TIUNSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 989 



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 

 The following Papers were read : — 

 1. Electric Power in Workshops. By A. Siemens, M.Inst.C.E. 



2. Tlie Application of the Electric Motor to small Industrial Purposes and 

 its Effects oil Trade and on the Community Generally. By Alfred 

 H. GiBBiNGS, M.I.E.E., President of the Municipal Electrical Associa- 

 tio7i ; City Electrical Engineer, Bradford. 



The electric, motor has paramount advantages over any other method of 

 utilising potential energy, but its use is restricted at present to a few large special 

 trades and manufactures. Gradually, however, these advantages are becoming 

 known and appreciated by smaller tradesmen and handicraftsmen. 



It is in limited use, for instance, among such divers trades as aerated bread 

 makers, bag makers, bookbinders, carpenters, cutlers, engineering workshops, fans 

 for ventilating and other purposes, lifts, lithographers, presses, printers, saw 

 mills, &c. 



The advantages of driving electrically in some of these cases are of a very 

 distinctive character. Boiler makers can drill rivet holes more accurately and 

 economically. In letterpress and lithographic printing the extremely steady and 

 even motion consequent on the rotary action of the electric motor is an important 

 feature. Speaking generally, great advantages for all industries are secured by the 

 possibility of placing the motor close up to its work, and thus dispensing with long 

 lines of shafting and countershafting, which in one actual test were found to 

 absorb 56 per cent, of the actual power generated. The motor can be instanta- 

 neously switched ' on ' and ' oif,' which, of course, effects great economy in use. Also 

 the resultant in horse-power hours or Board of Trade units taken on the average of 

 the varying loads is an important characteristic of the electric motor due to it« 

 high efficiency, but it is a most difficult thing to get power users to see it. A 

 great hindrance to a more extensive use of the electric motor among small 

 tradesmen is the want of capital to buy motors, and the want of confidence. The 

 owners of electrical supply undertakings should therefore make it a part of theii 

 business to purchase good reliable motors and let them out on hire. This scheme 

 was inaugurated in Bradford at the end of 1896, and has had most successful 

 results. In the two months of 1896 seven were hired, in 1897 thirty-nine, in 

 1898 (six months only) thirty-one. The number of Board of Trade units sold 

 in 1897 was 117,176, in 1898 it is likely to be 180,000, or an increase of 63 per 

 cent. Other cities and towns do not yet make equally satisfactory returns. The 

 value of the electric motor as a factor in reducing the working costs of any 

 electrical supply works is well known. 



The electric motor as a machine is so adaptable and economical as applied to 

 small trades and industries that it may well help them to compete with larger 

 firms ; it may lead to the revival of some industries and the return of others which 

 have gone abroad, such as toy making. Ilygienically considered, it gives off no 

 deleterious gases, and displaces the boiler and smoky chimney. 



3. Electric Poiver audits Application on the Three-phase System to the Bristol 

 Waygon and Carriage Works. By W. Geipel, M.Inst.C.E. 



Hitherto power has been transmitted either by long steam-pipes to scattered 

 engines, or from one large engine by gearing and shafting. 



Ou the former system are driven shipyards, rolling mills, engineers' works, &c., 

 where the total consumption of steam may be as much as ten times that of 

 an economical engine. The latter system is used in such places as weaving and 



