New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-30
NARVELLOFS DEVELOPMENT.
MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN
INVESTED IN ELECTRIC LIGHT AND
POWER SERVICE SINCE EDISONS
GREAT DISCOVERY.
GREAT DISCOVERY.

IN gloom tlHOHiP9oii
The adaptation Of electrical science to COM
rnercal purposes has stimulated business enter
prise to avail itself Of scientific discoveries in
O practical manner, and capital, In combination
with capacity for business organization. has
found a new and profitable field for Investment
This has been forcibly demonstrated In con-
necton with the general adoption OF electricity
for lighting purposes NewYork. with It's vast
area Of buildings, offered opportunity for
tn display OF commercial activity In devisinS
suitafIe systems. To thoroughly understand the
condition which arose In this connection. ana
to appreciate the causes which led up to IT, the
history ard growth Ct electric illumination must
to some extent be followed.
When Edison gave his discovery to the world
he accomplished two great results He con-
ferred an inestimable benefit upon the race by
demonstrating the hitherto undreamed-of pos
sibilities Of electric force, and he pracLlcally
created an absolutely new industry. Hardly
had the news Of his final success been hashed
around the world when the first electric IL
Eliminating companies were capitalized IN New
York Two large buildings in Pearl-st were
acquired. and the necessary plant was lhsthiieu'
Almost ut once business operations were begun
Connections were made with the structures
which had been arranged to test the new In
which would now be considered primitive. Mr..
Edison gave his personal supervision to the
work He labored with his own hands side by
side with the mechanics, and at irregular IN
tervals sought brief periods of rest In an Ann
st. building where headquarters had been tenn
porarilv located. There he made his bed on q
heap of tubing material and had for counter
pane 4 few old overcoats. He lived under siiii-
lar conditions for several consecutive months.
This was In May. 1SSl, and, simultaneously
with the work mentioned what was considered
at that time wonderful machines were in proc
ess Of construction. The Edison "Jumbos'
we're ready for use IN July of the succeeding
wear The Pearl-st station opened with SIX
steam dynamos. popularity known under that
name, on September i. ISL
Each dynamo Of 12o-horse power. Ihey
ACCOMPLISHED within the first month the lumina-
ton Of cighty-fve houses. which mad heeh Iur-
nshed with wires for more than three thousand
lamps.
Mr.. Edison Of course had many business as
socates. whose names are yet remembered in
connection with this achievement. which marks
a red-letter date in the annals Of electrical sci
ence 1t has been aptly observed that the
Pear,-st station was a university whence
went forth into all lands the graduated disci-
ples of the apostle of the new science. Dr.
Norvin Green was the first president Of the first
electric Illuminating company.
The system was called the 1.-TWO Wire and
covered four miles o: feeders and nine and a
half miles of mains 1t served a territory
stretching from Wall to Spruce and Ferry SITS,
and from Nassar-st to the East River At its
most extreme point the system reached dis
lance Of 5000 feet from the station. Within
rariod Of five years the commercial success OF
th. enterprise seemed fully assured. j. Pier
pom. Morgan then became Interested In the
company Additional stations were punt up
town at Twenty-sixth and Thirty ninth SITS,
and an underground system was commenced
in that section.
There was much incrcdulity in some quarters
when the COMPANY began its work. but the
record stands that there has never been an inter-
,1,ntion Of the current since il first turned
on with the exception Of three hours; and this
occurred during the fire at the Peari-st station
"A fire which was serious in its effects as to
necessitate the reconstruction of the station.
Six stations now supply the current the CEN
tral station being in Duane-st. Together they
supplv or feed current into upward Of two hun
dred miles Of subway tubing. requiring in the
operation COS miles Of conductors for feeders and
mains
The capital stock Of this company IS about
5000 600 and the bond issues S6jcoO00 making
an investment Of Sli, 100000. less SjOO,OJJ in
bank yet to be expended. The gross income in
1874, was moro than 81 go 900 and the net in
come about $SOO.Ouo yielding per cent above
,he q ner cent dividend. But in this Investment
is included the purchase Of all the securities.
EXCEPT $li 900 bonds Of three other corporations.
a consolidation having been effected of the va
rous New-York companies engaged in the fur
nishng Of electric light.
The. - 800 incandescent and 2O,OOo arc lights
Of the three corporations consolidated bring the
grand totals to an equivalent. OF 53i, 400 it,
candle-powcr lamps. and their earnings bring
the aggregate income approximately to 81
10000 gross and $4,000 net
New-York City is now supplied with facilities
for electric lighting from the Battery to one
hundred and twenty afth-st.. distance or al
most eight miles. 1t has taken but fifteen years
to accomplish this work. the wires which con-
vey the current being now altogether in sub
ways
While originally the service aimed only at
furnishing incandescent lighting. motor supply
was begun in 1854 and arc lighting in lsN9
The great central station from which New
York receives its electric illumination has
total engine capacity " 2O.SOo horsepower.
New York was the pioneer In the Introduction
Of vertical engines Of the marine type for driv-
ing electric generators. ana the hIst engine OF
this kind of the present sizes ever built in the
United states was constructed here. The cen
trail station rs supplied with large multipolar
generators directly coupled to the vertical COM
.....ta engines. New iork city was the first
c.tN ia the United States To adopt this type OF
machine.
The underground system in use in New-York
for the accommodation Of electric conductors
was we'll devised Mains were laid In front Of
the houses on each block Joined at the street
corners into crib or network. while the current
was supplied by feeders running from the central
station To different points on the network The
invention Of the third-Wire system OF distribu-
ton, due To the ingenuity Of Edison, il regarded
; a highly important one. by means Of II q
doubling Of The working pressure was made
practicable. and great extension Of the area
Of supply secured. The threc-wre system
carried through ali the uptown streets and
also into houses. Meters for measuring on
...l.s tLa