[Entered ai ihe Posr-Offlce of New York, N.Y., as Sfcoml-Class Jlalter, 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Sevknth Year. 

 Vol. XIV. No. y 



NEW YORK, July 5, i? 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 ^3.50 Per Year, in Advancf. 



THE THOMSON-HOUSTON ROAD IN BANGOR, ME. 



The accompanying cuts illustrate the new electric railway which 

 has been put in at Bangor, Me. One of the cuts shows the car on 

 Main Street Hill, opposite the Opera House, a grade of 7 per cent ; 

 and the other, the car in West Market Square, the very heart of 

 the city. The road at Bangor is three miles in length, single track, 

 with three turnouts, and contains many sharp curves and grades, 

 the most severe of which is a curve of 35 feet radius, which occurs 

 on a grade of 7 per cent. There is one stretch of the road, about 



The power-plant consists of one 80-horse-power Thomson- 

 Houston generator, with the necessary station-fittings, which is 

 driven by a 14 by 13 Armington & Sims engine, running at a speed 

 of 250 revolutions per minute. This is the only tramway which 

 has ever been constructed in Bangor, and it has, from the very 

 start, given the utmost satisfaction, but one schedule trip being 

 missed since the day of starting. May 21. The travel has been 

 very heavy, averaging 1,600 passengers per day, and on one day 

 3,000 were carried by three cars. The success of the road has 

 been such, that extensions have been asked for in many parts of 



THOMSON-HOUSTON ELECTRIC ROAD I., 



three-fourths of a mile in length, which has five curves and an 

 average gradient of 5 per cent. No difficulty, however, is experi- 

 enced here, and the cars climb these grades with a scarcely per- 

 ceptible diminution of speed. The nature of the overhead work 

 necessitated by these can readily be seen from the accompanying 

 map, on which the situation of the road is indicated by a heavy 

 line. 



There are four 16-foot cars, made by the Newburyport Car 

 Manufacturing Company, which are handsomely tinished, and 

 equipped with two 15-horse-power Thomson Houston motors. 

 Three cars are in operation from 6 a.m. till 11.30 p.m., the fourth 

 being held in reserve for special occasions. 



the city, and it is probable that before long the equipment will be 

 greatly increased. 



THE USE OF OIL ABOARD UNITED STATES NAVAL 

 VESSELS. 

 Many hundreds of reports have been published on the " Atlan- 

 tic Pilot Chart," and elsewhere, relative to the great benefits de 

 rived by means of the use of oil to prevent heavy seas from break- 

 ing on board vessels. By far the greater number of these rcr.orls 

 have been received from merchant vessels, very many of .-iT 

 have undoubtedly been saved, with all on board, by the - - ? 



