May S, 1885.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE • 



393 



THE ELECTRIC LIGHT AT THE 

 IXVEXTIOXS EXHIBITION. 



TT'^ERE the International Inventions Exhibition to 

 * * prove a disastrous failure in every other respect, its 

 success as a grand display of the far too latent powers of 

 electricity as a source of light is more than assured. That 

 this due in a great measure to the masterly direction of 

 Mr. Gooch no one can doubt ; but ■were the electric light so 

 barren, so unpractieable, so unreliable as is persistently 

 pretended by its opjionents, no man under the sun could 

 impart to it the vitiUity it now sliows itself to possess or 

 the feelings of security and comfort wliich surround it. 

 True, the electric light has not heretofore shown that 

 amount of progress which it should have done, but there 

 are reasons for this easily discernible. In the 

 first place, the speculation which it gave rise to 

 some three years ago has hampered its progress 

 a great deal, although it is high time that the depression so 

 caused should have passed away. The incompetence and 

 inexperience of those entrusted with its introduction into 

 public favour and patronage have, so far as we can see, had 

 a very injurious effect upon it. The bungles and s-hort- 

 comings of those gentry have not been few, nor liave they 

 been far between. The most elementary principles which 

 should be recognised in the erection of electrical circuits 

 have been frequently ignored, and with results that should 

 fairly have been anticipated. But still another cause of 

 the trouble is that few of the companies have recognised 

 their true mission. They have strained at camels before 

 they were prepared to swallow guats. Conceive the 

 absurdity of a body of business men essaying to light London 

 and its suburbs for miles around, and having in their coffers 

 but a few paltry thousand pounds. Financially, they were 

 unqualiiied for the work, and from an engineering point of 

 view they were in a similar predicament. In this respect 

 the introduction of the electric light reminds one very 

 forcibly of the pioneering days of gas-lighting, when com- 

 panies attempted to light towns of 2.5,000 inhabitants with 

 a capital of £.5,000. A due regard for these sins of com- 

 missiou and of omission, which have caused many a man 

 the loss of his hard-earned savings, convinces us that the 

 present function of the electric light is for isolated work — 

 that is to say, the thing first to be attended to is the 

 erection of plant for feeding a thousand or two incan- 

 descent lamps, or a score or two arc lamps. Such installa- 

 tions there is room for all over the country, to say nothing 

 of the immense sphere that presents itself in ocean-going 

 steamers. It is probable, indeed, that more work has been 

 done afloat, and more lamps erected by English houses are 

 employed on board ship than on shore. The various 

 exhibits at South Kensington make it very apparent that 

 electricians have now so far advanced in their craft as to 

 be able to attack installations of the character indicated 

 with every prospect of success. 



The number of systems exhibited is twenty-four, the 

 particulars of which are detailed in the table on next 

 page. These systems are distributed throughout the Exhi- 

 bition buildings, and in a portion of the grounds, a plan of 

 the Exhibition being furnished, in which this distribution 

 is clearly indicated. It will be seen that besides the 1,1-50 

 Edison-Swan lamps, there are no less than 2,G.~;'0 Swan 

 lamps employed by other exhibitors. Altogether there are 

 over 6,000 incandescent lamps and about 400 arc lamps. 

 The conditions under which the installations are fitted and 

 worked are certainly more difficult, and present more trying 

 circumstances than are likely to be the case in actual com- 

 mercial work. The shed containing the dynamos and 



engines covers a considerable area, the total horse power 

 provided by the engines being about 1,8.50. Tlie progress 

 so far made is scarcely siiHicient to warrant as yet a 

 detailed account of the vario\is features j)ertainiiig to the 

 different exhibits. Such installations us are ccnipleted 

 are worthy of every commendation, and it is to bo hoped 

 that such others as put in an appearance may prove equally 

 gratifying. 



The masterpiece in the way of electrical engineering is 

 the installation by Messrs. Siemens Bros, for illuminating 

 the major jiortion of the grounds. This is independent of 

 the general arrangement, and is the subject of a special 

 contract. It is to take the place of the Chinese lanterns 

 and other gala impedimenta which, at enornions trouble 

 and inconvenience, illuminated the grounds last year. 

 The installation at present consists of it, 000 Swan lamps 

 of 5 and 10 candle-power, and a few others of 20 candle- 

 power, which are fixed on the band-stands and the verandah 

 around the conservatory. The lamps, in accordance with 

 the design of Sir F. Bolton, have been placed partly on the 

 permanent buildings and on the conservatory, with a view 

 to bringing out the tracery of these buildings, and to give 

 an appearance of va^tness to the grounds, and partly on 

 the balustrades round the flower-beds and in the trees of 

 the gardens. The l.im[)3 are divided into twenty-three 

 circuits, each of which is couplod-up to a switch, by 

 means of which the lamps may be either extinguished or 

 their luminosity reduced by the insertion of resistance 

 into the circuit. The lamps are distributed thus : — 



Conservatory l.TjOO lamps 



East and West Quadrants ],.500 „ 



Upper Garden, Trees, and Balustrades 1,300 ,, 



East and West Arcades, Chinese Pavilion, 



Machinery Shed, and Trees ... 2,000 „ 



Lower Gardens, Side Ponds, Seds, and 



Pendants 1,200 „ 



Albert Statue, Centre Pond and Balustrades, 



and Band-stands (interior) 1,450 ,, 



The current is produced by three of Siemens' B 1.3 self- 

 regulating dynamos, each giving a current of 4.50 amperes 

 of 250 volts, the ai-mature making 300 revolutions per 

 minute. These machines are the largest of the kind ever 

 exhibited to public notice. They weigh about thirteen tons 

 each, their height being 8 ft. in., length 8 ft., and width 

 4 ft. 8 in. The armatures are wound with flat strips of 

 copper, instead of wire. 



Each dynamo is coupled direct to one of Goodfellow & 

 Mathews's high-speed compound triplex engines fixed on 

 the same bed- plate, and having three high and three low 

 pressure cylinders placed two and two at an angle of GO^. 

 The height above the bed-plate is 6 ft. G in., length 7 ft. 

 G in., and width 7 ft. 7 in., the weight being 5 tons. Each 

 engine gives an indicated horse-power of 180, with 300 

 revolutions per minute, and steam at 120 lb. pressure. 

 These detail.s are here embodied as evidence of the great 

 work which is being performed in the West Quadrant 

 (close to the conservatory), and those of our readers who 

 visit the Exhibition will find ample reward for whatever 

 trouble they may be put to in inspecting the work. It 

 may ))e mentioned that two of the dynamos will be 

 sufficient to illuminate the lamps so far contracted for, but 

 the third will be kept running in readiness for any emer- 

 gency. Means are also provided for speedily reducing the 

 number of the lamps in the event of only one dynamo 

 being available, and that without altering the general 

 design of the installation. 



In the east arcade, a large portion of which is devoted 

 to electricity, will be found a number of interesting 

 collections by various exhibitors, of which one claims our 

 attention. This is a special stand of Swan lamps, exhibited 



