April 26, 1900] 



NA TURE 



62: 



ten cabins containing about looo levers will be provided. The 

 •apparatus has been designed to work in with, as far as possible, 

 the standard signalling apparatus of the London and North- 

 western Railway. The interlocking frame may be said to be the 

 ordinary mechanical frame in miniature, occuRjing one-third of 

 the space. The levers— about 6 inches in length — are placed in 

 two tiers, and are manipulated in the same way as the levers of 

 a mechanical frame ; consequently the signalman accustomed to 

 the old type has nothing to learn in the new. The levers are 

 mechanically locked by means of tappet locking, and they con- 

 trol carbon switches by which the lio-volt electric current is 

 transmitted to the motors. 



The object of this electric working is primarily to reduce the 

 manual labour of the signalman, and enable him to pay more 

 attention to the movements outside his cabin ; increased speed 

 of working ; the removal of obstructions on the ground caused 

 by the numerous wire and rod connections necessitated by the 

 present system ; and, finally, a reduction in the number of 

 signalmen employed. Thus electricity adds to the security of 

 life. It supplies the railway man with a new sense, and the 

 engineer with a new power. 



The abridgment of time necessarily follows from the anni- 

 hilation of space, but the chief element which saves our time so 

 much is the fact that we can, by electricity, do so much more 

 from one spot. Indeed, in the United States the railway com- 

 panies complained that their revenue Ijetween New York and 

 Chicago suffered through the introduction of the telephone. 

 People remained at home and did their business by wire. 



It is very curious when visiting the United States to find that 

 their morning papers contain extracts from our London evening 

 papers of the same day. One frequently receives messages in 

 England that were sent off to-morrow. This is due to the 

 difference of longitude. 



Wireless telegraphy, or, as it is better termed, jetheric tele- 

 graphy, has made but small progress, owing to the simple fact 

 that the demands for its services are so very few. 



Transmission of Poiver. 



The sun is Wiftfons et origo of all the available energy upon 

 the surface of the earth. Coal and oil are extracted from its 

 crust ; oxygen is found in its atmosphere. Grasses, corn, fruits 

 and vegetables become food and fuel for beast and man. 

 Waters are converted into vapour, forming clouds, rain, brooks, 

 rivers, torrents and falls. The atmosphere is disturbed by wind, 

 and the waters of the ocean by tides. Energy is thus found 

 available for useful work in many different forms. The problem 

 before the engineer is how to select the best form of energy for his 

 purpose, and how to utilise these waste energies of Nature so as 

 to secure the best economical result. Falling water can, by a 

 turbine or impulse wheel, convert the energy it possesses in 

 virtue of its fall into the form of electricity. By the aid of trans- 

 formers it can be raised to very high voltages ; 40,000 volts is 

 employed in California, 11,000 in Niagara. We use 10,000 

 between Deptford and Trafalgar Square. It can thus be trans- 

 mitted to any reasonable distance, and there it can be utilised to 

 do useful work. The waste forces of Nature are thus within our 

 reach. The waterfalls of the Highlands may work the tram- 

 ways of Glasgow ; Niagara already works those of Baltimore. 



The economy of this system for large industries is a question 

 of the relative cost of the generation of energy by other means. 

 Energy on the coal-fields can be produced cheaper by burning 

 coal than by any water scheme that I have yet examined in this 

 country. The price and abundance of coal renders the trans- 

 mission of energy to great distances at present a very limited 

 question indeed. Where coal is scarce and dear and water 

 abundant, as in Switzerland, water-power is very much utilised. 

 Where coal is abundant and cheap, as in England, it is un- 

 economical to adopt it. The transmission of power within 

 limited areas by electricity in our cities is now within the range 

 of practice. In Edinburgh it is supplied at the rate l^^'. per 

 unit; this is 0"83a'. per HP.-hour. It is invaluable for small 

 industries. It is there ready to be used when it is wanted ; it 

 wastes nothing while idle. 



The economy and efficiency of distributing power over mills, 

 factories and workshops by electricity instead of by shafting, 

 gearing and belts, is so pronounced that the change is being 

 effected in every country with great rapidity. If it were a 

 question of the mere efficiency of the two systems, the advantage 

 of the change would not be so obvious ; but it is shown by the 

 HP. -hours expended, which means the coal bill. The efficiency 



NO. 1591. VOL. 61] 



of an electrical system is rarely less than 75 percent., while 

 that of shafting is frequently as loW as 25 per cent. ; but the 

 economy is the continuous waste of the latter that tells on the 

 coal bill, while in the electrical system there is no such waste. 

 The motor runs when it is wanted, and expends only what 

 energy is wanted for the particular work to be done. Electrical 

 measurements are so exact and so easily applied that automatic 

 records can be obtained of the work dpne by each machine. 



Every up-to-date shop should have its electric plant for healthy 

 light, cheap power and handy distribution of material. Its 

 economy is demonstrable in the smallest, but in the largest 

 shops it is at once most marked. It is always available, and it 

 costs little. Ignorance or timidity restricts its use very much. 

 The number of works that are run by electric motors in different 

 parts of the country is very large indeed. The efficiency, handi- 

 ness and economy of doing so is so marked that the practice is 

 extending with great rapidity. Motors themselves are being 

 daily improved. 



On the Clyde and theTyne, and indeed wherever shipbuilding 

 is flourishing, there we find electrical energy driving machine 

 tools, holding up plates, and assisting in various processes. In 

 many large machine works, cranes and travellers are worked 

 by it. 



At Boston, U.S.A., crossing the Charles River and uniting 

 Charlestown, the scene of the famous battle of Bunker's Hill, 

 with its head-quarters, is a new bridge 100 feet wide and 1920 

 feet long, having a draw of 240 feet span, weighing 1200 tons. 

 This draw is opened and closed by electric motors. 



In the Post Office we have introduced electric motors very 

 largely. At Leeds they are used for driving pneumatic pressure 

 and vacuum pumps, employed there to work the pneumatic tube 

 system. They are also used for working automatic stokers, 

 ventilating fans and lifts. 



Traction. 



It is for traction purposes that electricity is making such 

 gigantic strides. In the United States tramway working by its 

 means has become practically universal. In the United Kingdom 

 it is making rapid way, and in connection with electric lighting 

 it is giving great economical results. 



Electric railways are also growing apace. A bold attempt is 

 being made by the Metropolitan Railway to work the existing line 

 in such a way as not to interfere with the existing traffic or even 

 with the permanent way. A new train of six coaches weighing 1 80 

 tons, having a motor car at each end weighing 54 tons, is about to 

 run between Earl's Court and High Street, Kensington. Electric 

 traction has an immense advantage over steam traction in impress- 

 ing a continuous and uniform torque or turning moment on the 

 shaft, and consequently a continuous and uniform effort on the 

 trend of the wheel. The action of the steam locomotive is inter- 

 mittent and the bite not continuous. Hence such frequent slipping 

 on greasy rails. Again, the maximum torque can at once beapplied 

 by the current, and in combination' with the constant effort it 

 increases the acceleration so that a train acquires its maximum 

 speed much more quickly. We shall increase the mean speed 

 of the Metropolitan trains from 11 miles per hour to 15, and 

 thereby increase the capacity of the line over 30 per cent. The 

 stoppages on the underground railways are so frequent that the 

 trains are always either accelerating or stopping. They never 

 reach their top speed as they do on main lines. Electric traction 

 enables them to start quicker and stop more promptly. On the 

 Metropolitan the 180-ton train acquired 20 miles an hour in 

 200 feet, and, when going at the same speed, it was stopped in 

 130 feet— half its length. ' Smart work on such a railway depends 

 on the rate at which trains can be emptied and filled. The 

 English system of compartments and side doors facilitates this. 

 It would be still, further expedited if we could have one 

 platform for entry and one for exit, and one class only. 



The Liverpool and Mancliester Lightning Express Railway^ 

 promoted by a very powerful representative syndicate of those 

 two great commercial centres to cany out the scheme of Mr. 

 Behr, is a very bold and promising venture. The line is to be 

 monorail, 34 miles long, direct between the two cities, without 

 any intermediate station and with no crossing. There are to be 

 cars every 10 minutes. The speed is to be 100 miles per hour, 

 and the time of transit 20 minutes. I know of np reason why 

 this should not be done with safety and comfort. 



The automobile car of the future has not yet seen the light. 

 It will be electrical. Immense progress has been made in 

 motors and in batteries. Lundell has shown how to store up 

 the energy now wasted in descending hills> and to recover sonae 



