408 THE ADDRESSES, LECTURES, ETC., OF 



connection with the Electric Exhibition of 1881. In this case, 

 two suspended conductors in the form of hollow tubes with a 

 longitudinal slit were adopted, the contact being made by metallic 

 bolts drawn through these slit tubes, and connected with the 

 dynamo-machine on the moving car by copper ropes passing 

 through the roof. On this line 95,000 passengers were conveyed 

 within the short period of seven weeks. The Administration 

 charged 25 centimes (2|rf.)> for tne conveyance from end to end 

 of the railway, and the amount was sufficient to pay all expenses. 

 That, therefore, was a case of an electric railway that did pay. 



An electric tramway, 6 miles in length, is nearly completed, 

 connecting Port Eush with Bush Mills, in the North of Ireland, 

 in the installation of which I have been aided by Mr. Traill, as 

 engineer of the Company, and by Mr. Alexander Siemens, and 

 Dr. E. Hopkinson, representing my firm. In this instance the 

 two rails, 3 feet apart, are not insulated from the ground, but 

 being joined electrically by means of copper staples they form the 

 return circuit, the current being conveyed to the car through 

 a T-iron placed upon short standards, and insulated by means of 

 insulite caps, as shown in Plate 10. Where a gap necessarily occurs, 

 such as at a cross road, we simply stop the T-iron . and commence 

 it again at the other side of the gap, connecting the two ends by 

 means of an insulated conductor below ground. In order to span 

 this gap we have two brushes attached to the car, one in front 

 and the other towards the back of the car, and the gap being a 

 little less than the distance between the two brushes, the one 

 brush catches the opposite side before the other one leaves. Thus 

 by a simple arrangement we get over the difficulty of crossing 

 bye-roads. For the present the power is produced by a steam- 

 engine at Portrush, giving motion to a shunt-wound dynamo of 

 15,000 Watts = 20 HP., but arrangements are in progress to 

 utilize a waterfall of ample power near Bush Mills, by means of 

 three turbines of 40 HP. each, now in course of erection. The 

 working-speed of this line is restricted by the Board of Trade to 

 10 miles an hour, which is readily obtained. With regard to this 

 line, Dr. Edward Hopkinson, who is there, superintending the 

 electrical arrangements, writes to-day, " There is now no difficulty 

 in starting the loaded car on the worst part of the hill, which a 

 steam-engine frequently fails to do." This requires some expla- 



