New-York tribune., 1898-01-11
WONDERFUL NEW GAS ENGINE.
MIR. WESTINGHOUSE UNITING COKE, GAS
AND ELECTRICITY.

pr1-rsrr-Rc SHOPS AS SEEN BY HEAD OF THE
UNITED STATES CENSUS DEPARTMENT-iN-
pUsTRIAL REVOLUTION HENRY n. WHIT
NEy AND THE WESTINGHOUSE GAS
ENGINES WILL WORK.
From The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Az Carnegie ] saw mighty masses OF steel wo's"-
Ing tens handled by electric devices with the carr
and apparently delicate touch of charihinS
woman. who. with tiny sugar tonrs poised over
teacup says zone two lumps. ana theh uo"-
tcrouslv drops the sugar In the cup with hardly
ripp,e Thus are these mighty masses OF hca'eu
iron put through various courses OF treatment oS
the aid Of a man In cnr ana noiseicSSV iu'-
ming electric crane. was told that the receh, uc
crease IN the cost % structural steel was in arse
measure Cue to thc improvcI he'"cuS VI ""'"
these heavy ingots
1rore we coo the greatest work this country is
doing IN armor plate the most advanced work OF
the world IN structural steel, IN poer p'a''' '" "
all sorts Of railway steel
Again the works are so located ana orsai'iHcu
that the supply alike Of metal and fuc Is direct
and comes from the -cHlons most lkely 20 WIN
stand for the lonrcst period the stupendous de-
mands Of the world.
The cheap supply OF raw material ana 'h' frei'
economies IN handling the rails in all the auVa"c-
ING nroceases az manufacturing b. machinery have
ton. which will pract ally make the United States
s,iprerne in this branch OF industry. England can
not now compete with us in the advanced products
OF steel mills
The Westinghouse electrical concerns nocaied In
tho same district have undoubtedly constructed the
most advanced and the heaviest electrichi power
machinery. To this great Pennsylvania concern as
the readers Of The Inquirer" know. was given
the work of conserving the power OF Niagara itself.
,,lao frin
ing It over a large Industrial territory. The ma
ch,nerv and apparatus FOR this purpose. when
once seemed so novel and strange. are now rapidly
multiplying There are 10 be elSh' stn'i"'o'
each OF 500 horsepower. for Niagara. WINE i
possible fifteen may be required for similar "oiAS
at ST. LIE
These hinge apparatuses may be seen In all stages
IN tho Westinchouse shops. and they mark new
epoch in the worlds oconomics-the era OF econo,
nizlng power The century began with the era oi
how 10 make mechanical power, ana II WAS maui
but AT a great waste Now the brightest minds
of the mechanical word are directing their a''en-
ton TO how conserve mcchancai energy vi
rather how not TO waste power
In this Inc OF discovery may be mentioned 'he
Westinghouse experiments in the use OF gas az "A
motive or heating power which VIII not only create
a new industry but in all probability ultimately
make gas not steam the primary source oil power
In running electric lighting plants and street ran
ways This sounds rather cxtravagant but Inc
Inou,rer' has shown US Of late in its gas lease con-
test the great advances Inaue III io"'''"s '"' '0'
Of manufacturing g2s.
Friday saw In progress OF construction the !are-
90. gas engine in the world. Its capacity will be
10 horsepower while n second one has been pro-
jected Of 30 horse pow er. The Westinghouse peo-
ple have all sizes OF these engines IN optrauoh'
some as high as 30 horsepower. The principles
underlying the construction Of these engines are
new and the result OF ten years OF elaborate eXperi-
ment The effect will naturally be revolution IN
the lighting OF our cities because gas can thus 'e
used In place Of steam engines for incandescent
electric lighting, and for other purposes where
uniform speed IS desirable.
Thus. by the utilization OF new mechanical prin-
ciplcs the introduction OF electric lighting Is going
to Increase instead Of diminish the consumption oi
The new Boston company : going to produce at ~
cents oe) cubic feet the modern gas enGinn eng ne
some parts Of the world will practically displace H.
"A new gas engine" That does not sound Hike a
very startling announcement and yet, in establish
ing the economical working Of a gas engine OF lob
horse power we enter upon new and better
and cheaper method Of distributing both light
and power. Gas. IT should be remembered. Is
easily and cheapy distributed into places where 1t
is extremely difcult and sometimes costly to place
steam boilers ana engines. The tendency In the
production OF gas H. steadily downward, and the
price which the lower grades Of gas can be sold At
not only suggests the practIcability of producing
electric Illumination by gas. but opens UP immense
possibilities for the OF gas a fuel. 1t will
only be a short time before this method Of dis
tributing power Will be adopted by street rail-
II costs enormously as we all know to distribute
electric current and carry u long distances The
waste forms n considerable part OF the expense. II
Rorseopower. it nat1ray Suggests the idea OF a
great central g1shouse making a quality OF gas
suitable for power which can be piped cheaply for
any distance to supply engines for generating elec-
tric current for lighting or the propulsion Of street
cars or for heating houses.
These are only few hastily expressed thoughts
som. OF the Industrial possibilities of the great
Pennsylvania regions around Pitt,hurg where
located not On.y some OF the greatest plants in the
world, but where they are daily nay, might say.
hourly. bringing about improvements that create
new industries and put renewed life and energy
into Industries supposed TO he the decline. More
Of these new and interesting facts Will be reserved
for future article. ROBERT T. PORTER
THE LAWRENCE Will CONTEST CLOSES.