the proper location of lamps usually falls. In addition to the general rules found in the past to give the best lighting effects, a number of special cases are added and considered, such as the lighting of show windows, churches, theatres, paintings, etc. We also find a special chapter devoted to stage and theatre wiring which is replete with practical hints and suggestions.

As the work is intended also as a guide and aid to those in charge of isolated lighting plants, the author has included a number of useful chapters on kindred topics, such as insulation, appliances, connections, fuse wire, pulleys, belting, the setting up and running of dynamos and motors, and also on the duties of the engineer in charge.

Throughout the volume we find practical examples of wiring worked out by simple methods which can be followed by any one having a knowledge of simple arithmetic, with accompanying tables of safe carrying capacity, etc.

A feature of the book are the excellent diagrams which might well be used as models by those engaged in laying out wiring plans. If to all this we add a most pleasing literary style of treatment of the subject, Mr. Noll's work will be found to have a charm not often met with in books of such a strictly technical character. We may be pardoned if we make use here of the trite expression, that no one in any way connected with the installation or care of an electric light plant can afford to be without this book.

REPORTS OF COMPANIES.

CHANGES IN GENERAL ELECTRIC OFFICES.

In accordance with the policy of economy and retrenchment that has been carried out for some time past by its executive committee, the General Electric Co. has now decided to move its "main offices" to Schenectady, where the largest works are. As a result of this change, preparations are already being made for the transfer to Schenectady of various departments heretofore located at New York, Boston and Lynn, and every vacant house or room in the old Dutch town is being rapidly taken up. There will thus result a notable concentration of the manufacturing, selling and engineering forces of the company, and it is believed that much expensive delay and friction will be avoided. The departments moved include the Lighting, Power, Mining, Railway, Supply and Accounting, as well as the Engineering. This will necessitate the removal to Schenectady of the Engineering Staff from Lynn, and the heads of all these departments will also have to make the like change. It has been rumored that Prof. Elihu Thomson would move to Schenectady, but this is obviously untrue. A large amount of manufacturing of staple goods will still be done at Lynn, but it is the intention to handle heavier work at Schenectady on account of its superior facilities. The executive offices will remain in Boston as heretofore. The Company will retain offices at 44 Broad st., New York, where the Eastern District will continue its headquarters and the executive officers and heads of departments will use them as necessity or convenience of business requires.

These changes will naturally have some effect on the District Offices, into which the policy of retrenchment is also being pushed; but it will be a few months before all the necessary readjustments will be clearly seen or made. The Eastern District, will, as stated, continue in New York, but important changes or reductions have been begun in Washington and Pittsburgh. Western business will, it is understood, be almost wholly handled from Chicago.

COLLEGE NOTES.

THE ROBERTS Correspondence SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY. MR. E. P. ROBERTS has added to the faculty of his Correspondence School, Brainard Block, Cleveland, Mr. George T. Hanchett, a graduate of the Boston Institute of Technology, and a man of considerable practical experience. Mr. Hanchett learned the trade of machinist, and worked his way through college, a fact that will give peculiar value to his instruction. Local courses in analytical geometry and calculus by Mr. Hanchett, and roof trusses and bridge building by Mr. F. Č. Osborne have just started, and the local class in civil engineering begins this month. Mr. Roberts finds that having the local class is of very great assistance in presenting the matter to his correspondence students, as the staff are thereby enabled to anticipate many of the questions that would be asked them. They give a local lecture on the subject, then revise it, paying special attention to the snags on which the local students have struck. The school is now educating men in every section of the country, and has many inquiries from Canada.

LEGAL NOTES.

EDISON PHONOGRAPH LITIGATION.

MR. EDISON VS. THE EDISON UNITED PHONOGRAPH CO.

SUIT for $1,000,000 damages has been begun by Thomas A. Edison in the New Jersey Supreme Court against the Edison United Phonograph Company. The alleged damages are represented to have been done the plaintiff through the sales of phonographs in this country and abroad by the defendants.

The Edison United Phonograph Company has also begun a suit against Thomas A. Edison, the Edison Phonograph Company and the North American Phonograph Company for $400,000 damages claimed to have been done the plaintiff's business by the defendant companies in selling phonographs in foreign countries.

PERSONAL.

PROF. I. THORNTON OSMOND who has for some years been developing a course of electrical engineering in the Department of Physics in the Pennsylvania State College, has succeeded in getting the trustees to make a separate electrical engineering department. He will now devote himself again strictly to scientific work in physics. Prof. Osmond has favored THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER with many interesting contributions.

MR. NEWTON HALL, who for some time past has been connected with one of our most esteemed electrical contemporaries, has resigned his position, and is now interested in the American Electrical Publishing Co., with headquarters at 136 Liberty street. He is the assistant manager of this new concern, and in that capacity will have charge of the publications which it will issue, notably the Electrical and Street Railway Reporter, a journal to make its first appearance March 1 as a monthly. Combined with this journal will be July and January issues called Directory Editions, whose character is described in their title. Mr. Hall has long made a specialty of this class of work, in which his past success, accuracy and experience will now prove of great value. If Mr. Hall gives us a really good Electrical Directory all will be forgiven.

OBITUARY.

A. C. WHITE.

THE death of Mr. A. C. White. who was well known in telephone circles, took place on the 27th of December at his home in Boston. Mr. White was born in North Dighton, Mass., in 1858. He had been associated with telephone interests for the past seven years. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1882, where he completed the regularly prescribed course in physics, he at once entered the electrical field, in which he was to become so active a worker. His studies at the Institute of Technology were entered upon with a distinct leaning towards electrical matter, and the marked ability shown by him in his work was later testified to by his appointment as lecturer at the Institute on some of the commercial aspects of electric lighting.

His first position on graduting was with the U. S. Electric Lighting Company in Boston. While there he did some work on the arc light which led to an ingenious experimental method of regulation depending on the sudden change in the E. M. F. of the arc in passing from the hissing to the silent condition. The results of this work were published at the time in an English electrical periodical. His association with the U. S. Company terminated in 1884. At that time he went West, and was until 1888 connected with the Western Edison Company in Chicago. It was during his association with these two active companies, at a time when electric lighting was making great progress in being introduced in this country and when problems to be solved cropped up in rapid succession, that Mr. White obtained the great fund of experience and practical knowledge of all the details of the electrical business for which he was so well and favorably known by those in the fraternity who came into contact with him.

In 1886 he entered the employ of the American Bell Telephone Company in Boston. The principal result of his labors in this field was the invention of the present Long Distance Transmitter -known to telephone men as the "Solid Back Transmitter". which has contributed in a remarkable degree to the development of the long distance service.

Mr. White was a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the Society of Arts, and the Mathematical Physical Society. A wife and young daughter survive him.

SOCIETY AND CLUB NOTES.

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LECTURES TO ELECTRICAL WORKERS.

THE excellent educational work that is now being done by means of what is known as University Extension lectures and studies furnishes remarkable evidence of the general public desire for fuller information and instruction on the subjects that cannot well be taught at school and yet are ordinarily beyond the reach of those who are unable to attend a college course. In England, where it originated, the plan of University Extension may be said to have risen to the dignity of a "national movement," so widely and successfully has it been applied; while in this country admirable results have already been attained on similar lines. New York State has given generous support to the idea, and in this city Columbia College has taken the work in hand with the vigor and the enthusiasm that are so rich with promise for her splendid future.

Under the auspices of Columbia College, the organization known as the Brotherhood of Inside Electrical Workers has formed a University Extension Club, whose membership is already running up to 500. In this club each member subscribes $2 for a course of ten lectures on practical electrical subjects, but the lectures will also be thrown open to anyone who is willing to spend 25 cents each time for the privilege of listening to any special one or two. Toward this praiseworthy scheme, so entirely creditable to a trade organization, President Low has himself contributed $1,000, while the various firms in the Electrical Contractors' Association have also given substantial financial proof of their support of the movement. In this way the expenses will be met, including those of the hire of the large hall at Cooper Union, the use of apparatus and current, and the use of lantern and other auxiliaries. The course of lectures arranged is as follows:

Jan. 15.-Batteries, Primary, Secondary and Thermo. Mr. C. O. Mailloux.

Jan. 22.-Alternating Current Dynamos, Motors and Transformers. Mr. Wm. Stanley, Jr.

Jan. 29.-Direct Current Dynamos and Motors. Dr. Schuyler S. Wheeler.

Feb. 5.-Electrical Measurements. Mr. A. E. Kennelly.
Feb. 12.-Electric Lighting. Prof. F. B. Crocker.

Feb 19.-Street Railways. Mr. T. C. Martin.

Feb. 26.-Power. Mr. Nikola Tesla.

March 5.-Telegraphs. Mr. Wm. Maver, Jr.
March 12.-Telephones. Mr. J. J. Carty.
March 19.-Alarms. Mr. Wm. Maver Jr.

A very interesting feature is that these lectures, each of which is to be a plain, straightforward explanation of the subject, will be followed by class work. The instructor in charge will give a short talk on the subject of the preceding lecture. This talk, which will be in the nature of a "review," will embody answers to questions that have been submitted to him in writing. This work will be in charge of Mr. W. H. Freedman, tutor in electrical engineering at Columbia College, and will be most valuable to all who participate in it. Members will also be helped by syllabuses and by lists of good books to read in connection with any preferred branch of study.

BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

Before the Electrical Department of the Institute, of which section Mr. James Hamblet is president, on Friday, Jan. 5, Mr. A. W. R. Peirce of the Crocker-Wheeler Electric Co. read a paper on "The Dynamo: Its Construction and the Principles of Operation." The lecture was largely attended, a delegation from the electrical class at the Pratt Institute augmenting the regular numbers. Mr. Peirce handled his subject in a delightful way, illustrating his remarks by blackboard drawings and by parts of dynamos and portions of machines in the process of construction. In the course of his remarks he referred to the Davenport motor which has been thoroughly illustrated and described in THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, and which is now in this office as a valued relic.

INVENTORS' RECORD.

CLASSIFIED DIGEST OF ELECTRICAL PATENTS ISSUED DECEMBER 26, 1893.

Alarms and Signals:

Electric Bell, A. J. Oehring, Chicago, Ill., 511,451. Filed Apl. 25, 1891. Fire Alarm Telegraph, C. H. Rudd, Chicago, Ill., 511,462. Filed May 19, 1892. Employs two electro magnetic helices in different parallel branches of the alarm circuit adapted to act in opposition to each other upon an armature, heat responsive devices adapted to open the circuit, a resistance coil in one of the branches, mechanism controlled by the armature for sending the alarm signal, and a ground branch from the main circuit. Electric Signaling Apparatus, T. B. Doolittle, Bridgeport, Conn., 511,731. Filed Feb. 13, 1893,

Claim 2 follows:

A visual signal indicator comprising in combination an electro-magnet, a casing and a bodily-moving inductive armature confined in said casing and having its movements limited thereby, the casing being provided within a suitable aperture for the display of the armature.

Conductors, Conduits and Insulators :

Electric Wire Covering, F. S. Randall, Philadelphia, Pa., 511,547. Filed June 2, 1893.

Filed Sept. 1, 1892. Filed Apl. 12, 1893.

A covering consisting of raw cotton in bulk. Insulator, C. N. Hammond, Boston, Mass., 511,611. Insulator, C. N. Hammond, Boston, Mass., 511,612. Galvanic and Thermo-Electric Batteries:Galvanic Battery, H. T. Johnson, New York, 511,434. Filed April 21, 1893. Employs a containing cup forming the positive electrode, a semi-solid filling with the cup, and a negative electrode having an uneven surface and embedded in the filling.

Process of and Composition for the Manufacture of Porous Cups for Electric Batteries, F. G. Curtis, Philadelphia, Pa., 511,514. Filed Feb. 13, 1893. Distribution :

Claim 1 follows:

The method of sustaining or increasing the E. M. F. of a dynamo electric machine, which consists in magnetizing pole pieces adjacent to the polarized part of an armature by induction from the armature itself.

Electric Locomotive, J. G. McCormick, Louisville, Ky., 511,448. Filed April 1, 1892.

Has for its principal object to mount the armature independently upon the axle of the car so that the momentum will be delivered directly to the axle and the revolution will be coincident with that of the wheels.

Current Regulator for Dynamo Electric Machines, C. D. Haskins, Brooklyn, N. Y., 511,523. Filed Nov. 12, 1892.

Employs an electro magnetic device for shifting the brushes. Electrical Transmission of Power, N. Tesla, New York, 511,559. Filed Dec. 8, 1888.

The invention consists in passing alternating current obtained from one original source throught both of the energizing circuits of the motor and retarding the phases of the current in one circuit to a greater or less extent than in the other. See THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, Jan. 3, 1894. System of Electrical Power Transmission, N. Tesla, N. Y., 511,560. Filed Dec. 8, 1888.

Similar in its object to No. 511,559.

Rotary Electro Magnetic Engine, H. P. White, Kalamazoo, Mich., 511,570. Filed Feb. 15, 1893.

Employs a multipolar armature rotated upon its axis by the combined forces of elementary magnetic attraction and repulsion and also by the tendency of a magnetic pole to move past the electrifled wire.

Electric Motor Apparatus, W. A. Johnston, A. W. Browne and J. C. Davidson, Prince's Bay, N. Y., 511,621: Filed April 25, 1893.

Relates to application of electric motors to the manipulation of dental apparatus.

Lamps and Appurtenances:

Electric Arc Lamp, R. Belfield, London, Eng., 511,495. Filed April 5, 1893. Employs a rocking feeding mechanism carrying a geared sector actuating a toothed wheel, and a pendulum plate embracing the toothed wheel, and engaging it with inwardly extending teeth.

Rosette for Electric Lights, C. N. Hammond, Boston, Mass. 511,613. Filed June 30, 1893.

Has projections on the side serving as binders for the feed wire, and having guides for the lamp cord strands permitting the latter to be connected with the feed wires at the point protected by the flanges.

Fire Guard for Lamp Cords, E. E. Angell, Somerville, Mass., and S. Porter, Boston, Mass., 511,720. Filed April 20, 1893.

Measurement :

Electric Measuring Instrument, E. Thomson, Swampscott, Mass., 511,376. Filed March 2, 1893.

A combined voltmeter and ammeter arranged to register either volts or amperes by the throwing of a single switch, and provided with a double scale by which its indication may be read in the desired unit.

Electric Meter, L. Brillié, Paris, France, 511,401. Filed Nov. 22, 1893.

A meter in which an electro dynamometer serves to control the speed of a motor exerting an opposing tendency on the dynamometer through the medium of a magnetic retarder.

Electric Measuring Apparatus, T. Bruger, Bockenheim, Germany, 511,503. Filed June 21, 1887.

The invention consists in the combination with a stationary polarized solenoid, of a double solenoid, the succession of the poles of which is positive negative and negative positive, said double solenoid being mounted co-axially to the stationary solenoid and adapted to move over the same.

Miscellaneous :

Method of Electric Commutation and Fluid Electric Commutator, C. E. Emery, Brooklyn, New York, 511,328. Filed Dec. 28, 1892.

The invention consists of a method of commutation in which the current is conveyed from the conductors to the commutator sections by means of a circulating conducting fluid.

Process of and Apparatus for Manufacturing Ozone Gas, E. Fahrig, Marseilles, Ill., 511,330. Filed June 13, 1892.

Process of Making Resistance Plates. C. E. Carpenter, Bridgeport, Conn., 511,407. Filed Feb. 7, 1893.

Relates to a special insulation of the Carpenter enamel rheostat.

Process for the Manufacture of Paraamidophenol Sulphonic Acid, A. A. Noyes and A. Clement, Boston, Mass., 511,450. Filed Mch. 16, 1893.

Carbonizing Apparatus, I. L. Roberts, Brooklyn, N. Y., 511,459. Filed Dec. 8, 1892.

The process consists of placing the articles to be carbonized in a mass of sand or like non-conducting material and passing a current of electricity through a conductor in contact with the mass.

Safety Device for Electric Circuits, C. H. Rudd, Evanston, Ill., 511,461. Filed Dec. 10, 1888.

Consists of a high resistance shunt around the lamps connected to ground so as to provide a high resistance path for static discharge.

Machine for Separating Magnetic from Non Magnetic Substances, G. G. Crosby, New York. 511,512. Filed Jan. 11, 1893.

Patrol Box, W. Eglin, Philadelphia, Pa., 511,599. Filed Jan. 19, 1892. Electrolyzing Apparatus, A. J. O. Chalandre, Paris, France, 511,682. Filed Sept. 13, 1893.

Electric Cautery Apparatus, J. A. Wotton and E. A. Bostrom, Atlanta, Ga., 511,742. Filed June 26, 1893.

Electric Grain Weighing Scale, J. ard D. De P. A. Outcalt, Spotswood, N. J., 511,647. Filed July 8, 1893.

Railways and Appliances :—

Conduit Railway Trolley, J. C. Love, Chicago, Ill., 511,342. Filed May 17, 1892.

Employs a contact device consisting of a grooved shoe and means for supporting it so as to allow lateral oscillatory movement.

Trolley for Conduit Railways, J. C. Love, Chicago, Ill., 511,343. Filed May 17, 1892.

Relates especially to the contact devices and means for supporting them upon the car.

Support for Electrical Conductors, J. C. Love, Philadelphia, Pa., 511,344. Filed Jan. 21, 1893.

Employs two gripping plates whose jaws engage the conductor and a support comprising a two part socketed clamp, and insulating material surrounding the plates when in the socket of the lamp.

Tension Device for Electric Conductors, J. C. Love, Philadelphia, Pa., 511,345. Filed Jan. 21, 1893.

Has for its object to maintain a constant longitudinal tension upon the trolley wire to avoid sag between its points of support.

Trolley Bar Carrier for Cars, J. C. Love, Philadelph a, Pa., 511,346. Fled Jan. 21, 1893.

Trolley Wire Crossing, H. Geise, Philadelphia, Pa., 511,419. Filed June 26, 1893.

Claim 1 follows:

A crossing device comprising, in combination, conducting wires insulated at the point of intersection and crossing each other at a point above the normal level of the wires, and a travel plate provided below the point of crossing and upon which the trolley wheels of both lines are adapted to travel.

Conduit for Electric Railways, H. D. Oler, Paterson, N. J., 511,452. Filed Aug. 23, 1892.

The invention consists in the combination with a conduit of a conductor held in a longitudinal groove in blocks in the conduit, sliding blocks in said groove and swinging members in the conduit and actuated from a wheel on the car for successively bringing the several blocks in contact with the conductor.

Converter System for Electric Railways, G. E. Hesse, Brooklyn, N. Y., 511,524. Filed Nov. 21, 1892.

Employs a rail having branches wound with insulated wire so that the rail itself may be used as a primary magnet.

Electric Railway Switching Mechanism, C. J. Kintner, New York, 511,627. Filed June 24, 1893.

Relates to sectional conductor systems in conduit railways.

Telephones and Apparatus :—

Telephone, B. Pickering, Dayton, O., 511,358. Filed Jan. 29, 1881.
A combined telephone, microphone and alarm.

Telephonic Instrument, P. Rabbidge, Sydney, New South Wales, 511,456.
Filed Apl. 22, 1893.

Employs a spring armature distinct from the diaphragm and enclosed within the receiver case, and a gravity switch cutting out the alarm circuit when the receiver is in use.

Multiple Switchboard System for Telephone Exchanges, C. E. Scribner, Chicago, Ill., 511,464. Filed Apl. 26, 1893.

Telephone System, F. R. Colvin, New York, 511,589. Filed June 26, 1893. Has for its object to permit telephonic intercommunication between a plurality of stations without a central exchange.

Telephone System, J. J. McNally, California, Mo., 511,739. Filed Aug. 31,

1893.

Has for its object to automatically make connection between one station and another.

THE ENGINEERING MAGAZINE FOR JANUARY.

In the shape of a souvenir of the World's Fair, the Engineering Magazine has issued a superb January number, which carries out in a most admirable manner the aim to indicate the practical value of the Fair in stimulating science and industry. It has an illuminated cover, 82 pages of special illustrations, 158 pages of illustrated articles and 124 pages of advertisements, a total of nearly 370 pages of the single issue, the price of which, as usual, is only 25 cents. Mr. J. R. Dunlap, editor and proprietor, deserves hearty felicitations on such a magnificent production, which certainly marks the highest point ever reached in monthly technical journalism. Many of the contributions to the issue are of interest to electrical engineers. There is a contrast between electricity in 1876 and 1893, by Prof. Elihu Thomson; an excellent electrical department, by Mr. F. L. Pope, and a discriminating review of Cox's "Continuous Current Dynamos and Motors," by Mr. Nelson W. Perry.

ELECTRICAL EXECUTION.

A BILL is to be pushed in the Massachusetts Legislature legalizing execution by electricity.

Trade Notes and Novelties

AND MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT.

THE "ACME" PORTABLE TESTING SET.

QUEEN & Co., incorporated, Philadelphia, are making a renewed push of their "Acme " portable testing set, which was temporarily withdrawn from the market because of certain small defects which have now been overcome in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. This type succeeds the "T305" form, which met with a large sale, though it was much more bulky and heavier than the present style-besides lacking the essential feature of a battery. The "Acme" set is "multum in parvo" in completeness and compactness, while it can be used under every possible condition as to electrical fields or mechanical vibrations. For testing the resistance of dynamos, motors, lamp filaments, line wire and in fact whenever ohms" are to be measured, an engineer or expert will find it an apparatus that can be relied upon to work well.

After a careful test the U. S. Government has informed the makers that the set will be accepted for service on ship-board in the Navy, where the requirements are extremely exacting. In addition to this a World's Fair diploma was awarded Queen & Co. for "Testing Sets and Standard Resistances," so that they feel well pleased with the commendation which has been accorded to their resistance measuring apparatus. Circular No. 445 will be mailed upon application.

ÆTNA SECTION INSULATOR.

THE insulator illustrated in the accompanying engraving has been severely tested before placing on the market. It is of simple design, strong and durable. The wooden piece between the

ETNA SECTION INSULATOR.

terminals is renewable and can be changed while on the line. A convenient clamping device renders it possible to leave enough trolley wire coiled on top of the section insulator, to allow of its being let out to repair the line in case of a break.

Another part of this combination clamp holds the feed wire in such a way as to obviate the necessity of stripping the insulation from the wire, except at the part held by the clamp. By this arrangement the feed wire is left insulated from the poles to the section insulators and between the line where there is a double track.

The insulation is Etna, and no hood is necessary to protect the insulation. Of the several hundreds already in use none have been provided with hoods and results of this insulator are reported as highly satisfactory. It is manufactured by Albert & J. M. Anderson, of Boston.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

THE ELECTRIC APPLIANCE COMPANY of Chicago, have been having a particularly merry Christmas principally on account of the fact that they were able by dint of hard hustling to get their entire trade supplied with copies of their latest edition of catalogue and for the past week have been in receipt of numerous congratulatory letters complimenting its completeness, attractive appearance and intelligent arrangement. It is unnecessary to state that a great many of the letters were accompanied with a substantial proof of appreciation in the shape of large orders for material selected from the new book.

ASSIGNMENT OF THE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT CO.

Mr. W. R. Mason, general manager of the Railway Equipment Co., Chicago, has notified the trade that as a result of the existing depression, it has been found advisable and prudent to make an assignment. Mr. Geo. O. Fairbanks has been appointed assignee. Mr. Mason looks for but a temporary difficulty and asks for a continuance of support.

THE SIMPLEX ELECTRIC Co. has moved its offices from 622 Atlantic avenue, Boston, to 75-81 Cornhill, that city.

UNITED COLUMBIAN ELECTRIC CO.

THE apparatus of the above company for electric railway work, has already been described in our pages. The president of the company, Mr. Hewitt Boice, is pushing its interests in a manner that promises well for its success. Mr. Boice has had a business career that qualifies him admirably to direct such an enterprise. A resident of Kingston, N. Y., he has extensive blue stone quarries on the line of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad, and has been engaged in the stone industry for 20 years. The bulk of the blue stone used in New York City is furnished by him, and from his properties come also the immense blocks of finished stone used for sidewalks on the Astor and Vanderbilt properties. Some time ago, Mr. Boice recognized the ability and ingenuity of Mr. Winkler, in work that has often been referred to in our columns; and he has given the necessary assistance and backing to the efforts which have brought the Winkler "twin motor' to its present successful stage of development. Electricity has always depended much upon such aid and confidence on the part of farsighted and courageous capital, and it is the hope of all that Mr. Boice will find every expectation realized in entering so actively into the already enormous field of electric railway development.

JAS. I. AYER & CO.

THE following notice which will be of great interest to the electric lighting community has just been issued in St. Louis. Mr. Ayer is well known as a central station manager and as a president of the National Electric Light Association :

We offer our services as Electrical Experts and Consulting Engineers, for the designing of and superintending the complete construction of Electric Lighting Plants of every character; Street Railway Power Plants and electrical construction; adjusting insurance Losses on electrical apparatus; examinations of and reports on the Physical and Financial Condition of electrical properties; estimates and formulating Contracts; electrical plans and specifications for Architects and similar work.

We have to recommend our services for this work Mr. Ayer's experience of more than ten years' in designing, constructing and operating electric plants of different characters, embracing arc and incandescent plants for central stations, power plants for electric work, and isolated plants for buildings, together with his thorough knowledge of the practical requirements in the operation of electrical apparatus and the management of electrical properties.

The plant of the Municipal Electric Lighting and Power Company, of St. Louis, one of the largest in the world, was designed and constructed by him, and operated under his management until its absorption by other lighting interests. Mr. Ayer is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

Mr. Broughton graduated at Cornell University in 1890 as a Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, and has been engaged for more than three years in practical work in the installation and operation of electrical apparatus of all kinds used for lighting and motor power.

ST. LOUIS, January 1st, 1894.

JAS. I. AYER,

H. P. BROUGHTON.

THE PETTINGELL-Andrews' calendar.

THE PETTINGELL-ANDREWS Co., dealers in electrical supplies at 192-202 Summer street, Boston, have sent each of their friends one of the most attractive advertising calendars that have been issued this year. The calendar proper is of just the right size and is printed in good, heavy, dignified black figures, while on the card is an excellent monochrome representing an ocean steamship bravely battling the waves. A frame for the picture is suggested by an armored cable enclosing one corner, its ends lost in the flying spray, and a piece of Interior conduit at the diagonally opposite corner. The name of the company appears above, surmounted by the ever-present Okonite trade mark, and a heavy coil of "P. A." triple braid line wire floats gaily on the crest of a wave alongside the ship as it is rapidly wafted before the wind, hotly pursued by a flock of gulls who have mistaken it for a dough nut.

EMERSON ELECTRIC MFG. COMPANY.

THE EMERSON ELECTRIC MFG. COMPANY, of St. Louis, is at present engaged in making a number of handsome switchboards according to drawings and specifications received from companies desiring such apparatus. Besides the general business of the Emerson Electric Mfg. Company, this class of work is now becoming a specialty with them, and they will be glad to make estimates upon switchboards under any specifications that may be furnished.

PRICE OF BEACON LAMPS REDUCED. ALTHOUGH very much improved lately in all essential qualities, the Beacon lamps are now being offered to the public at a reduced price. In lots of 1,000 or over, the 16 c. p. lamp will cost 30 cents; in barrel lots of 200, 32 cents, and in smaller quantities 35 cents. The Beacon Vacuum Pump and Electrical Company, Irvington street, Boston, invite correspondence from manufacturers desirous of making their lamp under a license.

ALUMINUM MANUFACTURE AT NIAGARA.

A DISPATCH of recent date from Lockport, N. Y., says: Negotiations which are practically completed, it is understood, are being made for a compromise of the litigation between the Cowles Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company of Lockport and the Pittsburgh Aluminum Company by a consolidation of the two. In the event of union the entire local plant will go to Niagara Falls, where the Pittsburgh Company is preparing to build a factory which will be the largest electric aluminum smelting concern in the world.

MR. F. R. CHINNOCK.

MR. F. R. CHINNOCK, who for the past two years has been the general eastern agent of the Ball Engine Co., of Erie, Pa., has resigned his agency of that company and will again enter the electrical field, with which industry he was so long identified before taking up the sale of engines.

Mr. Chinnock feels that he will be still more successful in the field of electricity in which line he met with much success as an agent of the Edison General Electric Co., with which his many friends will remember he was associated for eight years.

NEW YORK NOTES.

MR. HARRY W. COLBY formerly with the General Electric Co. and the Mather Electric Co., has opened offices in the Central Building, Liberty street, for the Holtzer-Cabot Electric Co. of Boston. The New York office will handle the Holtzer-Cabot dynamos and motors for the entire country outside of New England.

THE SCHULTZ BELTING Co., of St. Louis, through their New York office at 225 Pearl street, have recently shipped to Yokohama, Japan, as the result of a small order sent out some time ago, two 11" dynamo belts, the aggregate length being 115 feet. They have also furnished new belts for the Central Opera House, New York. In this latter installation one of the chief features is the exclusion of the much-talked-of air cushion, and the fact that the belts can be run very slack, and noiselessly, without deteriorating the strength of the leather.

THE CONSOLIDATED CAR HEATING CO., Albany, N. Y., has received a second order from England for direct steam storage heating equipments. These equipments are so arranged that the temperature in each compartment can be separately regulated. The C., C. & St. L., otherwise known as the " Big Four," the Lehigh Valley, the New York, Ontario and Western, the Fall Brook, the Connecticut River and the Boston and Albany Railroads have recently abandoned all other patterns of steam couplers and have made the Sewall coupler their standard. The Consolidated Car Heating Co., Albany, N. Y., has sold over 10,000 Sewall couplers since the beginning of the present heating season.

THE ACCUMULATOR CO., of 224 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, announce that they are now putting on the market their standard accumulators greatly improved in mechanical design and construction. They will be glad to quote prices.

MR. WALTER C. MCKINLOCK, secretary of the Metropolitan Electric Company of Chicago, has just returned from a successful business trip and reports the outlook for his new company as very promising. The company are now handling the Blair adjustable lamp hanger, which enables the lamp to be raised or lowered automatically.

THE PERKINS ELECTRIC SWITCH COMPANY, of Hartford, Conn., have decided to open an office in Boston, and have taken room 71, Hathaway Building, 620 Atlantic Avenue, with Mr. F. B. Smith in charge. Mr. Smith will carry a full line of all the Perkins wellknown specialities, and will thus be able to fill all orders promptly from stock.

Departmental items of Electric Light, Electric Railways, Electric Power, Telegraph, Telephone, New Hotels, New Buildings, Apparatus Wanted, Financial, Miscellaneous, etc., will be found in the advertising pages.

Vol. XVII.

THE PRACTICAL ECONOMY OF ELECTRIC HEAT COMPARED WITH THE BLAST FURNACE.

T

BY

Isaiah L. Roberts

HE art of electric heating has progressed so far that no one now doubts its utility in some few arts such as electric welding and cooking, while even others, more bold, have ventured to apply it to heating rooms and cars. There are still others who dream of the time when electric heat will be about the only heat used for any purpose. The vast majority of people will say that it will be a long time before the blast furnace is displaced by the electric furnace, because so much heat is required in such a case that it can never be generated economically be electricity. I shall endeaver to show here briefly that this dream is not so far off as it appears, and is not only possible but can be made practical at the present time if suitable furnaces are constructed.

At first thought one is inclined to imagine that where low heats are required electricity would be most economical in use, but in fact it is just the reverse. At the present price of electric energy, houses cannot be heated so economically as by steam or water but where any substance or space is to be heated above or near a red heat electric heat can be applied cheaper than any other, regardless of the shape, size or nature of the article to be heated. I have proved the above assertions by the most careful tests, a few of which I will describe here.

Let us take the simplest and easiest case first, namely, the heating of a conductor. I used for this test a platinum wire about five centimetres long and two millimetres thick. A glass alcohol lamp filled with absolute alcohol, wick well saturated and the whole glass capped, was weighed on a pair of good chemical scales. In a thin glass beaker containing 40 c. c. of water a small thermometer reading in fractions of a degree was placed and the whole. brought to the temperature of the room.

The room was kept within two degress of a constant temperature by a thermostat connected to a steam coil valve. The alcohol lamp was lighted, the wire held by a pair of pliers at as near one end as possible and held in the flame at the most favorable angle possible to get the most heat. When it showed color from heat it was removed and instantly dropped into the water. The water was stirred with the thermometer until thoroughly mixed, and the rise in temperature noted. This was repeated with different sizes of the flame and at higher and lower temperatures so as to find the most economical point of loss of alcohol, the lamp being instantly extinguished, capped and reweighed to ascertain the loss. The same wire was then clamped between two copper clamps so that as little of the wire touched the clamps as possible. To these were attached a voltmeter, and an ammeter was placed in the circuit of the electric current. The current was switched on and timed until a color was shown in the wire about the same as was shown in the flame, when it was quickly released and dropped into the water. The stirring and

No. 298.

reading of the thermometer, as well as the time and reading of the instruments, were all gone through with and repeated at different temperatures up to incandescence of the wire, as well as at very slight heats.

The results were then compared. Figuring the amount of electric energy as against the thermic power of alcohol lost, it was found that in the case of the alcohol, less than one half of one per cent. of the heat generated had got into the wire at a red heat while about ninety per cent., of the electric energy was recovered as heat.

It was thought that while this was fair for the electricity it was not fair to the alcohol. So two wires, each half the weight and about the same length as the original one, were used with better results, while four of one quarter the weight showed still better; but even by such subdivision, which in practice would be very unfair to electricity, there was still shown to be about 30 per cent. margin in favor of the current.

The next set of experiments was conducted in well-made furnaces and under equally favorable conditions, except that in the use of charcoal as the heating agent, the best fuel possible was employed, namely, dry charcoal. A welljacketed fire-brick lined furnace was used, and a proper charge of coal of selected sizes was placed in the furnace to the best advantage and fired until it was well aglow. Then a piece of a square iron shaft, weighing about one kilogram, and 20 centimetres long, was provided; also a pail of water, thermometer, and large, though accurate and fine-reading, scales. The furnace was placed on the platform and weighed. While burning full of coal, the iron was thrust in the centre of the coal when the furnace was well heated and draught open. When a red color appeared in the iron it was taken out, dropped into the water, and the change in weight of furnace noted; also the rise of temperature of the water was figured against the calorific quivalent of the carbon lost. This was repeated again with two pieces of iron half the weight, and then with four of one quarter the weight, so as to give the coal the best possible chance to act on the iron. I may state here that the proportions of the quantity of metal core to that of the coal was that prescribed by the best blast furnace practice. The large bar was then placed in the jaws of a Thomson welding machine and heated to a red heat and thrown into the same quantity of water at the same initial temperature and the rise noted; this rise was then figured against the electric energy consumed in heating.

Comparative results showed that in the furnace where the single heavy bar of iron was heated, about of one per cent. of heat generated found its way into the iron, while even when divided up, so as to favor the coal, only about 2 per cent. was recovered; while in the electrically heated piece, about 88 per cent. of the current was recovered as heat. It was found that urging the fire by a blower made the time shorter but greatly decreased the economy of the furnace. In order to get even the results shown, the heat had to literally soak into the iron from the coal and walls of the furnace; while in the case of the current, the iron in a single piece was heated in about two minutes.

The third and last set of tests was made on non-conducting crucibles which were of good Hessian make. The