TraNSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 853 



it will probably be found convenient to liare in all large towns some means of 

 obtaining mechanical power in any desired quantity at a price proportionate to the 

 quantity used, and in a form in Avhich it can be rendered available, either directly 

 or by simple motors requiring but little skilled superintendence. 



Telodynamic: Transmission. — First, then, let me say a few words as to modes of 

 distributing power which it is possible to adopt. In 1850, at Logelbach in Alsace, 

 M. Ferdinand Ilirn used a flat steel belt to transmit power directly a distance of 

 eighty metres. Subsequently a wire rope was nsed on grooved pulleys. This 

 worked so well that a second transmission to a distance of 240 metres was erected^ 

 The details of the system were worked out with great care with a view to securing 

 the least cost of construction, the least waste of energy, and the greatest durability 

 of the ropes. So successful did this system of telodynamic transmission prove that 

 within ten years M. Martin Stein, of Mulhouse, had erected 400 transmissions, 

 conveying 4.200 horse-power, and covering a distance of 72,000 metres. 



Just at this time a very able and far-seeing manufacturer at Schaffhausen, 

 Herr Moser, had formed a project for reviving the failing industries of the town 

 by utilising part of tlie water-power of the Khine : Hirn's system of wire rope 

 transmission rendered this project practicable. The works were commenced in 

 ]8G3. Three turbines of 760 horse-power were erected on a fall which varies 

 from 12 to 16 feet, created by a weir across the river. From the turbines the 

 power is transmitted by two cables, in one span of 302 feet, acro.ss the river. 

 Similar cables distribute the power to factories along the river bank. In 1870 

 the transmission extended to a distance of .3,400 feet. Power is sold at rates 

 varying from 5/. to 6/. per horse-power per annum. In 1887 there were twenty- 

 three consumers of power paying a rental of 3, .500/. per annum for power. The 

 project has been financially successful, and is still working. At Zurich, Freiberg, 

 and Bellegarde there are similar installations, and a large scheme of the same 

 kind has recently been carried out at Gokak in India. Wire-rope transmissions 

 are of great mechanical simplicity, and the loss of power in transmission is exceed- 

 ingly small. They are extremely suitable for certain cases where a moderate 

 amount of power has to be transmitted a moderate distance to one or to a few 

 factories. On the other hand, tliey become cumbrous if the amount of power 

 transmitted exceeds 600 or 1,000 horse-power. The wear of the ropes, which 

 only last a year, has proved greater than was expected, and is a source of con- 

 siderable expense. 



The practical introduction of a system of distributing power by pressure water 

 is due to Lord Armstrong. Such a system involves a central pumping station, a 

 series of distributing mains, and suitable working motors. From its first intro- 

 duction the peculiar advantages of this system for driving intermittently working 

 machines, such as lifts, dock machinery, railway cranes, and hauling gear, became 

 obvious. But, with intermittent working machines, there arose the need of an 

 appliance lor storing energy during periods of minimum demand and restoring it 

 in periods of maximum demand. Tlie invention of the accumulator by Lord 

 Armstrong made the system of hydraulic transmission a success, and at the same 

 time fixed its character as a system .specially adapted for those cases where inter- 

 mittent work is required to be done. Lord Armstrong's system of hydraulic 

 distribution by water at a pressure of 700 or 800 lb. per square inch, with the use 

 of accumulators for equalising the variations of su])ply and demand, has now been 

 widely adopted. The most exten.sive scheme of i hat kind hitherto executed i« 

 the important scheme carried out by the Hydraulic Power Company. Over fifty 

 miles of pressure mains have now been laid in the streets of London. The Falcon 

 Wharf pumping station contains four sets of compound pumping engines, each of 

 200 horse-power. Two additional pumping stations have now been erected, and 

 1,500 lifts are worked from the pressure mains. The minimum charge for water 

 is 2s. per 1,000 gallons. This rate of charge is economical for .such machines a.s 

 lifts, but it would be extravagant for machines working continuou.sly. It would 

 be equivalent to a charge of nearly bOl. per horse-power per year of 3,000 working 

 hours, apart from interest and maintenance of machines. 



J shall indicate later on that in some cases where local conditions are favour- 



