TELPHERAGE. « 



Bv Chari.es M. Clark/' 



Definition. — Telpherage is derived from two Greek words "• r^A^f " 

 aud " (/>6/3&7/' "Tele" means far, and '"ferro" means to l)ear 

 or to carry. Therefore, tel\:)tierag"e means far-carrying. The same 

 word '"tele" appears in telegraph and telephone. The word was 

 originally invented l)y the late Prof. Fleeming Jenkin. who was 

 the early spirit of telpherage, and but for his nntimely death tel- 

 pherage woukl be even more extensively used. Like many other 

 words, its meaning has varied. In the l)eginning it meant, practicalh', 

 aerial electrical transportation, but now it has been brought back to 

 its original meaning, which is the transportation of material to a dis- 

 tance by electricity, overhead, or sometimes on the surface, or even 

 underground. In the latter case,, it is termed "tubular dispatch." 

 Therefore, telpherage may l)e. concisely defined as the electrical trans- 

 portation of material. The method of applying it' is an engineering 

 problem and must depend upon local conditions, and even to-day the 

 term "telpherage engineering" is becoming a common expression. 

 It will be noticed that the word "automatic" is left out in these 

 definitions. The reason for this is that it is a commercial (juestion, 

 and in cases where a man is requirc^d to attend to certain ])ortions of 

 the w^ork, it is often cheaper for the man to go with the load than to 

 use automatic devices. As to whether it is better to make an installa- 

 tion automatic or otherwise, depends entirely upon the comparative 

 cost of the two methods of operation. In this connection it may be 

 said that with telpherage plants the word " telpherman " is now often 

 used. 



IIisf(H'y.—'Y\\i' (^arly history of ((^Ipherage closely I'escmbles that 

 of the electric railway, liet'ore the successful pioneers in electric 

 street-railway traction had finally acconij)lished satisfactory results, 



« Reprinted by permission, after revision l)y tlie author, from Transactions of tlie 

 American Institute of Electrical Knt,nneers, New York, \'ol. XIX, April, r.i02, pp. 

 391-409. 



''A papei- read at the one hundred and sixty-fourth meeting of the AuicrioRn 

 Institute of Electrical Engineers, New York and Chicago, April 25, 1902. 



275 



