THE PROPOSED NEW YORK-PHILADELPHIA RAILWAY.

The May number of Transportation of this city devotes considerable space to the description of the electric railway which it is proposed to build between New York and Philadelphia, and prints, as a supplement, a large map of the route. The Central Jersey Traction Company, with headquarters at 2 Wall street, has been organized and the officers and directors elected are: Hon. Frank A. Magowan of Trenton, president; ex-Sheriff E. W. Hine, of Newark, vice-president; J. H. Baldwin of Newark, secretary; James H. Darrah of Trenton, treasurer; George G. Crosby of New York, J. H. Tingley of Rahway, and Joseph Reall of Bloomfield, N. J., directors. A charter will at once be secured in Pennsylvania for the line between Trenton and Philadelphia, via Bristol, Holmesburg and Frankford, probably connecting with the proposed electric railway at the latter point, well within the city limits to 9th and Market streets, the business centre of Philadelphia, and within a few blocks of the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad stations. This line will connect the Consolidated Traction Company's roads in Jersey City and Newark with the Philadelphia Traction Company's lines in Philadelphia, both of these roads being controlled by the same interests.

The plan is not only to construct a through line of electric railway to connect the principal points in the State of New Jersey with each other, and with New York and Philadelphia, but to consolidate the local lines in different places into one system. These lines embrace about seventy miles of paying roads, outside of Jersey City and Newark, and their value will be greatly increased by the earnings effected through consolidation, and by the increase of business from the through line.

MISCELLANEOUS.

MAGNETIC QUALITIES OF IRON.1

BY J. A. EWING, F.R.S. AND MISS HELEN G. KLAASSEN. In this paper the authors describe a series of experiments on rings by the ballistic method, and dealing mainly with the effects of cyclic variations in magnetizing force. A modified method of testing was employed which, while requiring only one current and one magnetizing coil, retains the advantage that each point in the cycle is reached by a single step from the end of the cycle. A section at the end of the paper relates to the molecular theory of magnetization, and its adequacy to explain the characteristic manifestations of magnetic hysteresis.

The results of these tests lead the authors to make the following comments on Steinmetz's "Law of Hysteresis":

In a paper read before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on the "Law of Hysteresis," Mr. C. P. Steinmetz has discussed certain experiments on the relation of ƒ Hd I to B, and contends that the empirical formula

SHAI

Hdl=nB,

where n is a constant factor, is in good agreement with the results of experiment. From the figures Mr. Steinmetz gives, and from those which our own experiments supply, it appears that within a certain range of values of B this formula may be taken as giving a fairly close approximation to the real value of ƒ Hd 1. As an empirical formula of the kind is of use to designers of transformers, we have been at some pains to examine how nearly and within what range a formula of this type may be taken to represent the facts. It will suffice to refer to one example in some detail.

Taking Ring IV. (thin sheet iron) for which we have a numerous and very consistent series of determination of ƒ Hd I, extending from B 43 to B 14,720, we have tested the constancy of the index & in the formula

=

SHal=

Hdl = n Bε

by plotting log B in relation to log ƒ H dl.

From B 2,000 to B = 8,000, the curve obtained in this way is a good straight line giving the value 1.475 for the index &, and 0.01 for n. When B is about 8,000 the inclination of the line changes, and from B = 8,000 to B = 14,000 we again obtain very nearly a straight line giving &= 1.70 and 7= 0.00134. Again, the measurements obtained from the small cycle tests of Ring IV., show that from B = 200 to B = 500 the curve of log B and log Hd is very closely a straight line, giving & = 1.9. Where B is above 500 the gradient of the line gradually changes. Taking the region from B = 500 to B = 1,000 the value of ɛ is 1.68, while from B = 1,000 to B = 2,000 it is 1.55.

From these results it is clear that no formula of the type under consideration, with a constant index & will serve to represent the results within anything like the limits of experimental accuracy. 1. Abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society.

2. Transactions of the Institute, January 19, 1892, vol. 9, p. 3.

The index begins by being 2 or nearly 2, (a result which follows also from Lord Rayleigh's experiments). In the ring referred to, this decreases to about 1.47 in the region of high permeability, and then increases again to 1.7 when the " wendepunkt" is passed. The changes in the index, indeed, correspond to the passage from one to another of the familiar successive stages in the process of magnetization; comparatively high values of the index are found first in the initial stage of low permeability, and again in the stage of strong magnetization when the permeability is reduced by the approach towards saturation, while in the intermediate stage where the curve of B and H is steep the index is decidedly low. The well marked changes of gradient curve which characterize the magnetizing are accompanied by scarcely less well defined changes on the part of the index & and the factor ŋ in the empirical formula devised by Mr. Steinmetz.

While, therefore, a formula of this type cannot be admitted to have any physical significance, it may still be serviceable in giving rough approximations for the purposes of the electrical engineer. Though the formula is by no means to be accepted as an equation to the actual curve of ƒ Hd and B, the curve which it gives by a suitable choice of index & and factor 7 lies fairly close to the actual curve, intersecting it at an intermediate point as well as at two extremes. And it is the case that an index of 1.6, or a number approximating to that, gives a curve lying generally in the neighborhood of the true curve throughout the range of B, which is of most practical importance. In the case of our Ring IV., for instance, the formula

give values of Hd which are nowhere (within the range of these experiments) so grossly divergent from the truth as to unfit them for use in calculations connected with transformer design.

The divergence becomes considerable at the top of the range, but elsewhere the agreement is fair. It should, however, be observed that if we wish to make the curve given by the empirical formula coincide with the real curve throughout any short part of its range, other, and often very different values must be given to & and n. Thus, if the part from B = 2,000 to B 8,000 only is considered-a part which includes those values of B which are usual in transformer cores-the formula / Hd | 0.001 B1.475 will express the results very much more closely.

Throughout this not inconsiderable range of magnetization (the region, namely, of high permeability) the agreement is good, but other empirical constants are required to fit the earlier, and again the latter parts of the curve.

of the glass cover of a 100 volt voltmeter, unconnected, the The authors then showed, how, by merely stroking the outside pointer would indicate 80 volts; and when connected to 100 volt

mains would only indicate 40 volts.

They next considered whether it was not possible to make a trostatic screening of the pointer should be practically perfect, the perfectly transparent conducting screen, so that, while the elecpointer and dial should be as easily seen as if the screen were not present. After much experimenting, they arrived at the following two methods of coating a glass cover, or shade, which gives perfectly satisfactory results :

No. 1.-Dissolve 4 ounce of transparent gelatine in 1 ounce of glacial acetic acid by heating them together in a water bath at 100° C. To this solution add half the volume of dilute sulphuric acid which has been prepared by mixing 1 part of strong acid with 8 of distilled water by volume, and apply the mixture while still warm to the glass shade, which should be previously polished and be warm. When this film has become very nearly hard, apply over it a coating of Griffith's anti-sulphuric enamel.

Method No. 2.-Thin the gelatine solution, prepared in the 2 volumes of acid to 1 of the solution), and, after polishing the manner previously described, by the addition of acetic acid (say glass, float this thinned solution over the glass cold. the excess of acetic acid by warming, allow the glass to cool, and repeat the floating process, say, twice. Thin the anti-sulphuric enamel by the addition of ether, and float it over the gelatine

3. Phil. Mag., March 1887.

Drive off

1. Abstract of a paper read before the London Institution of Electrical

Engineers, April 12, 1894.

layer applied as just described. Expel the ether by heating, and apply a second layer of this thinned anti-sulphuric enamel.

With experience a layer can be applied, either according to method No. 1 or No. 2, so that, when finished, it is quite hard to the touch, and so transparent that it is only by looking at the glass plate obliquely that the presence of the varnish can be detected. It is also so conducting that when a P.D. of several thousand volts, alternating with a frequency of 200, is set up between the needle and inductors of one of our electrostatic voltmeters, the pointer, which is metallically part of the needle, is not visibly attracted by a metallic rod held just outside the glass close to the pointer, this metallic rod being electrically connected with the stationary inductors.

ELECTRIC DISCHARGE THROUGH GASES.

PROF. J. J. THOMSON recently delivered a lecture at the Royal Institution on "Some Properties of the Electric Discharge through Gases."

The author first dwelt on the association between many chemical and electrical effects. Of recent years the number of electrical phenomena which were inseparably connected with chemical action, had increased so much that they could venture to hope that some of the most important questions in chemistry and electricity would be recognized as being but different aspects of the same phenomenon. No phenomena were more suited to prove the connection between electrical and chemical effects than those which formed the subject of his remarks that evening, for here they had got matter in a state in which its laws were most accurately known, and the electrical effects were rendered more easy of accessibility. In other words, they obtained ocular and not circumstantial evidence of what was going on. The lecturer next

BLEC ENGR. N.

DOUBLE ARC ELECTRIC DISCHARGE.

went on to consider some of the phenomena connected with the transference of the electric discharge from gas to the electrode, and some properties of the discharge when it was confined in the whole of its course to the gas, and when it passed from the metal into the gas or from the gas into the metal. A great deal of information could be got on these points if they observed a discharge through a very long tube. He had observed, by means of a rapidly rotating mirror, the discharge in a tube 50 feet long. From the appearance in the mirror it was evident that the luminosity started at the positive electrode, and then swept down the tube with enormous velocity. When the discharge got near the negative electrode, its progress was checked, that is, there ap. peared to be a reluctance to enter the electrode, and the luminosity lingered for some appreciable time. This reluctance of the electric discharge to pass from the gas into a metallic electrode was further exemplified by means of experiments. In one of the experiments a bulb was used into which two electrodes projected; these electrodes were connected to the terminals of a high tension alternating current transformer. The spark did not pass from one end of the electrode to that of the other, but followed the gas as long as possible, and impinged at the place where the electrode joined the glass bulb. This curious effect of a double arc is shown in the accompanying illustration.

The difficulty electricity experienced in getting from a gas to the electrode depended a great deal on the nature of the gas and the electrode. The lecturer then proceeded to show this by means of experiments. Oxygen gave a strong positive electrification, while with hydrogen it was different. The electric discharge from an oxidized copper electrode in hydrogen was negative till the oxide was reduced, when it became positive. Of the gases themselves he had found that oxygen gave a strong positive electrification, while with hydrogen it was different in various parts of the bulb.

The transference from gas to electrodes, said the lecturer, was facilitated by chemical combination between the gas and the elec

trodes. They might go further and say that something of the nature of chemical combination between those two was necessary for the transference of electricity. Passing on to consider the discharge through gases without electrodes the lecturer deduced the conclusion that the conductivity of gases at a certain degree of rarefaction was greater than that of any metal, and almost infinitely greater, molecule for molecule. For the purpose of these latter experiments Prof. Thomson used the outsides of two Leyden jars, the insides of which were connected to a Wimshurst machine. A wire connecting them externally was made into a coil, in the centre of which were placed bulbs containing the gases to be experimented upon. When the two gases were to be compared two coils were employed.

Another interesting experiment was that of a bulb placed inside another, the latter of which retained traces of mercury vapor; the discharge at first took place in the interior bulb, but upon increasing the density of the mercury vapor by slow heating the discharge took place in the space between the two bulbs. The concluding experiment showed the influence of a magnetic field on the electric discharge.

THE LIGHTING OF “ÚTOPIA, LIMITED.”

The Broadway Theatre has at present what is probably the finest example of stage wiring in the city. This is the more remarkable when it is understood that about one week elapsed between the placing of the order and the completion of the work, at the end of which time the Board of Fire Underwriters gave it their approval without change on the first inspection.

Those who have seen the production of "Utopia, Limited" will remember the brilliant, almost startling, effect of the lighting in the second act, but probably few realize the amount of labor and careful attention to detail that has been expended to bring about the result. The lighting in this act is wholly decorative; there are no changes, and after the curtain rises the switches are not touched until it falls again; but all this time nearly 450 lamps in borders, wings, foot lights, and flies and on the hangings of the audience chamber and the throne shed a perfect blaze of light upon every nook and corner of the stage; a light more powerful than intense, however, and entirely without any unpleasant glare.

The work was all done from a photograph (and a very bad photograph at that) taken by flash light in London after one of the performances there. This was put in the hands of James Stewart, the electrician, with instructions to duplicate it. He had about two weeks to do so and immediately went to work. He did not know how many lights were required, nor how the management expected him to arrange them but his experience of theatre lighting had taught him not to let a little thing like that trouble him much, and he has succeeded, it is said by the London actors, in far surpassing the original.

In the first place there is not a particle of "temporary work" in the entire installation. Washburn & Moen white core wire and flexible cord are used, the latter rubber-covered on both legs and the former run in heavy moulding. The sockets are of the Edison pattern and the circuits are controlled by a 200 ampere Ajax triple pole switch and numerous Bryant covered cut-outs. There are 18 stage pockets to which current is led from the dynamo room by means of 1,000 feet of No. 0 main, besides which 500 feet of No. 8 flexible cable runs from the fly gallery to the borders, and 8,000 feet of No. 14 wire and 1,500 feet of flexible cord has been required; the former for the wiring concealed in the mouldings and the latter to connect the pockets, etc. On each border is a cut-out from which circuits are distributed to smaller cutouts each controlling a circuit of no more than six lights depending from the edge of the border and lighting the flower baskets and ornamental pendants. A large wooden frame is fastened against the back of each border and serves the useful purpose of holding more securely the cut-outs and moulding and also keeping the lamps away from the scenery. The supplies were all furnished by J. Jones & Son, of 67 Cortlandt street, this city, through their representative, Mr. J. C. Moulton, who has had a wide experience in this class of work, and everything was done under the personal supervision of Mr. Stewart.

The three wire system is employed throughout. Current is generated by two No. 12 Edison dynamos in the basement driven by Armington & Sims engines, and a double throw switch is provided to cut in the street circuit instantly in case of a breakdown. The house wiring is enclosed in brass interior conduit, and every part of the system is regularly tested to avoid the possibility of trouble. The electric gas lighting circuits are also regularly tested, and the house can be thus lighted instantly in the very improbable event of both the street current and the theatre plant giving out at the same time.

The utmost discipline prevails throughout the lighting department, and strict records are kept of the condition of circuits, date of repairs, date of renewing each lamp, etc., so that the chief electrician has at his finger's end all the data relating to every branch of the work for which he is responsible.

On Tuesday, April 24, there was started in Columbia, S. C., a power transmission plant of exceptional interest, in the development of a new and important field in the application of electric motors to the manufacture of textiles.

The Columbia Mills Company (an organization composed mainly of New England capital) have had in contemplation for some time the erection of a large cotton mill in Columbia, S. C., to take advantage of the situation as regards supplies, labor and a fine water power close to the town. Last year this enterprise was pushed to a conclusion, but on making the detailed plans for the work, it was found that owing to the situation of the power and land available for the mill purposes, it would be highly advantageous not to erect the mill directly at the power, but to transmit the energy for driving at a distance of about 800 feet. In connection with this, of course, all well known plans for delivery of power were carefully canvassed by the company, and by Lockwood, Greene & Company, their engineers.

After careful consideration of all the various electrical and mechanical systems, the triphase system of the General Electric Co. was selected, with special view to the uniform speed to be obtained in the motors, and the total absence of commutators and collecting devices which might cause troublesome and dangerous sparking. To further increase the efficiency of the system, it was decided to couple the dynamos to their turbines directly, although the available head (25 feet) introduced a serious limitation in the possible speed.

The total amount of power to be transmitted was over 1,000 H. P. and it was decided to divide this into two units at the generating station. Consequently two special slow-speed triphase generators were designed to meet the requirements of the case. One of these machines of 500 K. w. capacity is shown in Fig. 1. It has forty poles and operates at a normal speed of 108 revolutions per minute, giving thirty-six cycles upon the line, at a voltage of about 575 at the dynamo terminals.

The armature is ten feet in diameter, and is of massive construction. It is of the iron-clad type and is wound with a single

planking, protected by pitch and asphalt, the bare wires being placed in position in a bedding of asphalt. The conduit thus constructed rests on a blind drain, and is carried across the canal to the power house under a bridge which is there erected.

bar per slot, heavily insulated, a construction which gives practical freedom from burnouts and other electrical difficulties. The total weight of the machine is about 100,000 pounds.

Two of these huge machines were completed in the early part of the present year and shipped to Columbia, where the turbines were nearly ready to receive them. The power plant consists of two pairs of 48 inch cylinder gate Victor turbines made by the Stilwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Co., (illustrated in our last week's isuse), which are directly connected to the generators. The generating

operated from the floor by means of a lever thrust into the switch Socket.

All interior wiring is in conduit tubing, and the switches are boxed in. In addition to the motors, several hundred lights are wired in the mill, and can be operated either from the main circuit or in part from either of the two 25 H. P. exciters which were provided with surplus capacity with this object in view. The mill is not yet all in place, but on April 24, the big generators were started and the motors given a preliminary spin.

The combination of a field magnet outside the armature rotated by means of a spider attached to the shaft, the spider and field forming a bell-shaped revolving field magnet, with a stationary armature.

Dynamo Electric Machine, G. Forbes, Niagara Falls, N. Y., 518,945. Filed Aug. 17, 1893.

Claim: The combination of an armature having parallel notches with two types of coils or solenoids having corresponding parallel sides, the ends of the coils of the second type being bent over the ends of the armature and passing within and clear of the colls of the first type.

Construction of Solenoids or Coils of Wire Used in Electric Machinery, G.
Forbes, Niagara Falls, N. Y., 518,946. Filed Aug. 17, 1893.
Claim 1 follows:

The combination of a solenoid or coil with a close fitting casing, having an inlet and outlet for oil with a pump for maintaining a forced circulation of oil.

Field Magnet for Electric Machines, A. Schmid, Allegheny, Pa., 519,097. Filed Dec. 7, 1889.

Employs field poles composed of lamina of sheet iron with a frame of cast iron cast about them and certain of the laminæ projecting into the cast iron frame a greater distance than the others.

Self Exciting Constant Potential Electric Generator, A. Schmid and B. G. Lamme, Pittsburgh, Pa., 519,098. Filed Feb. 20, 1890.

Employs main armature coils wound about the core, supplemental regulating coils connected in series with the main coils and others connected with the supplemental coils and a conductor for connecting the supplemental coils with the field exciting coils.

Electric Motor, F. E. Herdman, Indianapolis, Ind., 519.116. Filed July 19, 1892.

The invention consists in giving to the fields excessive strength at the time the current is thrown on the motor and reducing their strength as the motor increases its speed.

Regulator for Electric Motors, F. E. Herdman, Indianapolis, Ind., 519,120. Filed Apl. 16, 1892.

Commutator Brush, R. Kersberg, Hohenlimburg, Germany, 519,188. Filed Jan. 8, 1894.

Composed of a cloth of wire spirals screwing into one another.

Electric Motor, E. E. Ries and G. J. Scott, Baltimore, Md., 519,272. Filed July 27, 1893.

Consists of several groups of sectional, laminated, and interlaced field magnets circularly arranged, a concentric sectional laminated armature, circuit connections, and a commutator,

Electric Generator, W. Baxter, Jr., 519,280. Filed May 12, 1891.
Claim 4 follows:

The combination of the frame, the field magnets mounted on the frame, the shaft fixed rotatably in the frame, the armature and commutator mounted on the shaft, the sleeve between the armature and commutator and the nut on the shaft, impinging against the commutator, whereby said armature and commutator are secured.

Electric Motor or Generator, W. Baxter, Jr., 519,281. Filed May 12, 1891. Relates to certain mechanical details of construction and more especially to the commutator and brushes.

Heating:

Electric Heater, S. B. Jenkins, Boston, Mass., 518,013. Filed March 31, 1893. Lamps and Appurtenances :

Electric Arc Lamp, J. B. McKeown, Cleveland, O., 519,045. Filed Feb. 23. 1894.

Relates especially to the mechanism for feeding and controlling the carbon rods. Incandescent Electric Lamp, F. S. Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa., 519,099. Filed Nov. 29, 1892.

The invention consists in employing for the stopper a form of glass having a co-efficient of expansion substantially equal to that of iron, of which the leading-in wires are composed.

Electric Arc Lamp, J. C. Fyfe, Chicago, Ill., 519,283. Filed Dec. 29, 1893. Relates to the feeding mechanism of arc lamps using disc carbons. Miscellaneous :

Electric Elevator, F. E. Herdman, Indianapolis, Ind., 519,117. Filed Oct. 20, 1892.

Means for Introducing Insulating Material Into Conduits, D. Brooks, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., 519,171. Filed Nov. 23, 1892.

Railways and Appliances :

Electric Conductor for Underground Conduits, D. E. Conner, Covington, Ky., 518,939. Filed Jan. 23, 1893.

Claim 9 follows:

In combination with a conductor a contact chain composed of pieces or links hav ing a continuous wire or rod at their lower edges and means for loosely supporting said links below the conductor.

Trolley for Electric Railways, G. W. Hooper, Rochester, 518,952, Filed June 1, 1893.

Relates to certain mechanical details of the trolley and yoke.

Electric Railway Conductor Support, J. C. Henry, Westfield, N. J., 519,115. Filed Sept. 27, 1889.

Employs two working conductors, one being divided and the other yieldingly supported normally above the point of division so as to pass through the division on the passage of the trolley.

Electric Railway, W. B. Purvis, Philadelphia, Pa., 519,291. Filed Apl. 14, 1893.

Employs a magnetizable conductor within a closed conduit the upper portion of which is uninsulated, and magnetic means for raising the conductor into contact with the uninsulated portion of the conduit as the car passes. Telegraphs:

Relay, H. S. L. Verley, Hoboken, N. J., 519,142. Filed Jan. 13, 1894.

The invention consists in combining with the relay an auxiliary electromagnet in circuit with the primary magnet and adapted to act on the contact arm simultaneously with the primary magnet, Telephones and Apparatus :—

Telephone, E. V. Kolbassieff, Cronstadt, Russia, 518,959. Filed Sept. 21, 1893. A transmitter and receiver especially adapted for use in divers' helmets.

LEGAL NOTES.

THE INJUNCTION AGAINST THE OCONTO CO. SUSTAINED.— EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. vs. Electric MFG. CO. THE appeal of the Electric Manufacturing Co. of Oconto, Wis., vs. The Edison Electric Light Co. (General Electric Co.) from the decision of the U. S. Circuit Court, which granted the Edison Co. an injunction pendente lite, came up before the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has just rendered a decision sustaining the decision of the court below, which thus enjoins the Oconto Co. from manufacturing incandescent lamps until final hearing. In the opinion which is written by Judge Jenkins, the court holds with Judge Colt, in the Beacon case, that where the validity of a patent has been sustained by prior adjudication, and especially after a long, arduous and expensive litigation, the only question open upon motion for a preliminary injunction in a subsequent suit against another defendant, is the question of infringement, the consideration of other defenses being postponed until final hearing; the only exception to the rule being where the new evidence is of such a conclusive character that, if it had been introduced in the former case, it probably would have led to a different conclusion.

The court then discusses the alleged anticipation of Goebel and the evidence submitted to sustain the claim. The conclusions reached by the court are, that without assuming the story of Goebel's invention to be untrue, it is surrounded by such an atmosphere of improbability that until it is thoroughly sifted and sustained upon final hearing, the claim ought not to be allowed to stand in the way of a patent which has already safely passed the ordeal of judicial scrutiny.

THE FIELD ELECTRIC RAILWAY PATENT DECLARED INVALID. ELEC. RY. CO. OF U. S. vs. JAMAICA & BROOKLYN RY. CO. On May 3 Judge Townsend of the U. S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of New York rendered a decision in the case of The Electric Railway Co. of the United States against the Jamaica and Brooklyn Railway Co., in favor of the defendants. This suit was brought under the famous patent granted to Stephen D. Field, July 16, 1889, No. 407,188, the principal claim of which reads as follows:

The combination of a stationary dynamo electric generator driven by a suitable motor, a circuit of conductors composed in part of an insulated or detached section of the line of rails of a railroad track, a wheeled vehicle moving upon and along said insulated section of track, an electromagnetic motor mounted upon said vehicle for propelling the same and included in said circuit of conductors, and a circuit controlling device placed upon said vehicle.

Judge Townsend holds that the evidence shows that the elements of the combination were not new to the art and that they were embodied in a prior patent issued to Clark.

The suit was defended by the General Electric Co. ANOTHER REFUSAL TO ENJOIN THE BUCKEYE ELECTRIC CO. Word reaches us from Cleveland as we go to press that Judge Ricks has again refused the motion of the General Electric Co. to enjoin the Buckeye Electric Co., for incandescent lamp infringe

ment.

M. S. SHAPLEIGH has brought suit before Judge Dallas in the U. S. Circuit Court at Philadelphia against the Chester Electric Light and Power Co. for infringement in the use of cut-outs similar to those made under his patents by the Emerson Electric Mfg. Co. of St. Louis.

MR. W. S. HADAWAY, JR., is to lecture before the New York Electrical Society at Columbia College, on May 10, on some features of electric heating. The lecture promises to be one of the most interesting of a very successful season.

ON the evening of May 4, Mr. Alexander Jay Wurts, of the Westinghouse Co., delivered a lecture at Columbia College before the electrical engineering students on the subject of “Non-Arcing Lightning Arresters." Mr. Wurts explained the theory of his now well known zinc cylinder arrester and showed a new type of apparatus intended for street railway circuits. The lecture was illustrated by a number of striking experiments and the arresters were shown in operation. Mr. Wurts also delivered the same lecture before the Boston Society of Arts, on April 30.

Trade Notes and Novelties

AND MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT.

THE BAIN ARC MACHINE WITH AUTOMATIC REGULATOR.

THE accompanying illustration represents a constant current arc light dynamo with regulator, the invention of Mr. Forée Bain, and now being manufactured by the Great Western Manufacturing Co., of Chicago.

As will be seen, the field is of the salient pole, horse-shoe type, cast in one piece. The armature is large in diameter and is very strongly built; it is of the Gramme type, having a large number of independent coils, by means of which a very steady current is produced. The brushes are of carbon and are so placed as to produce a constant lap on the commutator.

The automatic regulation is performed by the movement of the brushes around the commutator. The motor device employed for the movement of the brushes is operated by means of a small belt connecting the armature shaft to a larger pulley, as shown in the engraving; by the rotation of this large pulley the ratchet bar is reciprocated. The ratchet bar carries a small ratchet, which is held out of engagement with the ratchet wheel by means of two elliptical springs on either side of the armature, placed between two pairs of electromagnets. The ratchet wheel is connected by means of a shaft, not shown in the engraving, to a small pinion which engages with gearing cut on the rocker arm which carries the brushes.

If the external resistance is such that the current may be main. tained with a lower voltage than the maximum of the dynamo, the current tends to rise above its normal value and the director is deflected to a still greater angle, which causes the contact controlling the electromagnets on the left hand side of the electromagnetic armature to be closed; and at the same time, the contacts controlling the electromagnets on the left hand side of the armature are opened, allowing the current to pass through them, and they attract the armature, which causes the double ratchet to engage in the ratchet wheel in such a way as to cause it to move in an opposite direction from that just described; by this means the brushes are moved forward on the commutator to a point where the E. M. F. is just sufficient to maintain a constant current through the resistance contained in the circuit.

When the machine is operated through a circuit which remains substantially unchanged the brushes remain quiet and the only moving device is the crank wheel and the reciprocating bar, which holds the ratchet since the ratchet is held out of engagement until one or other pair of the electromagnets are energized. The director device may be adjusted at any time while the machine is operating so that it will maintain a constant current at any value desired within a range of 20 per cent. of its rated capacity, that is to say, it may be adjusted to deliver a current 20 per cent. larger or 20 per cent. smaller than the rated capacity of the machine.

The regulator is said to be very sensitive and at the same time very positive in operation, and to maintain a constant current independent of the number of lamps in circuit. The machine may be run indefinitely on an absolute short circuit without injurious results.

The machine is very substantially constructed, has self oiling bearings, and is self contained, no outside device being necessary.

The "directing" device, shown under the connecting board, which is mounted on top of the dynamo, consists of a small iron bar suspended immediately over the armature. This "director" controls two contact devices, shown on the top of the connecting board, which operate to short circuit both electromagnets when the machine is working under normal conditions and is producing a current at which it has been adjusted. The thumb nut, on the right hand side of the engraving and just below the connecting board, illustrates a means of adjusting the strength of the current while the machine is in operation; this thumb nut is connected by means of a bar and a spiral spring to the director bar, and tends to hold it in a position opposite to the position that the bar would assume by an increase of current in the armature. The operation of the device is as follows:

When the machine is first started the spring connected to the controller pulls the controller bar into position approximately parallel with the path of the current circulating in the wires of the armature. When the current in the armature has assumed a given value, which has been predetermined by the tension of the spring, the deflecting bar is deflected from a line parallel with the current in the armature to a line slightly at an angle therewith. Before it has been deflected, however, to the position described, the contact above the deflecting bar has been opened by the deflecting bar being out of position it later assumes. When the machine is operating under normal conditions, an open contact above allows the current to pass through a pair of electromagnets on the right hand side of the armature, situated between the two pairs of electromagnets. The current circulating in this pair of electromagnets attracts the armature toward them and engages the ratchet device in the ratchet wheel and quickly gigs the ratchet wheel, in this case, in clockwise direction, which moves the brushes to a point on the commutator corresponding to the highest potential.

MR. GIDDINGS AND THE BROWNELL & CO.

MR. C. M. GIDDINGS, who has been for the past six years in charge of the Sioux City Engine Works, has recently connected himself with The Brownell & Company, of Dayton, Ohio, manufacturers of boilers and engines. They have bought the exclusive right to manufacture under his patents, and have established a department of engineering under his supervision. The Brownell & Company will make a specialty of high grade automatic engines, both simple and compound, and have purchased the entire stock of drawings, patterns, finished and unfinished automatic engines of the Sioux City Engine Works. These engines are well known in the trade as the Russell single valve automatic. Mr. Giddings was in charge of their engineering department for four of the seven years he was with them, and while there designed and patented his governor and valve. The highest grade of workmanship and finish will be maintained in these engines, which have already obtained a high standing for their close regu lation. The Brownell & Company have superior facilities in their boiler manufacturing department, and have recently added to their boiler shop equipment a set of 20 foot rolls, 18 inches in diameter, capable of rolling the heaviest plate and making 20 foot boilers in two sheets.

A COMPACT WESTINGHOUSE PLANT IN PITTSBURGH, PA.

AN electric generating plant has lately been installed in the new building of Heeren Brothers & Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., the installation being very compact and complete throughout for one of its size.

The outfit comprises two "Kodaks," consisting of two 10-18x10 Westinghouse compound engines and two Westinghouse 56 K. W. multipolar generators, coupled direct to each other with the well known Westinghouse flexible couplings. The engines and generators run at a speed of 320 R. P. M. The switch board is made with the main portion across the end of the room, with an angle at one side. This construction became necessary on account of the limited space; the main switches and all instruments are on the angle portion and all circuit switches, cut-outs, etc., are on the main body of the board. The board is of hard wood with all instrument mountings of marble. The whole installation is artistically and finely finished, and is considered the finest plant of its size yet installed in this section. When in operation the engines and generators are absolutely noiseless, due to the absence of belts. The space occupied by the two "Kodaks" and angle switch board is only 16' by 19', with ample space around and between each rig for handy operation of both dynamos, engines and switchboard apparatus.

It was found necessary when constructing one of the foundations to bridge over a building support footing, which was done by the use of heavy I beams carried across over this footing. This construction has proved very satisfactory, as there is no vibration felt in the building when either or both of the "Kodaks" are in operation.

The installation was made by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., and Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Co.