5o8 



NATURE 



[September 24, 1903 



loau is light or heavy. They have a capacity of looo 

 ampere-hours, and a momentary discharge capacity of 

 2000 amperes. 



The auxiliary sets, two in number, are for lighting pur- 

 . poses, and yielding direct current at 650 volts, are available 

 in case of need to supply current to the main traction 

 circuits. 210 volt incandescent lamps are used for light- 

 ing, arranged in groups of three in series. 



The feeders are carried from the switchboard down the 

 ventilation shaft to feed the insulated electrical collector 

 rails, which are placed in the space between the up and 

 the down lines, and somewhat above the level of the rails, 

 an insulated return collector rail being placed between each 

 pair of rails. A train consists of two motor cars, one at 

 each end, and from one to three trailers as required, de- 

 pending on the amount of traffic. The motor cars each 

 carry an equipment of four Westinghouse motors of 100 

 horse-power, making 400 horse-power per car, or 800 horse- 

 power per train. These motors are all controlled in unison 

 from the motorman's compartment at either end of the 

 train by means of the Westinghouse multiple controlled 

 system, which has worked from the start without a hitch. 



In conclusion, it may be noted that every precaution has 

 been taken against fire. The electrical equipment is all 

 thoroughly fireproof, and the motorman's compartment is 

 encased in asbestos slate, cutting it off completely from the 

 remainder of the train. 



Of tube railways with electric traction there are three 

 now working in London, two between the City and the 

 south side of the River Thames, using the ordinary two 

 wire 500 volts continuous current system, and another (the 

 Central London) extending from the City to Shepherd's 

 Bush, using the composite system. This railway conveyed 

 during the year 1902 no fewer than 45 million passengers. 

 There are eight other tube railways now in course of con- 

 struction in London. The recent terrible catastrophe in 

 Paris must serve as a warning in the future equipment of 

 such lines where currents at high tension are employed, 

 and where short-circuiting may bring about disastrous 

 results. 



A paper will be read before this Section by Mr. F. B. 

 Behr on the authorised Manchester and Liverpool Express 

 Railway, which is intended to be constructed on the Mono- 

 rail system, and to be worked electrically. 



Canals. 



Concurrently with the construction of roads in this 

 country was the formation of canals, as a means of inland 

 communication, mainly for the carriage of minerals and 

 merchandise, though they also conveyed passengers by 

 express boats. The only recent structure of this character 

 in the United Kingdom is the famous Manchester Ship 

 Canal, with which the name of Sir E. Leader Williams, 

 M.Inst.C.E., is associated. This, however, is hardly a 

 canal in the sense in which that word was employed by 

 Brindley, " the father of inland canal navigation in 

 England," as the largest amount by far, in the proportion 

 of 10 to I, is its seaborne as compared with its local traffic. 

 It is interesting to notice that a very important wheat trade 

 is being carried on with India, exported both from Bombay 

 and Kurrachee. The seaborne traffic and the barge traffic 

 for 1894 was 686,158 tons and 239,501 tons respectively, 

 and has during eight years increased, until in 1902 it had 

 reached 3,137,348 tons and 280,711 tons respectively. The 

 most interesting recent development of the works is the 

 new Dock now in course of construction, with its five sets of 

 transit sheds, which are being built on the Ferro-Concrete 

 system. 



Ships. 



The intercommunication of the nations of the world is 

 largely dependent on the navigation of the ocean. The 

 first vessel to cross the Atlantic fitted with steam power was 

 the Savannah, of about 300 tons, which arrived at Liverpool 

 from Savannah, in Georgia, in thirty days, partly under 

 steam and partly under sail. Ocean steam' traffic has been 

 extending ever since. Two years ago I had occasion, in 

 connection with my Presidential Address to the Institution 

 of Civil Engineers, to collect some statistics with regard 

 to shipping, and found that according to Lloyd's Register 

 the largest British vessels then afloat were the twin-screw 

 steamers Oceanic, of 17,274 tons, and the Celtic, of 20,904 



NO. 1769, VOL. 68] 



tons, both gross register, built for the White Star line^ 

 and regularly making the passage between Liverpool and 

 New York in seven days and eight days respectively ; and 

 the Celtic is still the largest mercantile steamship afloat^ 

 th'^ tonnage of the new German steamer, Kaiser 

 Wilhehn II., being 19,360 tons gross register. 



Unfortunately these fine ships, with many others, are 

 now no longer owned in this country, although still flying 

 the British flag. The latest German steamer on the 

 American line, together with others recently launched from 

 the Vulcan W'orks at Stettin, have maintained a speed 

 averaging more than 23 knots, whilst the Cunard Com- 

 pany's liners — still, happily, English — the Campania and 

 Lucania, built ten years ago, average 22 knots. This com- 

 pany is under contract with the Government to build two 

 liners to maintain an average speed of 245 knots. The 

 secretary of " Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign. 

 Shipping " has kindly supplied me with a list of the 

 steamers of 10,000 tons and upwards which have been 

 launched in the United Kingdom between 1900 and June,, 

 1903. It is given in aggregate below :— 



1900 

 1901 

 1902 



1903 I 



(six months to June 30)/ 



No. ot ships 



Aggregate gross 

 tonnage 



95>275 

 107,396 



98,505 

 / 67,600 

 1^ (approximate) 



In the Address already referred to I mentioned the appli- • 

 cation as having been then recently made of the Parsons 

 steam turbine to H.M. torpedo-boat destroyers. The South- 

 Eastern and Chatham Railway Company's new steamer The 

 Queen has been fitted with this class of engine of latest 

 design. There is a central high-pressure turbine, driving 

 its shaft at 700 revolutions a minute, and two side low- 

 pressure turbines, each driving its separate shaft at 50a 

 revolutions a minute. The steamer is 310 feet long, and 

 is now running successfully in the service between Dover 

 and Calais. 



For some time past much attention has been paid, more 

 especially in France, to the perfecting of submarine vessels 

 for the purposes of naval warfare, but it cannot yet be said 

 that they have passed beyond the experimental stage, 

 although the advance made has been such as to cause our 

 Admiralty to order several additional vessels of the sub- 

 marine type. These vessels are to be propelled by internal- 

 combustion engines when on the surface of the water and 

 by electric motors when submerged. 



Aeronautics. 



Another of the attempted means of locomotion is that of 

 aerial navigation. How little we appear to have advanced 

 beyond where we were fifty years ago, when on September 

 2\, 1852, that eminent French engineer, Henri Giffard, 

 succeeded during an experimental ascent in Paris in drivings 

 a balloon against the wind for a very short distance, 

 although on October 19, 1901, M. Santos Dumont was 

 successful in navigating his balloon from St. Cloud round 

 the Eiffel Tower in Paris and back to the spot where he 

 had started only half an hour previously. Many have been 

 engaged in this so far unsolved problem of aerial navi- 

 gation, but there is one of whom we seldom hear. I will 

 quote what Dr. Janssen said in his Presidential Address 

 to the International Aeronautic Congress, held in France 

 on September 15, 1900, regarding Mr. Langley, Correspon- 

 dent of the Institute of France and Secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution at Washington. " Independently of the fine 

 and profound researches of this investigator upon the resist- 

 ance of air, Mr. Langley has constructed an aeroplane which 

 has progressed and has sustained itself during a time notably 

 longer than any of the apparatus previously constructed." 



In the last report of the Smithsonian Institution, that for 

 1901, it is stated that this steel flying-machine had a sup- 

 porting area of 54 square feet, a weight of 30 lb., developed 

 I3 horse-power, and repeatedly flew from one-half a mile 

 to three-quarters of a mile. I cannot close this portion of 

 my Address without referring to the death on February 7 



1 



