THE ELECTRIC LIGHT FOR STEAMSHIPS. yz^ 



the materials ordinarily employed for purposes of illumination. Actual 

 experiment, however, in the use of these machines in French light- 

 houses, has shown that these figures require important modifications " 

 (" United States Commissioner's Report to the Paris Exposition, 1867," 

 vol. iii., p. 421). 



The French Commission, in view of the experience gained by the 

 establishment of the light at La Heve, did not advocate the extension 

 of the use of the electric light to light-house illumination in general. 

 The expense of maintaining the electric light at Dungeness, irrespec- 

 tive of the original cost, was estimated to be £758 18s. 9^7. per annum. 

 M. Becquerel evidently did not take into account in his calculation 

 the original cost of the machine; and the expense of the light at 

 Dungeness would be modified by the greater cheapness of the more 

 improved forms of engines. 



For several years it has been rumored that various steamships 

 were to be furnished with the electric light instead of the old well- 

 established masthead-light. No trial has yet been made. The cost 

 of the apparatus, together with the imperfect means hitherto devised 

 for maintaining the light constant, has deterred, apparently, the 

 owners of steamship lines from making a change in this direction. 

 "When we reflect that the best masthead-light now in use can be seen 

 only from four to five miles — by some authorities stated from three to 

 four — and in a fog at night is practically not visible more than the 

 length of a steamship ahead, it is not surprising that the general pub- 

 lic look earnestly for a change for the better. The experience which 

 the use of the electric light in light-houses has given us is, on the 

 whole, favorable to an extension of the use of the light to steamships. 

 There is no question of the superiority of the electric light over other 

 powerful lights available for steamships, when the great intensity of 

 the light and the compactness of the necessary apparatus are consid- 

 ered. The following is an estimate of the probable cost of fitting 

 steamships with an electric light, together with its maintenance : 



FIRST COST. 



Machine $1,500 



Regulators and attachments 300 



Small engine to run the machine 600 



Total $2,400 



MAINTENANCE. 



Interest on capital, at ten per cent $240 



Salary of electrical engineer 600 



Carbons (or other incandescent material), repairs, etc 300 



Total $1,140 



Suppose that the vessel made 18 trips during the year, of 12 days 

 each (216 days), suppose that the electric light was used 10 hours 

 each night (2,160 hours), giving about 53 cents as the cost per hour, 



