.SYA' WILLIAM SIEMENS, F.R.S. 287 



1 to considerable distances by means of stout electric con- 

 ductors, to be there utilised for providing towns with light and 

 motive }>O\VIT, I elicited an incredulous smile even from some of 

 1 1 IMS'- most conversant with the laws of electricity. Electricity 

 had been looked upon by them as a swift agent to flash our 

 thoughts from country to country, but the means of producing 

 that form of energy by the expenditure of power on the dynamo- 

 I'kvtric machine, although known, was not yet properly appreci- 

 ated. Such can scarcely now be considered the case. I could 

 point to at least three instances in this country where power is 

 practically transmitted to a distance by means of electricity, 

 to be utilised for pumping water, for lighting, and for working 

 machinery, and the Paris Exhibition furnishes additional illustra- 

 tion of the facility with which that transmission may be effected. 



The electric railway leading from the Place de la Concorde into 

 the Exhibition, only half a kilometer in length, does its work 

 regularly and well, running a trip every five minutes, and convey- 

 ing generally as many passengers as can be packed both inside and 

 outside of a tramcar of ordinary dimensions. This system of pro- 

 pulsion will soon be in operation on a new line of railway, G miles 

 long, with which I am connected, in the north of Ireland, to be 

 extended, if successful, to a further equal distance. This will 

 give us 12 miles of electric railway worked without expenditure of 

 fuel, for the motive power will be obtained from a neighbouring 

 waterfall, which at present runs to waste. Mr. W. A. Traill, the 

 resident engineer of the line, has already commenced construction, 

 and I hope that by next spring, visitors to the sister island may 

 reach one of its most interesting sights, the Giant's Causeway, 

 propelled by invisible but yet potential agency. 



The experience gained by my brother in the working of the first 

 electric railway, 2 miles in length, established by him at Lichten- 

 felde, near Berlin, leaves no reasonable doubt regarding the 

 economy and certainty of this mode of propulsion, although it is 

 not anticipated that it will supersede locomotive power upon our 

 main trunk railways. It will have plenty of scope in relieving the 

 toiling horses on our tramways, in working elevated railways in 

 populous districts, and in such cases as the Metropolitan Railway, 

 where the emission of the products of combustion causes not only 

 the propulsion but also the suffbc.ition of passengers. 



