New-York tribune., 1900-12-23
STEAM VERSUS ELECTRICITY.

Within the last year or two the English nlho
has been inocuated with the idea of electric
traction as practised in America. and the opera
tion has proved highly successful The Cen
trail London's "tuppenny tube" while not AFFORD
ing the British capital her first experience with
an electric railway, was by far the most impress
sive demonstration she had witnessed of the
economy. speed and general attractiveness of
the system. The American ticket choppers box.
the electric elevator. the brilliantly lighted and
admirably ventilated subway the custom of
announcing the next station, and the great saw
ing in time effected in transit, together with
other popular and engineering novelties incident
to the operation of the road. have taken Lon
don's fancy immensely. Hence a marked de-
velopment of electric roads in that capital.
either in tunnels or on the surface, in the near
future is now assured.
The expediency of employing electricity on
nterurban as well as urban lines is also re-
ceiving consideration on the other side of the
Atlantic. A paper on "The Supersesson of the
Steam by the Electric Locomotive was read
before the British Institution of Electrical En-
gineers last month by Mr. Langdon. of Derby
Therein 1t noted that between London and
Bedford, a distance of fifty miles, the average
number of through trains an hour Is fourteen
Mr.. Langdon's estimate of the cost of operating
them by steam was S.943 pence train mile, and
7.021 pence by electricity, difference of nearly
four cents train mile. In the ensuing discussion
two or three engineers questioned the wisdom
of concentrating the power plant at one point,
as the gentleman from Derby proposed, but no
one disputed his main proposition that the
change would prove economical. Indeed Mr.
Parsons, the inventor of the steam turbine
marked that Mr.. Langdon had underestimated,
rather than overestimated, the wastefulness of
the present system. Incidentally, Mr.. Parsons
expressed the opinion that a single power sta
ton was preferable to a number of them. be-
cause 1t would admit of refnements of manage
ment and machinery not otherwise attainabe.
Another contributor to the discussion. Major
Crompton, remarked that the steam locomotive
has now practically reached the limit of its de-
velopment The boiler cannot be enlarged
without interfering with the driving wheels,
whereas no restriction need be placed on the
supply of electric power, inasmuch as every
axle may be made driver.
1t is a curious fact that Mr.. Langdon for
reasons that do not appear, Intentionally omitted
from his calculation the short distance traffic
along the fifty mile section of road under con-
sideration. In the United States the conclusion
was long ago reached by experts that sub
stitutiOn of electricity for steam possessed
greater advantages for this class of service than
for the operation of through trains. Moreover,
it is the most rem1nerative part of railroads
business, and is in the most danger from the
competition Of parallel suburban trolley lines.
Hence If Mr. Langdon made good showing for
the use of electricity for through traffic his
case for local traffic would have been even
stronger.