14 REPORT — 1888. 



space exists for the engine, and where, having regard to the amount of 

 work to be done, the incidental expenses can be borne. Where this can- 

 not be, either the prime mover, with the advantages cf its use, must be 

 o-iven up as a thing to be wished for, but not to be procured, or recourse 

 must be had to some other contrivance— say to the laying on of power, in 

 some form or another, from a central source. 



I have already incidentally touched upon one mode of doing this, 

 namely, the employment of illuminating gas, as the working agent in the 

 gas engine ; but there are various other modes, possessing their respective 

 merits and demerits — all ingenious, all involving science in their appli- 

 cation, and all more or less in practical use — such as the laying-on of 

 special high-pressure water, as is now being extensively practised in 

 London, in Hull, and elsewhere. Water at 700 lbs. pressure per inch is 

 a most convenient mode of laying on a large amount of power, through 

 comparatively small pipes. Like electricity, where, when a high electro- 

 motive force is used, a large amount of energy may be sent through a 

 small conductor, so with water, under high pressure, the mains may 

 be kept of reasonable diameters, without rendering them too small to 

 transmit the power required through them. 



Power is also transmitted by means of compressed air, an agent which, 

 on the score of its ability to ventilate, and of its cleanliness, has much to 

 recommend it. On the other hand, it is an agent which, having regard 

 to the probability of the deposition of moisture in the form of ' snow,' 

 requires to be worked with judgment. 



Ao-ain, there is an alternative mode for the conveyance of power by 

 the exhaustion of air — a mode which has been in practical use for over 

 sixty years. 



We have also the curious system pursued at Schaflfhausen, where 

 quick-running ropes are driven by turbines, these being worked by the 

 current of the river Rhine ; and at New York, and in other cities of 

 the United States, steam is laid on under the streets, so as to enable 

 domestic steam engines to be worked, without the necessity of a boiler, 

 a stoker, or a chimney, the steam affording also means of heating the 

 house when needed. 



Lastly, there is the system of transmitting power by electricity, to 

 which I have already adverted. I was glad to learn, only the other day, 

 that there was every hope of this power being applied to the working of 

 an important subterranean tramway. 



These disti'ibutions from central sources need, as a rule, statutory 

 powers to enable the pipes or wires to be placed under the roads ; and, 

 following the deplorable example of the Electrical Facilities Act, it is now 

 the habit of the enlightened corporation and the enterprising town clerk 

 of most boroughs to say to capitalists who are willing to embark their 

 capital in the plant for the distribution of power from a central source 

 for their own profit, no doubt, but also, no doubt, for the good of the 



