The Portland daily press., 1895-02-14
ELECTRIC LIGHTING.
How 1t is Applied to Public and
Private Conveyances.

An Interesting Consular Report-its Use in
Paris and the Purposes it Serves-Facts
as to Cost.
Electric lighting of carriages" is the
subject of an interesting report to theState
Department by Mr.. C. W. Chancellor, con-
sui at Havre, France. According to this
report, gas lighting, which was common
| in London as early as 1910, was not in
| troduced into Paris until 1919, and more
than twenty years elapsed before its use
as an illuminant became general in
France. On the other hand" says Mr..
Chancellor, "when we turn TO the sub
iect of electric lighting it must be ad-
mitted that France has taken foremost
rank among European nations in adopt
ing the electric light.
I'm Paris electrically-lit private car
riages have, for the last five years, been
extensively patronized by the affiuent
classes, but only recently has this process
Of lighting been applied to private car
rjages in London and Berlin. The
Prince of Wales was the first to adopt 1T
in London, and now we learn that the
| German Emperor has brought the re-
| seurces of his active mind to bear on the
su bject of lighting carriages, and, as a
consequence, the court carriages in Ber-
| lin are now lit by electricity, not only
by outside lanterns, but by "a series OF
accumuIators carried in the vehicles. All
over the harness are placed what the Ger
mans call Gluhampe, or small, eolored
lights, which glow like firefies when the
carriage is in notion
ALL CoNvEYANCEs SHOULD BE
ILLUMINATED.
"There seems no valid reason why all
public conveyances, cabs. omnlbuses,
tram cars, ETC., as we'll as private car
riages, should not be illuminated by
electricity. 1t would certainly largely
enhance not only the comfort, but the
safety of locomotioD in the thorough
fares of large cities. Indeed it has been
found that in carriage supplied with
properly arranged electric light the most
| formidable of outdoor foes, the dense
fogs of European cities, might almost be
delied, while the brilliant. searching
electric light would enable passengers to
amuse themselves by reading books and
newspapers. 1t is, moreover. obvious
that the adoption, on an extended scale
of electricity as an illuminating agent
| in private and public vehicles would
serve a double purpose first. one OF dis
tinctly practical usefulness; next. Ethat
OF increasing the brightness and cheer,
| fuIuess of the streets, which would
materially aid ia the identifying of u
city. Again, it has been ascertained
| that the more the omnibus and tram
car companies make their vehic es attrac-
tive, the greater will be their traffic.
| SIN private carriages the electric lamp
| is placed inside, in the center of the roof
and the twin lights for there are two
| contained in fiat vial shaped vacuum
glasses, are shielded by a circular glass
plate rather larger than the bulbs eye
of An ordinary search light, but neither
| convex nor concave. AT the back OF the
lamp there is mode or bell shaped en-
ameled reflector. The horseshoe carbon
| fIaments, which become incandescent,
are very diminutive, and the current Is
conveyed to them by platinum wires. In
| order to economize space the fat vacuum
| glasses are not hung vertically in the
bell protector, but lie horizontally and
| in order to prevent the wires dropping
| downwards when hot a little glass silt
added to support them. In this way the
| roof OF a broughem is filled with
light diffuser which VIII not interfere
with PERSONS head entering the vehi .
Gle Each of these lamps gives light
equal to seven candles.
"In the first attempts to light carriages
| in this manner the moving OF the car
riage was apt to jar the lamps, often
causing a breakdown, and steel springs
were not foundEsuficleat..t prevent this.
The plan now adopted is to,suspepd the
complete lamp in sheet of rubber,
which is attached to the interior of the
carriage, neutralizing the vibration. 1t
| is only necessary to press button IN
order to switch the current on, and by
second push 1T is turned Oft again.
HOW THE SUPPLY is STORED.
"a sufficient supply of electricity re-
CURED for the lamp is stored in. an ac-
cumulator. One accumulation, weighing
two pounds, is the allowance for each
lamp. Should the two outside lamps
be also electric, two other batteries
W Guild be needed. The outside illumi-
majors are not of the same shape, and
differ in principle from the interior lamp
but an India rubber socket is used to
reduce vibration. Accumulation, or ac-
cumulators, AS the case may be, are car
| ried in the boot under the coachmans
seat and they are easily accessible. The
coachman himself, without electrical
knowledge, makes the necessary con-
nectious. ~s
"AI eight cell storage battery for an
ordinary family carriage or brougham
is simply box 8 inches long, inches
wide and z inches deep. This supplies
the current to keep the lamp lighted for
eighteen hours. which, ordinarily, is
| SUITE ient to last the owner of the car
riaqe from one to two months. The cost
of rechargipg varies, according to wear
ana tear, from so cents tos$l-not more
than the expense entailed by the employ
,nent of oil lamps, which invariably
give out an unpleasant odor and an I'M
certain illumination. The electric lamp
does not wear out unless it is weakened
by the application of too strong cur
| rent. The accumulation, however, makes
| the latter contingency almost an i'm
| posi- bility.
"1here appears to be fair prospect
that, in the course of a few years, the
majority of public conveyances in cities,
as well as private vehicles; will be light
ed by electricity; but the public will, of
har oil Ji1b