the end of his Paper a calculation was given to show that the losses in the high frequency motor were 42 per cent. greater than in the low frequency. He quite agreed with the 42 per cent., but he was afraid Prof. Forbes had overlooked the fact that with the high frequency they would have to supply two and a half times the electromotive force, and it would give two and a half times the power, and, consequently, what appeared to be an increase in the loss of 42 per cent. became actually a gain of 33 per cent., so that on his own showing the high frequency was the more efficient. One reason which Prof. Forbes has given for the use of low frequency, and which had appealed to him (Mr. Kapp) very strongly, was that you could make a synchronizing motor out of any dynamo. If they wanted to rig up a motor quickly they could go and buy a dynamo and set it to work. But when he began to consider what had to be done he saw that it was not so simple. They had to put on two contact rings to begin with. Dynamos were cut very fine nowadays; makers did not give extra room for fancy fittings. Therefore they had to send it out to be fitted with these things by a maker. Supposing they had done this, how were they going to start it? Being a single-phase motor, it would not start by itself, and they must put down a little Tesla motor, or some other, to start it. And if they did that they might as well use the Tesla motor a little larger and run their factory from it. He would like to point out that single and multiphase alternatecurrent motors were on the market and were very good. The only reason that the impression prevailed in England that they were not to be had, that they were not reliable, and only experimental, was that they placed too much credit on what appeared in the electrical papers. He was afraid the papers were treating them rather badly in this respect. It was the fashion amongst them to cry down multiphase and alternate-current work. He could quite symphathize with the editors; it was an unfortunate thing that they had to take up new subjects and study them in order to write intelligently about them. The ordinary alternating current was bad enough, but when you came to three phases it was really too bad. But they should not cry down these things; let them state what the facts were. He had tested such a motor made by the Oerlikon Company, with the following results: the machine gave on the brake 862 watts, and it ran at a speed of 1,800. The frequency varied from 60 to 67; the commercial efficiency was 60 per cent.; the power factor was 74 per cent.; and at starting the current to produce a torque equal to that at the full output of 14 h. p. was 24 times the normal working current. It was rather inconvenient to have such a large current at starting, but by a very ingenious arrangement, now used all over the Continent, the mains did not feel this large current. There was an auto-transformer with a switch handle, which, at the expense of pressure, gave the extra current which went into the motors, and it worked beautifully. The weight of that machine was under lcwt. per horse-power. There seemed to him to be very strong reasons against the adoption of low frequencies as regards motors, and perhaps not so great, but still sufficient, reasons as regards the transformers; one very strong reason was the cost of the alternator. He had studied the design of Prof. Forbes's alternator very carefully, and he might say at once that he was very pleased to be able to agree with him that it was about the best machine that could be made for the job.

PROF. SILVANUS THOMPSON said that the Paper bristled with points, but he would confine his remarks to one or two. In the first place some rules concerning parallel working were given, or rather some remarks were made about the knowledge, or want of knowledge, upon that which constituted the successful design of machines for working in parallel. Prof. Forbes said: "The rules which govern the construction of machines which shall work well in parallel are not very clearly understood. The only fact which has been perfectly established in practice is that the lower the frequency the more efficient and sure is the parallel working." He, too, felt disposed to dispute this point. He would not dwell upon it-he simply disputed it; it had not yet been established; it might be true, but it had not been established. But he did venture to think that this was not the only fact bearing upon the question of the construction or the design of machines for parallel running. In the first place they knew perfectly well that machines would not run well in parallel if they had weak field magnets, if they had armatures that, with the output that the machine was designed for, would perturb or interfere with the magnetism of the field in any serious way. Further, they knew that they did not get easy working between two alternators of distincly different types. In this case, if the two alternators were so designed, whether in the placing of their coils, or the shape of their polepieces, or the relative positions of coil and pole-pieces, so that the curves of their induction were widely different, one giving a form nearly like a sine curve, and the other giving a curve like a sawtooth curve, they would not run in parallel. These were points that really were known, and bore largely on the question of design. Further, he would like to point out that they sometimes spoke of the self-induction in the armature, and of the reaction of the armature, as though they were the same sort of thing. There was no doubt whatever that an armature which had no iron in it, or in close proximity to it, would have less self-induction and armature reaction than an armature that had much iron in it, and that iron

in close proximity to the coils. But they might have an armature which had much self-induction without necessarily very much armature reaction. It depended upon how the iron was disposed near the armature coils with respect to the approach to the polar parts, and the thing which was disastrous in the design of an alternator for these purposes was the putting of iron into the armature in such a way that the iron acted violently on the magnetism, and pulled it about so that the field became an unsteady one. All this, of course, was contained in those wonderful equations on the action of alternate-current machines which Dr. Hopkinson published about 1884. He (Prof. Thompson) was perfectly well aware that the whole theory of alternate working and parallel running could be dug up from those equations. But it was more to the point if they inquired what was the physical action which went on and made it easy or dificult for two machines to run in parallel when they were placed on the same circuit; and the physical effect was really easy to follow out if described by means of a diagram. If they took one of the ordinary types of alternator, say, for example, the Westinghouse (see diagram). Suppose the armature core to be rotating right-handedly, and they had the wires on the outside, the tendency would be to generate currents which would come toward them as the wire was passing the S pole, and to go away from them as the wire was passing the N pole. That was to say, the electromotive forces, everything being supposed to be symmetrical, would be at their maxima in those coils, and would die away to nothing exactly half-way between the poles. Suppose they had two such machines, exactly alike in phase with one another. Their electromotive forces were at a maximum at that particular instant, and if there was no lag in the current, no self-induction, they would have the currents

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also at a maximum at the particular point. Now, suppose they had those two machines coupled together in parallel, the electromotive forces were equal if other things were equal, and there was no tendency for one machine to send a current through the other one either way. Now suppose one was a little behind and the other a little ahead, then the electromotive forces would not necessarily be equal. The consequence would be that the current produced by the two through one another, would throw a load on the leading machine tending to bring it back, and a load tending to bring up the lagging machine. But now suppose that the current in the wires was capable, by reason of the disposition of the iron or anything else, of producing considerable reaction. Now for the receding current, the tendency was to exercise a magnetizing force around it which would strengthen the field in front of it, and weaken it behind. As a matter of fact, the question of strengthening the field in front of it, or weakening the field behind it, strengthening the field as a whole, depended upon whether the strengthening or weakening was a maximum when the coil was in front of the pole of the alternator or not. If the maximum was reached when the wire was behind the middle position it considerably strengthened the field, but if the maximum occurred when the wire was in front of the middle position it would weaken the field. The one that was ahead of the other would weaken its field, while the other one would strengthen its field. These two reactions, the one of strengthening, the other of weakening, precisely tended to defeat the tendency of the two machines to get back into parallel ; that was to say, the back armature reaction would of itself tend to prevent the synchronism to parallel.

THE TELEPHONE IN GERMANY.

ACCORDING to the Zeitschrift für Electrotechnik, the number of telephone stations in Germany, which was 1,504 in 1881, had increased at the beginning of this year to 63,558, of which Berlin had 17,424, with over 20,400 miles of lines. The interurban service is also increasing rapidly, and there were at the beginning of the year 310 long-distance telephones, with 14,280 miles of line, the longest direct line being that between Berlin and Breslau, nearly

200 miles.

LEGAL NOTES.

EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY V. DAVIS ELECTRICAL WORKS IN THE COURT OF APPEALS.-REPAIR OF LAMPS.

IT will be remembered that a few weeks ago Judge Colt, of the United States Circuit Court, District of Massachusetts, granted to the Edison Company an injunction against the Davis Electrical Works, of Springfield, Mass., for repairing incandescent lamps. The Davis Company at once appealed from this decision, and on Thursday, the 18th inst., a hearing was given before the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, District of Massachusetts, before Judges Putnam, Nelson and Webb. Messrs. Fish and Richardson acting for the plaintiffs, and ex-Judge Lowell of Boston and Mr. J. L. Roberts of Boston, for the defendants.

In opening the case Mr. ROBERTS, referred to the argument of the defendants, in saying that the cheapness of the lamp precluded it from any necessity for repairs, and that it was intended for the scrap heap when the carbon burned out. He combated this idea and said any company had a perfect right to repair its lamps, as they might and did burn out frequently before the guaranteed number of hours had expired. He then proceeded to ridicule the idea that the Edison Company's claim that when the Davis Company opened a lamp for repairs they destroyed the Edison vacuum, or vacuous space. The vacuous space was simply the shell of the lamp, containing nothing, and he did not think the Edison Company could claim the air, though they appeared to claim everything else. He stated that it was not true, when the defendants claimed that after the Davis Company repaired a lamp, they had a new vacuum (such a claim was ridiculous) a new globe and a new carbon. Not a piece of glass (saving the little tip on the bottom of the lamp) is taken away and not a piece is added, We have, he said, everything in the lamp to be repaired that was there originally, except the carbon,-the leading-in wires, the copper wires, the cap, the glass, everything is just as it was, except that we put in a new carbon to replace the one burned out. Judge Colt had allowed in his decision, that if the lamp were opened from the socket end and a new carbon put in, as in the original Sawyer-Man lamp, it would not infringe, and he asked the Court what the difference was if the Davis Company opened the lamp at the other end and put in a new carbon. Mr. Roberts, then, with the aid of a regular glass-blower's bench and the assistance of a workman, showed the Judges the precise operation of repairing a lamp as done by the Davis Company, and also by way of contrast the extra labor necessary in making a new lamp. He then went on to cite cases where the Courts had allowed parts of machinery to be repaired, as in ploughs where the tips wear out, planing machines where the cutters wear out, and others.

MR. FISH, then argued for the plaintiffs and commenced by saying that it was not possible for the Judges to judge intelligently without fuller knowledge of the Edison patent, and the state of the art prior to Edison's discovery. He claimed that the Edison invention was radically new, and many scientists had said that it was impossible to subdivide the electric light, until Edison showed them how. He then went on to explain the nature of Edison's lamp, the multiple arc system of distribution, Sawyer-Man experiments with carbons of rod, the introduction of nitrogen, the disintegration of the carbons, the discovery of Edison that a high resistance filament of small radiating surface was necessary, the great discovery of the air-washing effect, and all the necessary steps leading up to Edison's invention. "During all these years,' he said, "no one ever tried to repair lamps; that process did not commence until after suits were commenced against infringers, and it was done simply to evade the patent. The Edison lamp distinctly took the place of the old lamps which were made to be repaired, and was made as a whole, each part having a definite relation to the other part, and was distinctly made in such a manner, that it was intended to be thrown away, after being burned up, and no one ever attempted to do anything else until this litigation arose. Mr. Fish also then cited cases where repairs were lawful, but claimed that these machines were so made, that it was intended from the first that the worn out parts should be repaired, and were totally distinct from the case in point, whereas the incandescent lamp was made as a whole and not intended for repair. In repairing the incandescent lamps, he maintained that the combination of the second claim of the Edison patent was broken; the vacuous space disappeared, there was left no vacuum, no all-glass receiver, no carbons, nothing but the leading-in-wires, and he claimed the lamp when repaired was really and practically a new lamp. "How," he said, "is this like restoring knives, or repairing broken gears, or burned out grates in furnaces." "No," he claimed, "it is totally different." The question is "Is the identity of the machine maintained?" Then he went on to explain to the Court that even the voltage of the lamp repaired might be changed, nay, must be changed, as he claimed that it was impossible to replace a carbon of exactly the same voltage as the one originally in the lamp. He also claimed that the cost of repairing lamps was just about the same as the cost of manufacturing new lamps, and that therefore the repairing of lamps was entirely un

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necessary. Mr. Fish then went on to explain to the Court that the plaintiffs were under contract with more than ninety licensees, who had the exclusive right to sell lamps in certain territories, and whom they were bound to protect. The patent may expire in November, 1894," he said. "It will expire then as the law now stands, and in these last days of the life of the patent," he prayed that the injunction be granted, on the ground that the defendants by their claims were actually enjoying the protection of the Courts, which had maintained the Edison patent, and prevented them (the defendants) from making new lamps.

EX JUDGE LOWELL, afterwards addressed the Court, and disputed the claim made by Mr. Fish that no repairs were made in lamps until after the commencement of litigation. The Davis Company did both, but stopped making new lamps, very soon after the first suits for infringement were brought, without the action of the Courts, as they were convinced that they would infringe the Edison patent, by making new lamps, as had been decided by the Courts. It was not a question of ease or difficulty of manufacture, or cost of repairing as compared with the manufac ture of new lamps; it was whether the carbon was temporary or not. In a combination patent, every element is of equal value, he claimed, and if anyone could get along without one element of the combination, he would not infringe the combination patent. He claimed that preliminary injunctions were just as bad as final injunctions, in their effect on the company enjoined, and are sometimes refused for the same reason that Mr. Fish advanced for the granting of the injunction, namely, for the reason that the patent is about to expire. Judge Lowell then brought up an interesting point of law as to whether the Court of Appeals could reverse the decision of the lower Court, and the Judges allowed the plaintiffs ten days in which to file a brief relating to this point.

TERMS OF THE NOVAK STAY OF INJUNCTION.-EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. vs. WARING ELECTRIC CO.

THE terms of the stay recently granted by Judge Shipman in the "Novak" lamp case run as follows:

"The operation of the injunction shall be stayed until the 23d of January, or on such a day thereafter as the court of appeals shall first assemble and that this stay shall then "ipso facto" terminate unless the defendants have perfected their appeal and said case is ready to be called for argument in its due order as a preferred case on the calendar on that day and the defendants then stand ready to argue the same. In which case this stay shall continue until said appeal is decided by the appellate court. The above stay is granted on the condition that the defendants on or before Tuesday, January 16, 1894. file a good and sufficient bond in the sum of $10,000 with satisfactory securities to pay to the complainants any damages or profits to which they may be entitled because of the continuance of the manufacture by the defendants of the lamps alleged to infringe said patents in suit during the period covered by said stay."

A special dispatch of Jan. 18 from Hartford, Conn., says :The Waring Electric Company of Manchester has filed a bond of $10,000, pending the appeal in the suit of the Edison Electric Light Company and others. The bond was executed by President Chapman. Clerk Marvin of the United States Court forwarded to Clerk Shields of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, New York, all the papers, exhibits, etc., in the suit. The case will be argued Jan. 23.

EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. vs. E. G. BERNARD CO.-EDISON CIRCUIT PATENT LITIGATION.

In the United States Circuit Court at Albany, last week, Judge Coxe heard argument of counsel for and against the motion for a preliminary injunction in the action of the Edison Electric Light Company against the E. G. Bernard Company of Troy, N. Y., for infringement of the Edison feeder patent of 1882, in the use of a system of electrical distribution in the plant being installed at the Watervliet arsenal. Argument was concluded Thursday and decision was reserved. Judge Coxe also refused to issue a restraining order against the defendants in a suit between the same parties under several other patents, and gave the defendants three weeks in which to file answering affidavits. George A. Mosher of Troy appeared as attorney for the Bernard Company. The last case is a suit over an alleged infringement of the Bernard Company on six or seven electric lighting arrangements which the Edison Company claims to have originated.

The most important dispute is under what is known as the three-wire patent. The Edison Company petitioned the court to grant an order restraining the Bernard Company from using this patent. Mr. Bernard stated that the arrangement is under the patent of the Siemens & Halske Company of Berlin which antedates the Edison patents from two to five years. Judge Coxe has as yet rendered no decision in the matter of the request for a preliminary injunction against the Bernard Company from using the Edison feeder patent of 1882.

PROF. ROWLAND WINS HIS SUIT AGAINST THE CATARACT CONSTRUCTION CO.

THE suit of Prof. H. A. Rowland against the Cataract Construction Co. for $30,000, as a fee for his services in connection with expert work preliminary to the selection of plans and apparatus for the Niagara transmission was brought to a close on Jan. 20. Prof. Rowland's original bill was for $10,000. The company sent him a check for $3,500. He then brought suit for $30,000, based on a per diem charge of $150. The jury gave him a verdict for $9,000, making $5,500 in addition to the sum already paid. The case will be appealed. It was heard before Judge Shipman, with John S. Wise for the plaintiff and Joseph H. Choate for defendant. Many distinguished witnesses were called on both sides, including Frank J. Sprague, Dr. Louis Duncan, Wm. Stanley, Jr., Prof. George Forbes, Dr. W. W, Jaques, Prof. Barker, Dr. Coleman Sellers. The case attracted a good deal of attention. Mr. Choate tried without much success to belittle Prof. Rowland, but made the most of a remark in a private letter of the plaintiff that he was one of the first physicists in the world. It came out that Lord Kelvin and Dr. Hopkinson had only received $2,500 each for their services.

SOCIETY AND CLUB NOTES.

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS.

AT the meeting of the Council of the Institute held January 17, the following associate members were elected:

Adams, Comfort A., Jr., Instructor in Electrical Engineering, Harvard University, 21 Stoughton Hall, Cambridge, Mass.; Bethell, U. N., Acting General Manager, The Metropolitan Telephone & Telegraph Co, 18 Cortlandt st., N. Y. City; Broadnax, Francis, Engineer, Safety Insulated Wire and Cable Co., 50 Broadway, New York City; Broich, Joseph, Superintendent and Electrician, with F. Pearce, 418 8th ave., Brooklyn, N. Y.; Ende, Sigfried H., Colonnade Hotel, 39 Lafayette Place, New York City; Flanagan, Thomas Francis, Supt. and Electrician, Portsmouth Gas Light Co., Portsmouth, N. H.; Flint, Bertram P., Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, with Chas. H. Davis, 120 Broadway, New York City; Knox, James Mason, Student in Electrical Engineering, Columbia College, School of Mines, New York City: Meredith, Wynn, Asst. Superintendent Operating, Electrical Dept., Midwinter Fair, San Francisco, Cal.; Osterberg, Max, Student in Electrical Engineering, Columbia College, 232 East 62d st., New York City; Selden, R. L., Jr., Deep River, Conn.; Sever, George F., Instructor in Electrical Engineering, Columbia College, 121 East 30th st., New York City; Smith, Charles Henry, Assistant Electrician, South Eastern Tariff Association, Atlanta, Ga.; Sprout, Sidney, Electrical Department, Midwinter Fair, San Francisco, Cal.; Wardlaw, George A., Assistant Engineer, People's Light and Power Co., Doolittle House, Oswego, N. Y. Total 15.

The following associate members were transferred to full membership: Emmet, W. L. R., Electrical Engineer, General Electric Co., New York City; Keith, Nathaniel S., Electrical Engineer, San Francisco, Cal.; Adams, Alton D., Worcester, Mass.; McCluer, C. E., Supt. First District, Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co., Richmond, Va.; Jackson, J. P. Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Penn. State College, State College, Pa. Total 5.

A report was made from Dr. F. B. Herzog, chairman of the Committee on revision of the rules recommending a few minor changes in the rules governing elections. Owing to the lateness of the hour, its consideration went over to the next meeting.

During the evening session of the 17th, Dr. Louis Bell presented an admirable paper on "The Practical Properties of Polyphase Apparatus," which was discussed by Messrs. Stanley, Steinmetz, Mailloux and others. The following report was presented by the Committee on Units and Standards:

Your Committee on "Units and Standards" begs to recommend to the Institute the provisional adoption of :

The term "gilbert" for the c. G. s. unit of magnetomotive force, the same being produced by 0.7958 ampere turn approximately.

The term "weber" for the c. G. s. magnetic unit of flux sometimes described as the c. G. s line of flux.

The term "oersted" for the c. G. s. unit of reluctance

The term "gauss" for the c. G. s. unit of flux density, or one weber per normal square centimetre.

The Committee, it will be remembered, in its previous report, dated June 20, 1891, advocated that the above terms should be accorded to magnitudes in conformity with the "practical" electromagnetic system, and therefore following in natural order and extension from the volt, ohm, ampere and other units in universal use.

As, however, so important a series of new unit magnitudes could only meet with general recognition and favor under the authorization of an International Electrical Congress, which authorization has been withheld at the recent Congress at Chicago, and since objections have been raised to those magnitudes, your Committee considers that the urgent need for names specifying the principal quantities dealt with in magnetic circuits can best be met with general favor, by adopting for those names the fundamental unit magnitudes of the international c. G. s. system after the precedents already established in the cases

of the c. G. s. units of force and work, entitled respectively the "dyne" and "erg." F. B. Crocker, W. E. Geyer, G. A. Hamilton; A. E. Kennelly, Chairman. The report of the Committee on being put to vote, was not adopted.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NORTHWESTERN ELECTRICAL ASSOCIATION.

THE annual meeting of the Northwestern Electrical Association was held at Milwaukee on January 17 and following days. A brief but excellent programme of papers was discussed. The names of those in attendance are as follows:

Herman Andrae, L. V. Gibbs, M. H. Johnson, W. Goltz. Mayor H. C. Koch, H. D. Goodwin, O. D. Kleinsteuber, James Motley, S. G. Coleman, R F. Kountz, M. L. Stevenson, O. M. Rau, Milwaukee, Wis.; F. Overbaugh, H. D. Latimer. Geo. Mayo, W. D. Ball. D. S Terry, A. C. Bunce, W. J. Ferris, W. C. Wheaton, W. W. Low, S. F. B. Morse, G. S. Whyte, Fred. De Land, W. Forman Collins, F. N. Boyer, P. J. McFadden, Chicago: W. B. Baker, J. P. Lord, Waupaca, Wis.: Pliny Norcross, Janesville, Wis.; C. C. Paige, Oshkosh, Wis.; E. L. Dubell, Sheboygan, Wis; H C. Thom, Madison, Wis.; John Shulte, Manitowoc, Wis.; John Wiley, Hancock, Wis.; Carroll Collins, Green Bay, Wis.; M. L. Stevenson, Cleveland, Ohio; W. H. Thorpe, Beaver Dam; J. Earle, Kaukauna, Wis; T. G. Grier, J. A. Berkley, Little Falls, Minnesota; C. A. Spencer, Centralia, Wis., G. L. Cole, Beloit, Wis.: H. Amundson, La Crosse, Wis.; E. Engrebreton, Whitewater, Wis.; M. A. Burt, Baraboo, Wis.; C. D. Johnson, Tomah, Wis.; T. F. Grover, Wawautosa, Wis.; J. H. Trever, Antigo, Wis.; J. A. Andrews, Hudson, Wis.: G. F. Merrill, Ashland, Wis.; D. C. Jackson, Madison, Wis.; Geo. Grimm, Jefferson, Wis.; E. K. Patton, Boston. The officers elected for the current year are as follows: President, C. C. Paige; 1st vice-president. W. B. Baker; 2d vice-president, E. L. Debell; secretary, H. C. Thom; treasurer, G. F. Merrill; directors, W. Goltz, Pliny Norcross, John Shulte.

on

THE ELECTRICAL WORKERS' LECTURES.

THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LECTURES on Electricity arranged and undertaken by the Electrical Workers of this city, under the supervision of Columbia College, have proved an instantaneous success. The course opened at Cooper Union on Monday, January 15, when Mr. C. O Mailloux delivered an excellent lecture Batteries," illustrated with practical batteries and examples. The attendance cannot have fallen far short of 500. A large number of persons were unable to get into the hall, and standing room was not to be had. The lecture was followed with the most intelligent interest and with a ready appreciation on the part of the audience of its important points. The lecture to follow on Monday evening (Jan. 22) by Dr. Louis Bell on "Alternating Current Dynamos and Motors" promises to prove not less attractive and instructive. The trade organization which has thus lent its powerful support to educational work among its own members and the public is entitled to all praise.

THE FRANKLIN ELECTRICAL SOCIETY.

A RECEPTION and banquet were given by the Franklin Electrical Society, on Saturday evening, Jan. 6, at the Columbia, this city, in commemoration of Benjamin Franklin. The hall was decorated with the Society's colors, and all those who were present, voted it a great success. Mr. W. W. Ker, toast master, introduced the various speakers of the evening, among whom were Mr. E. V. Lallier, president, Mr. Max Mayer and Mr. Arthur Hammerschlag. Mr. Newton Harrison read a very able and interesting Eulogy on Benjamin Franklin"; and Mr. Louis Wasself entertained the guests with an amusing paper on "Electrical Terms and Phases."

REVIVAL OF THE DRAWBAUGH TELEPHONE.

AN ordinance has been introduced in the Philadelphia Common Council granting permission to the Drawbaugh Telephone and Telegraph Company of Philadelphia, which was recently organized with a capital stock of $2,000,000, to construct and operate a system of wires and cables within the city limits. This action is the beginning of an effort to introduce a rival telephone service upon the expiration on January 30, of the Bell Company receiver patents.

ERRATUM.

IN the article entitled "The Telephone Patent Litigation," begun in our issue of Jan. 17, an error crept in regarding the number of the Phelps patent (page 45, eighteen lines from the top of first column). The number should read 220,209, instead of 222,201, which refers to the Phelps support switch patent.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

ELECTRIC LIGHTING AND INSURANCE RATES.

The writer has been engaged for some time in ascertaining how many fires have been charged against the electric lighting interest in this city since the beginning of the filing of reports as to the cause and origin of fires, and having ascertained that electric lighting has had less fires assigned to it than any other, he deemed that it might be of interest to the readers of THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER to give a list of fires as charged to the different methods of illumination, viz., kerosene oil, gas and electricity; and also a list of those fires charged against matches and general causes, making five specific headings against which fires are charged in this city.

in rulings made by the insurance inspectors. It is impossible, as we can readily understand, to formulate a set of rules that will apply in all cases, but it is possible on the part of the insurance people, and also on the part of the electric light people, to have the work looked after by experienced and intelligent men, who can come together so that the interests, instead of clashing, will harmonize; and it is as absolutely essential for the insurance interests to cultivate harmony as it is for the electric light people, and in fact, I think the writer is safe in predicting that if the insurance people would cultivate it to a greater extent with responsible electric light contracting firms and companies, it would be of great advantage to their interests in the near future, inasmuch as there is no question that electric light as a means and method of illumination, in 99 cases out of 100, is far safer, when properly installed and relied upon to the entire omission of all other methods of illumination, than any other method known at the present day. PHOENIX. NEW YORK, JAN. 19, 1894.

In looking over the list you will notice that kerosene heads the list (outside of the general causes), gas coming second, matches third, and electricity fourth. The writer would invite your attention and that of your readers to the fact that when the cause and origin of a fire is attributed to kerosene oil or gas, 99 per cent. of the charges are correct, inasmuch as it is possible to show that kerosene oil or gas have caused the fires for which they are charged, as any fire originating from either of these causes is so evident that no doubt is left in the minds of the Fire Patrol or Fire Department as to the origin. In the case of matches there is, we must admit, considerable guess work, and quite a number of fires are charged to matches that occur from unknown causes; but as relating to the charges against electric lighting as having been the origin of fire in any particular case, it is very rarely indeed that it can be proved indisputably that it was due to electricity. The writer knows of several instances within the past year, where fires have been attributed to electric light wires where the origin of "re very plainly indicated that it arose from improperly placed wires."

About a year ago it was brought to the attention of the writer that the insurance people intended or desired to issue a ruling that on all buildings using electric lighting as a means of illumination an extra premium of 25c. on each $100 of insurance should and would be charged over and above their regular rates; that is, if the party were paying 50 cents per $100 he would be charged 75 cents if he were to use electric lighting as a means of illumination. The basis upon which the insurance people claim to have arrived at this decision was the fact that for some time past they had had a large number of heavy losses on a certain class of risks, that had theretofore not caused them losses, and that therefore they concluded that the cause and origin of fire must be from electric light wires and apparatus; and consequently they argue that all electric light privileges should be saddled with a 25-cent additional rate. It is very doubtful whether this rule will ever be enforced, as it will be almost impossible for the insurance interests in any way consistently to show that electric lighting has been the cause of any great losses, and those losses that have been sustained the insurance people are to be partially blamed for, as well as the electric lighting people. I make this assertion on the fact that the insurance people have not properly looked after their own interests, or in other words, they have not retained properly instructed and experienced inspectors at remunerative salaries and thereby insured their own insurance. The writer takes the stand that of all people, insurance companies should believe in insurance, and show their belief by employing ex. perienced and practical men; but if they expect to hire experienced men for the munificent salary of $100 per month, to go out through the country and dictate rules and regulations to men who are capable and are in fact drawing salaries of from $200 to $500 per month, then the insurance people show their weakness, and it is owing to this weakness that they, possibly, and I might say probably, have met with a great many losses that they would not have met with if they had taken hold of the subject in a proper and consistent manner.

It is but fair to state, however, that the insurance people were led to believe from the beginning, by the people controlling the electric lighting industries in this country, that electricity was absolutely safe, no qualifying remarks being made in a great many cases by well known representatives of the leading companies, that there was a difference and distinction between good and bad work. As a great many of us know from past experiene, agents of the large companies sold a great many of their plants by stating that anyone could manage and install electric light apparatus and lights, and that there was absolutely no danger from fire; and further digressed from the truth by stating that incandescent lamps gave off no heat, not even qualifying this by saying, no dangerous amount of heat.

One of the troubles that did, and does still, exist between the insurance and electric lighting interests, is the lack of harmony

OBITUARY.

GEORGE BARTLETT PRESCOTT.

We regret to announce the death of Mr. G. B. Prescott in this city at the age of 64. He was the son of Mark Hollis and Priscilla (Bartlett) Prescott, and was born in Kingston, N. H., September 16, 1830. He came of old fashioned New England stock on both sides. During his boyhood, the family removed from Kingston, successively locating in Plaistow, Haverhill and other places, and finally in Portland, Me., where the elder Prescott became engaged in mercantile business. It was in this city that young Prescott completed his studies. After leaving school in 1850, he engaged in the telegraphic business as an operator, and was employed in 1850 and 1851 in the Boston office of the Merchants' Line, which was then working the Bain chemical system between that city and New York. Soon afterwards he entered the service of the Commercial or "House" line in the same city, where his marked ability as an operator and electrician soon raised him to the position of superintendent of that line, and also of the local system known as the "Marine Lines" extending from Boston to Cape Cod and Cape Ann. In 1859, a general consolidation of the competing telegraph lines in New England occurred, after which Mr. Presscott was appointed to the superintendency of a district comprising most of the lines in western New England, with headquarters at Springfield. Before his removal from Boston, Mr. Prescott had contributed to the Commercial Bulletin of that city, a series of articles descriptive of the various systems of telegraphy then in use. These attracted considerable attention, and with other kindred matter were afterwards published in book form by Ticknor & Fields, in 1860, meeting with such success that a second and enlarged edition was called for within a few years. In the course of the controversy respecting the proposed establishment of a government telegraph, which raged with much vehemence in 1868-69, Mr. Prescott took a prominent part in opposition to the scheme. One of his statistical articles published in a local newspaper presented his views of the matter in such a forcible way that the attention of President William Orton was attracted by it, which led to the removal of the author to New York, and to his employment in the general office of the Western Union Company, in more extended services of the same character. When the office of Electrician of the company was established, Mr. Prescott was chosen to fill the position.

Mr. Prescott was married December 9, 1857, to Eliza C., daughter of Israel W. Parsons of Springfield, Mass., a descendant of the celebrated Governor Wadsworth of Connecticut, by whose orders the Colonial charter was spirited away, just as the usurper Andros was about to seize it, and hidden in the hollow of the historic tree familiar to schoolboy students as the Charter Oak. Mr. Prescott was the author of a number of works on telegraphy and allied subjects, among the best known of which are perhaps his "History, Theory and Practice of the Electric Telegraph," 1860;"Electricity and the Electric Telegraph," 1876; Speaking Telephone and Talking Phonograph," 1878; and Dynamo Electric Machines," most of which, have passed through several editions. Though Mr. Prescott's works have achieved a somewhat wide popularity, their excellence has been due in a much greater measure to his skill and industry as a compiler, than to any features of marked originality either in subject or treatment which may be said to have characterized them.

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46

DEATH OF HEINRICH HERTZ.

WE have received, as we go to press, the news of the death of Prof. Heinrich Hertz, at Bonn, at the early age of 36. This news of his death will be received with profound sorrow and regret by American physicists and electricians.

Similar to No. 512,050.

Electrically Controlled Railway Signal, J. Wayland, Newark, N. J., 512,077. Filed Oct. 5, 1893.

An electric block system for steam railways.

Electric Call, P. M. Randall, Concord, N. H., 512,217. Filed May 6, 1893. Conductors, Conduits and Insulators :

Electric Connection, H. Sanche, Detroit, Mich. Reissue, 11.398. Filed June 24, 1890.

Consists of a terminal piece for each wire and a turn buckle connecting the two terminal pieces.

Electrical Connection, H. Sanche, Detroit, Mich. Reissue, 11,397. Filed June 24, 1890.

Consists of a binding post having a number of terminal clamps and a jam nut holding them all together.

Section Insulator, H. M. Brockbank, Brooklyn, N. Y., 511,928. Filed Aug. 21, 1893.

Employs an insulating member separating the conducting members, and a conductor from each of the latter extending along a surface of the insulating member.

Wire Covering Machine, W. H. Avis, Toronto, Can., 512,146. Filed June 7, 1893.

Distribution :

Storage Battery System of Distribution, J. Trumpy, Hagen, Germany, 511,821. Filed Aug. 1, 1893.

Has for its object to maintain a constant potential between the terminals so as to secure a uniform action of the translating devices in the circuits. Storage Battery System of Distribution, J. Trumpy, Hagen, Germany, 511,822. Filed Aug. 1, 1893.

Provides automatic means for including a greater or less number of cells in the circuit as circumstances demand.

Electric Circuit Controller, R. Callender, Brantford, Can., 511,973. Filed Apl. 24, 1893.

Provides means for automatically controlling a circuit either as to the length of time it shall remain active or inactive or as to the length of time between beginning and completing the act of opening or closing the circuit. Electrical Transmission of Power, Nikola Tesla, 511,915. Filed May 15, 1888. A method of operating motors having independent energizing circuits consisting in passing an alternating current thorough one of the energizing circuits and inducing thereby a current in the other energizing circuit. Regulator for Continuous Current Arc Light Circuits, D. Higham, Boston, Mass., 512,027. Filed May 14, 1892.

Employs means for producing in a branch circuit current waves differing in phase from the current waves in the main circuit and adapted to act upon the controlling device.

Transmission of Rapidly Alternating Electric Currents, W. H. Eckert, New York, 512,102. Filed Oct. 11, 1893.

The method consists in developing a series of alternating impulses and transmitting them over a conductor of bimetallic wire consisting of iron or steel combined with copper. (See THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, Jan. 10th). Dynamos and Motors :—

Electric Motor, W. A. Crowdus, Chicago, Ill., 511,758. Filed Oct. 11, 1892.
A small easily constructed motor for use in connection with sewing ma-
chines, etc.

Electric Generator, N. Tesla, New York, 511,916. Filed Aug. 19, 1893.
Claim 1 follows:

The combination with the piston or equivalent element of an engine which is free to recíprocate under the action thereon of steam or a gas under pressure, of the moving conductor or element of an electric generator in direct mechanical connection therewith. (See THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, Jan. 10.) Regulator for Dynamo Electric Machines, C. E. Scribner, Chicago, Ill, 512,227. Filed Dec. 29, 1887.

The method consists in changing coils of the field magnets from a shunt to a series relation with the working circuit to change the strength of the magnets.

Galvanic and Thermo-Electric Batteries:

Cartridge Shell Battery, J. J. Pearson, Brooklyn, N. Y., 512,055. Filed Jan. 26, 1893.

A small sealed battery employing an ordinary cartridge shell for its outer casing.

Measurement:

Ammeter and Foltmeter, J. Perry and C. E. Holland, London, Eng., 511,791. Filed April 6, 1893.

Has for its object to adapt the Ayrton & Perry magnifying spring ammeters and voltmeters to use upon a switch board in any position by giving them a vertical dial.

Electric Indicator, A. H. Hoyt, Manchester, N. H., 512,250. Filed March 15, 1893.

Has for its object to provide a device by which the movement of the needle can be checked and the reading made immediately after the current is applied.

Miscellaneous :—

Method of Removing Tin from Tin Plate Scrap, H. L. Hollis, Chicago, Ill., 511,774. Filed Jan. 13, 1892

Consists in connecting the scrap with the positive pole of a source of electricity and removing the tin coating by electrolysis.

Electro Hydrocarbon Engine, L. C. Mann, Gladbrook, Iowa, 511,855. Filed Nov. 15, 1892.

Electric Clock, F. L. Gregory, Niagara Falls, N. Y., 511,946. Filed Apl. 19, 1892.

Electric Current Regulator, A. B. Jones, Cleveland, O., 512,115. Filed June 10, 1891.

A regulator for electrical dental tools.

Process of Purification and Decoloration of Saccharine Solutions, P. H.
Vander Weyde and O. Lugo, New York, 512,133. Filed July 24, 1893.
Articles Coated With Metallic Alloys, S. Ó. Cowper-Coles, London, Eng.,
512,160. Filed Nov. 25, 1892.

Relates to the electric deposition of certain specified alloys.

Process for Manufacturing Sugar, O. Lugo, New York, 512,200. Filed Nov.
10, 1893.
Electric Stop Motion for Warping Machines, Clayton Denn, J. Cocker and
Chas. Denn, Philadelphia, Pa., 512,013. Filed Feb. 6, 1893.

Railways and Appliances :

Trolley, W. F. Duncker, Steelton, Pa., 511,763. Filed Aug. 26, 1893.
Claim 2 follows:

A trolley having a pulley and provided at opposite sides of the same with separate outwardly tapering conical bodies provided with spiral grooves. Trolley Mechanism for Electrically Propelled Vehicles, C. H. Veeder, Lynn, Mass., 511,824. Filed Nov. 23, 1892.

A construction of the trolley pole and connections especially adaped to electric mining locomotives.

Trolley Wire Support, C. T. Lee, Boston, Mass., 511.853. Filed Apl. 15, 1893. Consists of an ear provided with metallic strips temporarily secured to the ear by solder and sufficiently long to be bent around the conductor while it is being permanently secured to the ear.

Electric Locomotive for Elevated Tracks, C. H. Roberts, Hartwell, O., 511,862. Filed Oct. 29. 1891.

An electric over-head railway adapted especially for logging purposes. Trolley Catcher, G. E. Gay & J. H. Parsons, Augusta, Me.. 511,941. Filed Feb. 28, 1893.

A spring attached to the trolley cord, normally held out of action but released by the tightening of the cord which occurs when the trolley leaves the wire, and actuating mechanism for winding up the cord and thus drawing down the trolley cord.

Electric Locomotive, E. M. Bentley, Boston, Mass., 511,988. Filed Oct. 24, 1891.

Relates especially to a flexible support for the motor upon the truck and means for transmitting power to the axle.

Overhead Trolley Wire Switch, G. W. Mac Kenzie, M. B. Sloan & T. C. Sloan, Beaver, Pa., 512,201. Filed Dec. 30, 1892.

Consists of a pivoted bridge piece operated by the trolley wheel of a passing car.

Switches and Cut-Outs :—

Electric Switch, J. L. Hinds, Syracuse, N. Y., 511,889. Filed May 16, 1892.
Relates to special features in the construct on of jack knife switches.
Push Button, C. D. Hunking, New York, 511,953. Filed Jan. 6, 1893.
Claim:

A push button or circuit closer, comprising circuit terminals, a transparent opening, a pivoted index needle in or below the same, and an electromagnet in the circuit of the terminals for operating the needle. Telegraphs :

Self Closing Telegraph Key, H. E. Moss, Kansas City, Mo., 511,787. Filed Aug. 21. 1893.

Telephones and Apparatus :

Telephone Exchange System, R. Callender, Brantford, Can., 511,874. Filed May 12, 1893.

An automatic exchange apparatus and method of operation whereby any subscriber may obtain control of one section of the switching apparatus instantaneously, and to the exclusion of all other subscribers from the use of that particular section for a brief space of time sufficient to effect the desired connection, and then through the mechanism thus actuated to automatically disconnect the section of switching mechanism used and leave it for the use of any other subscriber, while he (the first named subscriber) continues his conversation unmolested with the subscriber called, and at the end of that conversation restores his line, and the line of the subscriber to whom he is talking, to normal condition.

Telephone Exchange System, R. Callender, Brantford, Can., 511,875. Filed Aug. 13, 1892.

Similar in its object to No 511,874.

Telephone Transmitter, S. C. Drew, Boston, Mass., 511.882. Filed Jan. 23, 1893.

Employs a diaphragm and an electrode placed in an electric circuit and a magnet arranged to be directly influenced by the vibrations of the diaphragm and by its changes in form to vary the pressure upon the electrode. Registering Apparatus for Telephones, A. R. Duperu, San Francisco, Cal., 511,883. Filed Nov. 17, 1892.

Composite Telephonic and Multiple Telegraphic Transmission, F. A. Pickernell, Newark, N. J., 512,214. Filed Aug. 25, 1893.

The main telegraphic line serves as one side of a two wire telephone circuit.

THE NEW YORK POLICE TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.

A SUMMARY of the work performed in the New York Bureau of Police Telegraph for 1893, as given out by the Superintendent, Mr. Brennan, shows that the total number of miscellaneous messages transmitted over the police telegraph and telephone lines for police and other departments were 113,954; general alarm messages, comprising general orders of the Board of Police, Superintendent of Police, inspectors, etc., 224,364; dead animals reported over wires, 35,000.

During the year eighty miles of electric wires for the police telegraph and telephone systems were put under ground, and fifteen miles of police wires were transferred from pole lines, so as to allow the Board of Electrical Control to remove poles.

It is intended to equip all the other police stations, police courts, and public hospitals with telephones connecting directly with police headquarters, with underground wires.

HONORS FOR MR. PREECE.

The hosts of friends of Mr. W. H. Preece, F. R. S., in this country will be delighted to learn that the Queen has included his name in the list of New Year's honors by making him a Companion of the Bath, thus recognizing his merit and honoring the profession of which Mr. Preece is so useful and distinguished a member.