154 



NA rURE 



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1889 



Mordey at the end of May, at the factory of the Anglo- 

 American Brush Company, on the great facility with 

 which alternate machines can be coupled in parallel, 

 Major Cardew must, we think, wish that he had worded 

 the sentence quoted above somewhat differently. 



Major Cardew next criticizes the objections that have 

 'Taeeti urged against the particular scheme involving two 

 ■ transformations of the pressure, which the London Electric 

 Supply Association are arranging to carry out : that 

 having only one generating station an accident might 

 stop the whole supply of current to hundreds of thousands 

 of incandescent lamps. To avoid, for example, the burst- 

 'ing of a steam-pipe greatly impeding, if not entirely stop- 

 ping, all work by filling the factory with steam, and by the 

 steam condensing on the dynamos and fittings, and so caus- 

 ing the high-pressure current to flash where it ought not to 

 go, Major Cardew recommends that the Company shall sub- 

 divide the station at Deptford so as practically to provide 

 two distinct generating stations, or shall forthwith establish 

 a second generating station in some other locality. With 

 reference to another objection, that the proposed pressure 

 of 10,000 volts is so enormously in excess of anything which 

 has hitherto been worked with, as to cause the scheme to 

 be a gigantic experiment, he very rightly points out that, 

 as there has been successfully used for some time at the 

 Grosvenor Gallery installation over ten times the pres- 

 sure that was believed to be the limit of safety a few 

 years ago, "and as the so-called experiment of still 

 further raising the limit of pressure would, if successfully 

 carried out, be of immense benefit both to the public and 

 electric light undertakers, I do not consider that, under 

 proper regulations, the London Company should be pre- 

 vented from carrying out a scheme in which they have 

 shown the greatest confidence, and which the majority of 

 scientific witnesses who have been called approve of in 

 principle." With this recommendation we heartily 

 agree, since all past history has shown that it is 

 better to be guided by experience than by preconceived 

 notions. 



The final conclusions arrived at in the Report embrace 

 several pages, but they may be briefly summed up as 

 follows : — " That it must be admitted that the science of 

 electric lighting has now reached the point at which a 

 supply can be made which will be of great benefit to the 

 public, and that the power of obtaining this supply should 

 be within the reach of all persons who may require it," 

 and therefore, although the wishes of local authorities 

 should be consulted, " the mere objection by a local 

 authority to the introduction of a company proposing to 

 supply electric light, upon general grounds, should not be 

 considered sufficient to exclude such company." As the 

 whole Metropolis may be for purposes of lighting and 

 management of roads and streets under the control of 

 one central authority, "the provisional orders granted 

 for the Metropolitan area should, as far as possible, be 

 identical in form, with identical provisions as to supply, 

 compulsory powers, interference with streets, and more 

 than all as to price." 



That the scheme adopted in 1883, of dividing a district 

 into two areas (A) and (B) —the former an area that it was 

 compulsory for the company obtaining the provisional 

 order to light ; the second an area which the company 

 might light if they thought fit, but which they could not 

 be required to light until after the expiration of two years 

 — be abandoned, as such a distinction of areas is not likely 

 to work well, and is not contained in the Electric Light- 

 ing Act, being merely introduced for the purpose of con- 

 venience ; and that instead the supply shall be compulsory, 

 under requisition, over the whole area on equal terms. 

 That, " taking the (Metropolitan) area as a whole, it does 

 not appear that it would be wise to fix a lower maximum 

 than M. per unit." Cne I'oard of Trade unit is one 

 thousand watts for one hour, so that at three and a half 

 watts per candle, which is a fair average efficiency for an 



incandescent lamp, if it is to have a decent life, and 

 assuming that a sixteen candle-power gas-burner consumes 

 5 cubic feet per hour, the maximum price proposed for the 

 electric supply is equivalent to gas at 'js. per 1000 cubic 

 feet, or nearly three times the present actual cost of light- 

 ing by gas. In the draft provisional orders several com- 

 panies have asked for the right to make a certain mini- 

 mum charge irrespective of the amount of electric energy 

 consumed ; and in the case of the Metropolitan Company, 

 they ask to be allowed to charge a householder who has 

 electric lamps in his house ^5 los. a. quarter even if he 

 never turns on a single lamp. Of course such a high 

 minimum charge would be absurd, and even that of 13^. 

 4.d. per quarter, which the Report appears to consider a 

 reasonable one, appears to us much too high. In fact, we 

 think that the proposal that there should be no minimum 

 price at all if the householder pays for connecting his 

 house with the mains might have been strongly urged in 

 the Report, instead of it being stated that " such a pro- 

 vision would hardly be necessary where the minimum is 

 reduced as in the Metropolitan Orders," — that is, to 13s. 

 4.d. a quarter. It is further recommended that there shall 

 be a revision of the prices in the form of a sliding scale 

 based upon the basis of a 10 per cent, dividend, the 

 standard being fixed after the experience gained by the 

 working of the first seven years. 



In view of the fact that the laying of the mains of 

 several companies means so much dead capital which the 

 local authority would have to pay for if it elected to pur- 

 chase at the end of forty-two years, and that no matter 

 what regulations be made as to laying of mains the 

 interference with the street must be to a certain degree 

 proportionate to the number of companies having powers 

 over this street, it is recommended that powers should not 

 be given to more than two companies over the same area, 

 and that one of these companies should be a company 

 using the direct current. The following is very important, 

 since if passed it will entail a vast expense on the London 

 Electric Supply Corporation : — "That wherever a company 

 now supplying a district by means of overhead wires is 

 granted an order for such area, it should be placed under 

 the obligation to remove these overhead wires within a 

 period of two years from the granting of the order ; and 

 if such a thing be possible that this company should be 

 prevented from invading a district in which it has not got 

 powers by means of overhead wires." 



At this Board of Trade inquiry many arguments 

 pro and con were advanced as to the large companies 

 being allowed to invade the areas that had begun to be 

 worked by small companies. The large companies raised 

 the " no monopoly " cry, and urged that they ought to be 

 allowed to compete everywhere ; whereas the smaller com- 

 panies alleged that the most certain way to bring about 

 monopoly would be to allow the large companies to enter 

 the areas worked by the small companies, and to use the 

 profits gained by the large companies in non-competing 

 districts to enable them to work for a time at a loss in the 

 competing district, and by underselling the smaller com- 

 panies to eventually drive them out and have the whole 

 field to themselves. Taking all points into consideration, 

 Majors Marindin and Cardew recommend that there be 

 allotted to — 



(i) The London Electric Supply Corporation: the 

 portions of St. Martin-in-the-Fields lying to the south of 

 the Strand and west of St. Martin's Lane ; the portion of 

 St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster, lying to the north 

 of Victoria Street, excepting that portion of St. Margaret 

 lying to the west of St, George, Hanover Square ; St. 

 James, Westminster ; St. George, Hanover Square ; 

 Chelsea ; the Greenwich District ; St. Mary, Rotherhithe ; 

 St. Mary, Bermondsey ; the district of St. Olave ; the 

 district of St. Saviour, Christchurch ; and that portion t 

 St. Mary, Lambeth, lying to the north of Westminste 

 Bridge Road. 



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