Scientific Industries. 483 



In 1853, Mr. Henley purchased 12 acres of ground at North 

 Woolwich, on which he laid out works for the manufacture of 

 submarine cables and electrical appliances. He laid a cable 

 between India and Ceylon in 1858, and the eastern end of the first 

 successful Atlantic cable in 1865. When later on he tried to draw 

 his own sheathing wire, the high price of coal over what obtained 

 in the North brought him to grief, and the firm was reconstructed, 

 Mr. Henley being appointed manager of the submarine department. 



L.C.C. POWER STATION, GREENWICH. 



The power station at Greenwich for the L.C.C. tramways, the 

 first portion of which nearest the river is erected and in use, will, 

 when completed, be one of the most noteworthy generating stations 

 in existence, and will be replete with machinery and appliances 

 representing the very latest practice in central station work. 



The site of the station adjoins the Thames near to Greenwich 

 Hospital, and covers an area of nearly four acres, the river frontage 

 being 240 feet in length. A pier 200 feet long has been built to 

 accommodate steamers when discharging coal, etc. 



The building at present erected is divided into two sections, one 

 occupied by boilers for the generation of steam and the other by 

 engines and dynamos. Coal bunkers above the boiler house can 

 store nearly 7,000 tons of coal, and outside the main building, nearer 

 the river, there is another bunker of about 2,000 tons capacity to 

 receive the coal from the steamers. 



To ensure stability for the buildings, they have been erected on 

 a concrete raft six feet thick, extending over the whole area of the 

 ground. The main building has a steel framework covered ex- 

 ternally with brick walling, and there are two chimneys, of striking 

 design, rising to a height of 250 feet above the ground level and 

 making a very prominent landmark in the district. The engine 

 room at present erected can accommodate engines of 7,500 horse- 

 power. 



SIEMENS BROTHERS & Co., LTD., WOOLWICH. 



The founder of this firm in Germany was Dr. Werner Siemens, 

 the eldest of six brothers, all with a strong bent towards scientific 

 research. The family of Siemens had been cultivators of the soil 

 for centuries and this generation was the first to break away from 

 the ancestral occupation. Dr. Siemens inspired the fortunes of 

 the English firm of Siemens Brothers established by his younger 

 brother William, who was destined to be the merchant of the 

 family had the domain of mechanical invention not claimed him. 



