Aug. 1, 1902.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICUi. fUlilST. 
Ill 
SURINAM. 
Area : about 58,000 square Eugl. miles ; pop ; 
about 68,000. Agricultural estates : cocoa 84, coSee 
53, sugar 9 ", batiauas 7) , sundries 87. Capital ; 
joint stock ±"3,000,0011, (beside capital ill private 
commercial and industrial enterprises). 
WIRE TRAMWAYS : THE KANAN 
DEVAN, TRAVANCORE. 
BY W. R SHAW, M.E. (QUEEN'S), M. IN.ST. C.E. 
(Consultinii Engineer for Builways, Bomhay.) 
[Tlie following is from a paper in the "Indianand 
Eastern Engineer" for June, 1902, accompanied 
by two pM<i;es of (or five) jihotograplis. — Ed. T.A.] 
There are undoubtedly several places in India 
wliere a wire tramway would pay handsomely, and 
yet there are very few of these useful lines in the 
country. One reason tor this is that capital is not 
over-plentiful, while labour is wonderfully cheap 
and the cost of carriage is low. Then, airain, 
there are not many of these lines in England, so 
the engineer or planter who take': any interest in 
the suliject is obliged to pick up his knowledge 
laboiiou>ly from various foreign technical papers. 
Within the, last year or two, however, there has 
been a deciiled ad>-ance in the subject of wire 
tramways in India. 'One promisincj line in Assam 
is now under consideration. A bold scheme has 
been outlined to connect Bengal and Thibet by 
means of a line 40 miles long over the .Talap La 
Pass, 17,000 feet liigl.', to secure the wool traffic. 
The present paper will give some of the naaiu 
features of an unusually interesting wire trani '". ay 
in North Travancore, which has been working now 
wiih the greatest success for the last eighteen 
months. The writer is indebted to Mr W Kemlo, 
the engineer who so successfully designed and con- 
structed the line, for most of the following details 
and for the highly interesting set of photos. 
The tramway is designed for the conveyance of 
stores and produce to and from a large estate in 
the Travancore Hills. It is divided into two prac- 
tically equal sections, each over one mile long, 
and rises about 4,000 feet. When the scheme is 
complete there will be a branch line from the South 
Indian Railway to the lower station, and the upper 
station will be joined up with a 40 niile mono-rail 
tramway leading to the estate. 
The route follows an old cooly track, and there 
were great difficulties in the setting out of the line 
on account of the feverish nature of the country in 
the lower section ; in fact the climate was so liad 
that the home firms who were prepared to supply 
the materials would not undertake the work of 
erection, and it was finally decided to design and 
erect the line locally. 
The line is on the running-rope principle. The 
two sections are geared together and are driven 
from a central station. The following arethe details 
of 1 he sections : — Horizontal 
Vertical rise, distance. 
Upper Section ... 1,745 5,700 
Lower Section ... 2,187 7,563 
Total 
3,932 13,263 
Longest span .. 427 1,533 
Steepest span ... 246 538 
Total length along rope 2*62 miles. In the upper 
section there are eight intermediate standards and 
twelve in the lower. 
Two standards are about ... 40 feet high. 
Keniainder ... 13 do 
THE ROPE. 
Tlie rope is g inch diameter, best plough steel, 
hemp core and weighs 1 lb per foot run. It was 
sent out in eight pieces, each over 3,000 feet long, 
coiled on a drum. The drums were fitted to u, 
local ly rn fv.de stand, and the wire was hauled out 
by block and tacdcle and spliced on the spot. 
THE GKipa. 
The grips on a line of such steep grades re- 
quire to be very strong. Those in use were 
locally designed and will be patented. They grip 
the rope at any point automatically, go up to 
tlie top of the section, automatically leave the 
rope and run unto the shunt rail and are said 
to be a success in every way. The line is only 
meant for goods traffic, but if the grips are so 
reliable there does not seem to be any reason why 
passengers should not be also carried inspecially- 
designed carriers to hold one or two persons. 
POWER. 
Water-power is obtained by an 8-inch steel pipe, 
giving a fall of 720 feet, connected to two Pelton 
wheels. Each Pelton drives a dynamo capable 
of giving iO amperes at 500 volts. This power is 
transmitted to the centre station, 1,8.50 yards 
distant, by two copper wires. The two sections 
of the tramway are driven together at the centre 
station by one or both of two motors similar to 
the dynamos at the power station below. At 
the centre station the gear is arranged to drive 
the ropes at one, two or three miles per hour. 
The rope has been worked at three miles an hour, 
but at present it is worked at two miles an hour, 
as this speed is sufficient for the traffic at present. 
About 20 H.-P, is sufficient to drive the line when 
the loads are uphill. 
RESULTS, 
The tramway has been working nearly con- 
tinuously since August 1900 ten hours a day. 
About 40 carriers are used on the rope and all 
kinds of goods are carried, the load varying from 
one to tluee hundred weights So far the greater 
part of the traffic has been up, 'but the down traffic 
is steadily increasing as the estates are coming 
more into bearing. Three round trips can be made 
in a day, giving eighteen tons of traffic or for a 
year of 350 days say 6,000 tons. Tlie traffic was 
formerly carried by some 5,000 ponies, bullocks 
and donkeys, and it is estimated the line will 
save at least £1 per ton, or £6,000 a year, so that 
the line is in every way a success, 
NEW INDIAN TEA PATENTS. 
The 5th December, 1901 — Specifications of the 
undermentioned inventions have been filed : — 
No. 162 of 1901, Andrew Gilmour McMeekin, 
Tea Planter, of the Allynugger Tea Estate, Sham- 
slienugger. South Sylhet, British India. Im- 
provements in tea-firing machines. (Specification 
filed 22nd November, 1901). 
No. 163 of 1901, Thomas Aubrey Hunt, 
Engineer and Tea Planter, residing at tlie Lacka- 
toorali Tea Estate, Sylhet, in British India. A 
marker for keeping tlie score at the game of 
"Bridge," to be called tlie " Simplex Bridge 
Marker." (Soecificati«n filed 22ud November, 
19 1). 
No. 182 of 1901, James Begg, Tea Planter, of 
Hoolungorie Tea Estate, Assam, in British 
India. A new or improved machine for arti- 
ficially withering tea leaf. (Specification filed 
22nd November, 1901. — In.Aan Engineering, 
June 31. 
