New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-06
FRENCH TRACTION SYSTEMS.
ELECTRICITY POPULAR as \ MOTIVE
POWER.
THE Use OF COMPRESSED ARA TALK WITH
VI Il. ABDANK. \ CONSTRUCTING ENGI-
NEER or PARIS

THE Use OF COMPRESSED ARA TALK WITH
II. L. ABpANK. a CONSTRUCTING ENGI-
NEER or PARIS.
NJ. b. Abdank. long resident of Paris and for
fifteen or sixteen years consulting and constructing
engineer for numerous street railway companies in
France. has been spending week or two in this
city. but sails for home in a few days. lie has had
good deal of experience with various SYSTEMS of
traction and for this reason Tribune reporter
hunted him up yesterday at the broadway Central
Hotel. and tried to get him to talk on the subject
The moment WAS opportuno. and the Frcnchman
complied gracefully. lie has a good command of
English. ANA spoke with dircctness indicative of
clear conviction
In Lyons. which is the second largest city in
France" he said nearly every imaginable means
of propclng sircctcars has been tried in the last
few years. Steam used on two roads there but
il has already been abandoned one Of these. and
Will bc on the other within few months. Com
pressed air also employed. This however. has
been given mp entirely. Electricity Is the gen
crdl favoritc. and in less than year will be the
exclusive motive power on street railways in Lyons
In the prclter part Of the city the overhead trolley
wire will L. tolerated. but 1t may be necessary to
resort to conduits in the central district
lis the French trolley system the same as the
Am, rican?'
Yes substantially But French taste cxacts bet
ter construction than you permit In this country.
our poles ornamcn'cd. are always erect
and give promise OF remaining in service longer"
Has the electric system been introduced into
other cities
"Ccrtainlv Havre and beautiful old Rouen now
have trocy-cars in their streets and 1t Will not be
long before We them in many other large French
towns In IIavre electricity is used exclusively
now"
How about Paris"
ELECTRICITY FOR TRACTION IN PARIS.
There is now an excellent prospect for the adop-
ton Of the same system there All local transpora-
ton a, the French capital except In cabs Is under
the control OF ore corporation the CompaEnie Cen
eralc des Omnhuses. This monopoly pursued
very conservative course for long time. and relied
almost exclusively upon horse power Tor moving us
vehicles. But during the last two years more
progressive policy has been adopted. Experiments
have been conducted with various other agents,
among them the electric storage battery. the com
pressed air motor and ihr Scrpoll't steam engine.
Two lines were operated with compressed air ana
three by steam Within the last six months. as tho
result Of these ana Of the success Of the trolley
| I'm Lyons and elsewhere. the Compagnic Generate
des Omnlbuses has decided to equip all of It's car
lines with electrical apparatus. The particular type
10 be adout.d will he determined later. The com
panv's chief engineer NJ Mommerquc has been
instructed TO make careful estimate" OF tho cost or
transforming the various car lines so as to adapt
them 10 the use OF electricity and proposals have
been invited from manufacturers Of electrical APP
rara,us Indicating the terms on which they would
undortak" the task. This competition will be open
within a few weeks
rs # not strange that Paris has waited 50 long
before taking such action
80 Nou must consider three things. Frs.
Europe generally has been behind America In tn"
adoption OF ;h. trolley system and France has not
been more sluggish than England and Germany.
Secondly. as tn. storage battery f. really ff'nch
iI,a it is natural that Fr"nrhm"n should ~ hr't
,ve II the preference 90 any other electric sys-
| l,t-.ff, fll.
| loved ly the Compagnlr General" des omribuses
viii expire I'm about lively" years l. has naturally
| hc-iiaied 20 make amy rcw and heavy investment
without som. assurance NAT 10 no 'Nlf''! % "i 's
franchise tho municipal authorities would TAX" The
rro,,r,, Of ia compauy's bands. II Be- HOW hoped
,h,f mis- can BE-. arranged on tine lu-tameuf plan
However the International Fair - 70" Viii fore"
mon 'hc company The necessity - providing better
| means Of transportation than horse power. ard
prcnrations FOR the change are rot being made any
] too soon"
| What have Won found 20 De- 10" most serious
rival Of electricity FOR traction purpose in France"
THE Use or COMPRESSED AIR.
| .t.onpross.d air Tho use % this agent orginat-
| .1 I think IN nv country. and dt'cS from about
is,n on. Of it, FIRST applications wHs in Nanry.
where several miles of ro'>l were operated 'y 'h''
| means Later i, was Introduced at Nog'ni. near
| Paris and has been 30 use thor" for about Zen
wears An attempt was also mad" 20 operate me
with cornpr, -scd cir motors from Paris to Nrr-a'S
a distance Of thirteen miles Will" the system
WIS fairly successful for short roads. though. II
dl not prove equal TO the requirements "i longer
! amos Consequently. cars w"r" run with compressed
nip an, only as far as Saint Cloud. which + about
| h,rf vav 10 Versailles T. was hoped mat cars
Could ho run for sixteen miles without r"pl'nishng
| ~, cornr. ssed air .anks. Iui the frequent stop
,,,g.s ,r route and the greater eNpondiiir" OF
| nowcr required to start than 10 maintain speed
| ae,crvarA reduced the distance 10 about six
| 4
| saillcs ITSELF
/ "I-nin recently both electricity and compressed
! afr were in usc but ihc latter VIII be abandoned
! q, the close Of the current month
..t,ro,n ,our own experience ana observation what
,yold Won say is the chief advantage Of electricity
! over compressed air for running s'r''''''S'
"Economy'
Are Won thinking Of the cost OF developing power
-, . central station or the OF 1t on the cars
| thcmsclvcsy
| ION the cars. Perhaps the machinery Tor com
| r.ssirc mir may be more expensive than that re-
| n,trcd to generate cl"ctrictv But the chef an
| ,r.r,o is in the operation Of IN" road
! apo Won mean that an air motor wastes more
mower than an electric motor?
80 ! refer 10 the increased cost Of repairs You
' ~ an electric motor has only one movable par
tho armaturc. and that rotat's an AR motor nj u,
an engine very much IKE ~. H,''it ,no,ohIr
/ !. r y, Narrower the motion * fcciprocating hoi
Ir"iarv n Won could get perfect rotary rnei i IL
WI, In,,sa or break We have found IN France 'lHi
49,, run a car for Il Ccntmcs PER kolm"tr'' hh',
that IL costs from 81 10 - crntin's 'ur , ''n n s
AZ ar. nc,,,rns hv i6D The latter system can be