588 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 
thought there was no advantage in electrifying textile mills; and I do not feel 
quite certain whether a good many and very capable engineers are not still of 
the same opinion. A commission has been investigating this subject, and its 
first report was by no means encouraging to the electrical engineer. Yet at the 
very time when that report was issued hundreds of motors were being installed 
in Continental mills. The spinners there had found out that by using a motor 
with very delicate speed regulation they could speed up their frames and increase 
the output considerably. In the long run a good thing must win through, and 
the electrification of English textile mills is no exception to this economic law ; 
but in some cases it would almost seem that the way is made longer by the 
narrowness of the mental horizon of opposing experts. This process of gradually 
overcoming the opposing expert had to be gone through in all applications of 
electricity, but, the opposition being generally honest, once it is overcome, the 
very men who opposed become strong friends. There is no question now that 
electricity can do some things better than could be done formerly. The separa- 
tion of magnetic from nonmagnetic material; the lifting of hot pigs, ingots, 
plates, and scrap by electromagnets; the production of high-grade steel in the 
electric furnace; the sinking of shafts by electrically driven pumps; in mines 
the use underground of electromotors instead of steam engines, in shipyards the 
use of magnetically-fixed and electrically-driven tools; the electric driving of 
rolling mills, and the use of electric traction on tube and other underground 
railways are familiar examples of the application of electricity in which unanimity 
as to its advantages has been reached between the electrical engineer and what, 
without any intention of being disrespectful, we may call the old school of 
mechanical engineers. There are, however, other applications of electricity 
where the old and new school of engineers have either not at all, or only partially, 
reached unanimity of opinion, and it is with one of these applications—namely, 
the electrification of railways—that I propose to deal in this Address. As 
regards urban and suburban lines, not only the possibility of electric traction, 
but its immense superiority over steam traction, is fairly generally admitted. 
Where we get on debatable ground is when we begin to discuss main-line traffic. 
Here the process of overcoming opposition, of which I spoke a moment ago in 
connection with other applications of electricity now generally approved, has only 
just begun. Will it lead to the same result, or will the electrician have to confess 
himself beaten by the steam locomotive? The answer each one of us would give 
to this question must necessarily be biased by our early training. Most 
engineers love their profession, and are enthusiasts; being enthusiasts, they are 
necessarily biased. This applies as well to the electrical engineer as to the 
mechanical engineer—perhaps to the electrical engineer most. In many cases he 
is so biased that he will not admit any virtue in any other but his own pet 
scheme of electric traction. A modern steam locomotive is a beautiful and 
efficient engine, and one can well understand its designer looking at. it with the 
pride of a father whose son has turned out a good man. One can also under- 
stand that this engineer will not readily admit the superiority of an electric 
locomotive. The mental horizon of each of us must necessarily be narrowed by 
previous training and professional enthusiasm; let us, then, try to forget for a 
moment that we are engineers, and let us put out of our minds all questions of 
mechanical or electrical detail, focussing our thoughts merely on what we see 
going on all around us as regards electrification of railways. We see year by 
year more lines being electrified. Some are failures; but the very fact that in 
spite of these failures the process of electrification is going on, shows that the 
failures are remediable. In some cases it is easy to understand why a line 
should be electrified. If fuel is dear, if the trains must be heavy and frequent, 
if there are steep grades and long tunnels, then obviously steam is at a dis- 
advantage and electricity can beat it easily. But the electrification is not limited 
to cases where there are such obvious advantages. We see a military State like 
Prussia electrifying a fairly long line where the traffic is not extremely heavy, 
where there are very gentle grades, and only few and short tunnels. Moreover, 
one of the stock arguinents against electrification is that in case of war the whole 
system may be broken down by the enemy cutting the wires; yet this considera- 
tion, if it has any weight—a matter on which I cannot pronounce an opinion— 
does not deter a military State from at least experimenting with electric traction 
