ENCE 



[Entered at the Posi-Offlce of New York, N.Y., as Seeoud-Class Matter.] 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Sevknth Year. 

 Vol. XIV. No. 343. 



NEW YORK, August 30, i{ 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 ^3.50 Per Year, in Advance. 



A CINCINNATI ELECTRIC RAILROAD. 



The initial trip of the electric cars on Route 18 of the Consolidated 

 Street Railroad Company of Cincinnati, was made on Wednesday, 

 Aug. 6, in the presence of the president and directors of the com- 

 pany, and was a decided success. The system decided upon by 

 the officers of the railroad is that of the Thomson-Houston Com- 



road until two private corporations had demonstrated the feasibility 

 and practicability of cables to enable cars to climb the steep hills 

 which surround Cincinnati. In the same way they have gone 

 about testing and selecting a system for electric motive power. 



The company have as consulting engineer Mr. B. L. Baldwin, a 

 young, energetic, and practical mechanic who prefers facts to the- 

 ories. Mr. Baldwin studied long and carefully the various systems 



THOMSON-HOUSTON ELECTRIC CARS OF THE CONSOLIDATED RAILROAD COMPANY, CINCINNATI. 



pany. Elmer P. Morris, superintendent of construction, had charge 

 of the party. The start was made from the car-barns at four 

 o'clock in the afternoon, with fifty people in the car, all of whom 

 were interested in the result. 



The Consolidated Railroad Company are very conservative, and 

 are not apt to spend much on experiments to improve their lines, 

 unless assured of satisfactory results. They did not build a cable 



before giving his opinion, and when he chose that of the Thomson- 

 Houston Company, the railroad company did him the honor to 

 close a contract with that company at once. 



The present plant consists of one Corliss engine of four hundred 

 horse-power, two Ball engines of two hundred horse-power each, 

 and three Thomson-Houston electric generators of a capacity of 

 6,500 watts each. These generators furnish sufficient current to 



