Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-29
IN THE FIELD OF ELECTRICITY
Another Aggressive Move en- the Domain Of
the Steam Locomotive.
MILLIONS IN SIGHT FOR CHANGE
"Details Of a Project of Great IMPORT
snce-Fast Motor Trains-PrOg-
ress I'm other Depart
ments of the Science.

ments OF the science.
There Is something doing down east which
threatens the supremacy OF the steam loco
motive. Il is announced with great posi-
t~lveness by the New York Tribune that
William C. whitney and his associates
have obtained control OF the Stanley Elec-
trio Manufacturin company at Pittsfeld,
Mass, for the purpose Of building up a
mammoth electrical plant, with the CO.
operation OF CAM G. Co. OF Switzerland, and
converting steam railroads In this country
into electrical roads. The financial de-
tails of the plan, says the Tribune. have
not been disclosed, but a representative
of the syndicate said they had been ar
ranged and that Mr.. whitney, Thomas F.
Ryan, Thomas Dolan, William L. Elkns and
p. A. b.. Widener, who compose the syndi-
cate, were looking ahead to the work Of
converting steam railroads into electrical
railroads when they made the deal for the
control Of the plant at PittsHeld and for an
enormous extension Of it's facilities.
The syndicate does not expect that the
displacement Of steam by electricity on the
railroads Of America Is to be begun i'm
mediately or that 1t will affect many Of
the railroads for some years TO come. For
The immediate future the increased plant
at Pittsfeld is to supply the demands Of
the street railways in New York, Phila-
.delphia, northern New Jersey and in Con-
necticut for electrical supplies. These de-
.mands have been increasing tremendously
in recent years, while horse car and cable
lines have been transformed into electrical
lines. 1t was said recently that the COM
panies controlling the lines had been fur
nishing about 81 per cent Of the business
of the electrical companies in this country.
A Large Undertaking.
The conversion of steam roads into cleo
trical roads is expected to begin first along
the Atlantic seaboard, particularly where
the railway lines enter the big cities. The
Pennsylvania railroad will have to haul
trains by electricity through the tunnels
that are to be constructed under the North
river and under Manhattan island and the
East river. The New York Central is ex-
pected to employ electrical locomotives for
its trafic in the Park avenue tunnel before
long. Wherever there is a congestion Of
trafio on the steam roads in the east, 1t is
believed, there will be a displacement Of
the putting locomotive by the smokeless
electrical engines. Having made a begin
ming, the railways Of the east are expected
to extend the use OF electricity along their
lines, driving the steam locomotives to the
railroads of the west, where they can be
used until they are worn out.
Mr.. Whitney and his associates have not
been making their plans in the dark. They
have been in communication with railway
managers and have learned that railways in
the east are about ready to spend $25, 900. 900
for the displacement Of steam by electricity.
That enormous sum would not be expended
by the railroad companies unless there was
reason to believe that the investment would
pay. The syndicate and the railway man
ayers have been informed by their engineers
that the superiority of electrical engines
over steam locomotives has been proved,
and that CAM & Co. can furnish an eIec1
trical equipment that makes q saving OF 10
per cent in the operating EXPENSES OF q
railroad.
The electrical works OF CAM & Co. at
Budapest. Hungary. are the largest in all
Europe. Engineers employed there have
brought to perfection the science OF apply
ing electricity to motors. They constructed
in Budapest the first successful underground
trolley lines. Their ideas have been
adopted in the construction of electric roads
all over the world. The patents Of GAM &
Co. for electrical motors cover many de-
vices. The concern has been engaged in
recent years in the work of converting steam
railways in Europe into electrical roads.
Its most important demonstration to the
minds Of some railway men was made on
the Valtellina line, sixty miles in length,
running past LAX Como in Italy, This
line was converted into an electrical road
by CAM & Co, eighteen months ago, The
operation Of the railway for eighteen
months is said by engineers to have proved
that the electrical equipment saves Is per
cent Of the operating expenses.
Telephone Message Writer,
A patent Just issued to Peder oluf Peder-
sen OF Copenhagen covers a method Of usins
the telegraphone in such q way as to record
. number of messages on a single steel
strip and to reproduce each message with.
out interference from the others. With
this Improvement the size Of the drum oil
the length of the wire or ribbon used
therein may be materially lessened, so tina
p long speech or a number of speeches oil
signals may be, stored upon a compare.
lively short or small magnetic body.
The telegraphone is the invention OF
Danish electrical engineer, Valdemar Poul'
son, and is. as the name implies, a comb.