The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-05-04
IN THE ELECTRICAL WORLD.

1t is reported on good authority
that company backed with American
capita, will build cable line connect
ing San Francisco and Santiago.
The Postal Telegraph Co is to put
its St Louis lines underground The
Sutter conduits will be used IN the
form of cement-lined iron pipe.
The Paris-Lyons Railway Co has
followed the recent lead of the Paris
Havre Co. and initiated the use of
electric locomotives for running its
trains The former company has de-
cided to abandon entirely steam as n
motive power. The express trains of
the Lyons Co. to Nice are now run by
electric engines One novel feature of
the engines is that the entire fore part
is wedge-shaped.
The arc lamp is yet to be touched
up to more perfectly uniform action,
the glow lamp is to be cheapened, al
ternating current motors are to be per-
fected, electro-metallurgy is to be fos-
tered and brought more generally into
commercial usefulness, conduit rail-
ways must be attained, storage bate
ries or gas batteries of a permanent
type are to be designed, long-distance
transmission must come, and host Of
other kindred tasks remain. We are
but on the threshold of the electrical
age.-Electrical Review.
i'm answer to a correspondent the
Electrical Review states that the two
basic patents on the telephone. involv-
ing the method of magnetic transmits
sion and the magnetic receiver, have
expired, and consequently any one is
free to use the telephone to that ex-
tent For long-distance work, howev-
er, the telephone business is not open
to free public use. The American Bell
Telephone Co. owns patent issued to
Emile Berliner, November II, 1891,
which covers the familiar form of car
bon transmitter Such transmitter
has always been employed in long dis
tance work. The magnetic as ordina-
rily constructed has not sufficient pow
er to transverse long distances and
give commercial talk Some modern
| types of magnetic instruments have
been devised which seem to possess the
qualities for long distance use, but
SUCH dIC CNCCPbAOh ihb
not the rule. The Berliner patent may
be declared invalid, but until it is, it
holds good.
I'm 1883 the entire electric railway
mileage in the United States was only
about IS, distributed over eight states
At the close of last year the electric
railways comprised 6l per cent. of the
entire street railway system of the
United States, this gain being at the
expense of the horse and steam lines
The past year the mileage operated by
horse power decreased from 4, ago to
3,497 miles and that by steam $40 to 500.
The total street railway mileage in.
creased 1,64O, but the electrical rail-
| way mileage increased 1,5l1 miles,
showing an extensive conversion OF
! horse line into electric. About one
quarter of the mileage of the horse
railways in the United States year
ago has been fitted for electricity.
The cable railways increased only
twelve miles during the year, thus
proving it is cheaper and more salts
factory to operate by electricity than
any other system, and in the near fu-
ture, it is predicted, this system will
be formidable competitor of the
steam railways for suburban traffic.
The Washington convention of the
National Electric Light association
among other questions, paid a good
deal of attention to tsat of wiring, and
adopted new set of rules in regard to
the matter. 1t appears, however, that
these rules conflict in several import
ant details with those of the Under
writer's International Electric associa-
ton. This want of uniformity in the
two sets of rules is greatly deplored by
those in interest. The Architects
Electrical Bulletin of New York, COM
menting on this conflict of authority,
says: 1T seems to us the best way to
get concurrent and accordant action
would be to resort to a conference, in
which all the regulating authorities
would be represented and at which
some universal agreement could be ar
rived at. AS it is, we have had the
spectacle of the National Electric Light
association copyrighting its new rules,
avowedly because various insurance
bodies steal and plagarize the rules,
and spoil them in the process, beside
inflicting serious hardships and inju-
ries on the art. Now all this is to be
deeply regretted, especially as it should
be easily avoidable."
DUElING IN EUROPE.