of pound Of
coal an hour II Oi sufficient Size TO reduce
the percentage Of loss by radiation 20 mint.
mum. Under those circumstances your fuel
expense would be less than OCe third Of
what II now Is"