THE 
SCIENTIFIC PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY. 
I.—ON THE TRANSMISSION OF POWER TO A DISTANCE, 
py ALEXANDER M‘DONNELL, .a., M.1.¢.5. 
[Read February 18, 1878.] 
THE most usual way employed for transmitting power is by means 
of shafting, and when the distance is not very great it is gene- 
rally very convenient. It has been employed in some cotton mills 
to transmit as much as 4,000 horse-power. There are many cases, 
however, in which it is very inconvenient to use shafting, when the 
power has to be transmitted to considerable distances, particularly 
through inconvenient places, where access for lubrication and 
repairs is difficult, and where the consumption of the power is 
very intermittent. 
Wire Ropes have been employed with great success for trans- 
mitting power to very great distances in particular cases, and is 
extremely convenient where several people are the users of the 
power. This wire rope system is employed at Schafthausen, 
where the hydraulic power of the Rhine is used to drive 3 
turbines 94 feet diameter, developing 750 horse-power. The 
power is transmitted by a {-inch wire rope running at a speed of 
53 miles an hour. © . 
The same system is employed at several other places, for in- 
stance, at Oberursel, near Frankfort, where 94 horse-power is 
transmitted 3,153 feet. At Logelbach, in Alsace, 50 horse-power 
is transmitted by a 3-inch rope, running at 31 miles an hour, 
768 feet. At Fribourg, 300 horse-power is transmitted 2,516 feet. 
‘The tension on the wire rope to transmit 300 horse-power is 
Seren. Proc. R.DS., Vou. 11, PT. 1. B 
