The Portland daily press., 1895-08-08
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING.
Its Recent and Rapid Develpme mt Upon
the Continent.
providence Journal. J

(Providence Journal.
Before recent meeting of the Amerl-
can Institute of Electrical Engineers Mr.
H Ward Leonard delivered an interest
ing address upon electrical engineering
developments in France and England as
contrasted with those in America. In its
commercial development of electricity
America is placed first; in fact far in ad-
vance of the old world countries, but
considered from an engineering stand
point Mr.. Leonard thinks the United
States is losing the lead it has thus far
held He lays the responsibility for this
condition of affairs almost entirely at the
door of the great electrical monopolles
which have stood in the way of progress
and particularly in preventing the trial
of devices and systems of which Europe
presents varieties unknown to us. lie
questions what has been done in this
country in the way of electrical engineer
ing development since Edison started his
three-wire lightning distribution at sun
bury Pa, in 1883, and Westinghouse es-
tablished his alternating system with
l, 1,0O0-yolt primary and 5o-volt secondary a
few years later, and Sprague started the
Richmond electric railroad in 1887. There
has, OF course, been great extension OF
installation along these lines
We have, Mr.. Leonard says, the best
three wire central station plants in the
world, also the best alternating system,
converting from 1000 to 80 volts, but we
have practically no other kind of central
station to point to. We are oprating 300
volt continuous current electric railways
at distances for which q 900 volts should
be used instead of 500, and after invest
ing more money in copper per car than
the entire cost of the electrical equip
ment we still lose twice as much energy
as is commercial in the line. In England
in alternating systems a three-wire
secondary is used with 100 volts on each
side, and, according to Mr.. Leonard S
view, there was no excuse except patents
for 50-yolt two-wire secondary original
ly, and none save the inertia and pre-
judice of large corporation for contin u
ing to put in the two-wire secondary to-
day. Rotary transformers are used in
several stations in England for contin-
uous current, high potential multiple-arc
distribution, the secondary being three
wire system, and some American inven-
tions not patented in England are found
to have been utilized in central stations
the land of their inception.
The United States is undoubtedly
ahead of England and France in the de-
signing of engines and dynamos. En-
gines were found running over in that
country with what we would consider
practically no governor, that is, with
slow acting throttling governors. The
steam turbines, both OF the Parson and
De Laval make, are considered interest
ing by reason of their simplicity and
efficiency. The Parsons machines run at
high speed in some English stations
without vibration were not even
bolted down. The steam turbine, it is
now thought, is likely to become an i'm
portant factor in the electrical field. In
both rheostats and electrical instruments
Mr.. Leonard says we are ahead of the
foreign practice. He thinks the craze for
storage batteries as the universal panacea
for electrical troubles Is on the wane
The Electrical Engineer, however, in
commenting upon Mr.. Leonard's address,
says no one is qualified to express an
opinion on this subject who has not
studied 1t upon the ground in Germany,
which is the only country in which the
storage battery has been given any ex-
tended trial in large number of sta
tions. AS illustrating the wide diversity
of opinions upon this subject, it states
that President insult of the Chicago Edi-
son Company, recently returned from
Europe with his mind made up against
any extension in Europe with the aid of
the storage battery, while Mr.. Edgar of
the Boston Edison Company was placing
an order for prompt delivery for the big
gest station battery outfit in the word