meetings and social events. While bathing at Hampstead on Friday morning, August 28, being suddenly seized with cramp he sank, and was drowned before help could be given.

Magnetic Variation. The hydrographic department of the Government has given notice of a curious error in one of the Admiralty charts, the correction of which is of importance to mariners navigating Liverpool Bay. It appears that in certain copies of the Admiralty plan, No. 1,951, for Liverpool Bay, it is stated that the magnetic variation taken in 1888 increases 9deg. annually. This should be altered to "Magnetic variation in 1888 decreasing 8deg. annually."

Electric Railways in France. The General Council has granted the concession for the extension of the electric tramway from Montferrand to Clermont, to Royat, and to the summit of Puy-de-Dôme. This project comprises the adherence system, the gear system, and the cable system. It is expected that within 18 months the formalities and necessary works will have been completed, and that excursionists and visitors will be able to make the ascension of Puy-de-Dôme by railway.

Visit to Frankfort.—It is announced that 20 members of the Electrical Trades Section of the London Chamber of Commerce have arranged to depart for Frankfort on September 6. The president of the Electrotechnical Congress has written to assure them of welcome, and to mention that tickets for the congress will not be sent, but will be given on personal presentation at the office of reception opposite the railway station. Other members not mentioned on the list may also obtain tickets on application.

Shrewsbury.-At the Shrewsbury Town Council last week Mr. S. M. Morris moved that the consent of the Council be granted to the application of the Shropshire Electric Light and Power Company, Limited, to the Board of Trade for a license to erect and maintain electric lines and works, and to supply electricity within the borough of Shrewsbury, subject to power being reserved for the Council to purchase at the end of either seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, or thirty-five years, at a price to be agreed upon by arbitration. This was seconded by Mr. T. M. How, and, after a brief discussion, agreed to.

Gas, Water, and Electric Light Directory. We are in receipt of the "Gas, Water, and Electric Lighting Companies' Directory for 1891," edited by Charles W. Hastings, and published by Hazell, Watson, and Viney. The work contains an account of every town with gas, water, or electric light, with very full particulars of formation of company, capital, dividends, names of officers, population, and so forth. The work should be extremely valuable as a book of reference to those interested in municipal lighting questions. There is also a useful chapter on the rating of these companies.

Free Telephones.-The Consolidated Telephone Construction and Maintenance Company, Limited, are advertising that they-the sole manufacturers of telephones for all the exchange companies in the United Kingdom since the year 1881, as also sole manufacturers of telephones for use abroad since the same year-can, by an agreement with the National Telephone Company, Limited, of Oxford-court, Cannon-street, London, supply telephones of all kinds under the Crossley, the Gower-Bell, the Hunnings, the Blake, and their kindred patents, for sale outright, free of all royalties and all claims whatsoever.

Substitutes for Platinum.-Another substitute for platinum as regards similarity of coefficient of expansion with that of glass is announced, the discovery of Mr. R. A. Fessenden, of Roseville, New Jersey. This consists

of an alloy of iron, nickel, cobalt, silicon, and gold or silver. The advantage claimed is for the manufacture of vacuum tubes, but it is very evident that if in the near future incandescent lamps are to be as cheap as lamp glasses, the reduction in the cost of connections in the substitution of some alloy for the expensive platinum, now solely used, would prove a most important element in the

case.

Electric Light and Fishing.-A correspondent of Land and Water states that fishing all along by Totland Bay, Isle of Wight, was always poor, but that since the setting up of the search-light for the forts it has become worse. He also heard that there used to be a very good place for fish near the lighthouse at St. Catherine's Point, but that the electric light has driven them all away, and that now it is quite useless putting out nets in a spot where a few years since a decent haul was looked on as a certainty. He solicits opinions on this matter from those who are more versed in sea fish and their ways than he is himself.

Lightning at Keighley.-On Friday a heavy thunderstorm broke over the town of Keighley, accompanied by heavy rain, and a cottager and his family had a narrow escape. About half-past four o'clock the man, whose name is Bartle, was awakened by a thunderclap, and found that the bedroom was a mass of flame. His wife and family, who were also asleep upstairs, jumped up in a state of great alarm, but beyond a black eye, received by Bartle himself, and a slight injury to his wife's arm, no personal damage appears to have been sustained. The house windows were for the most part shattered, along with parts of the wood work.

Electric Fittings.-The influence of the spread of electric lighting is nowhere more forcibly shown than in the way the trade in gas fittings is slowly but gradually dwindling away, leading many hitherto exclusively gas fitting firms to go into electric fitting. Amongst these, Messrs. E. Emanuel and Sons, Limited, of 4, High-street, Marylebone, are turning their attention to electric switches and lamp fittings. We have recently called at their showroom and were shown some handsome switchboards on slate in teak cases, fuses, wall plugs, and other apparatus. They also keep in stock brackets, electroliers, and table lamps in brass and hammered iron.

Galvanic Action in Ice Cream Machines.-A new danger has been discerned due to unsuspected electrical action. Dr. G. S. Hull, it is stated, has recently carried out experiments with ice cream freezers, and he finds that electrolytic action takes place between the freezer and the paddle when the ice cream and fruit salts are introduced, which results in the production of poisonous salts of copper and zinc. This is probably the explanation of the mysterious deaths by poisoning which have resulted from eating ice cream. The remedy is easy: the freezer and mixing paddle should be of the same material. Journals circulating in hot climates would do well to widely circulate the knowledge of this fact.

Canterbury. At the Canterbury General Purposes Committee it was stated that the town clerk had communicated with the Dover Town Council, who were in the same state as Canterbury, having only heard from the Brush Company. Mr. Wells wanted to know whether there was not a ring of the companies. Mr. Cross said that the Brush Company's offer should be considered, and a definite conclusion come to at once. Alderman Mount said he would put a proposal forward at the next meeting to this effect. He said the company had offered to repay the £200 paid for the provisional order, and to carry out the

work without charging a penny or asking for the public light contract. What the Council could want better than that he did not know. The matter then dropped.

Column Printing Telegraph Machines.-A writ was on Saturday served on the Exchange Telegraph Company by the solicitors to the Column Printing Telegraph Syndicate, Limited, in respect of an alleged infringe ment of the Column Syndicate's patents, and a notification has been issued to all users of the alleged infringing machine that they are legally liable if they continue to use the instrument. The allegation of the plaintiffs is that they have the only practical column printing telegraph instrument in existence, and that the Exchange Telegraph Company had not been able to make a machine under their own patent to accomplish the same results, or to work satisfactorily, until they had infringed a material part of the instrument belonging to the Column Printing Syndicate. Electric Tanning Patents.-An interesting point to patentees and commercial men in general has arisen with regard to the patents of the British Tanning Company. The patents for a process of electric tanning granted in

Paris to Messrs. Worms and Balé were also taken out in America and in Great Britain and Ireland. By some error the United States patents were published prior to the British patents, and these became invalidated, and were the subject of an adverse decision in the Chancery Courts last January. The company might have availed themselves of the Act of Convention, by which the date of the American patent could have been put back to that of the French patent. But they have adopted the other course open to them, and a special Act of Parliament has been passed, which received Royal assent on July 28th, the effect of which is to restore the patent rights.

Telephones and Coast Guard Telegraphs.—At the meeting of the Associated Chamber of Commerce in Dublin, on Wednesday, a resolution was proposed by Mr. Plummer, of the Newcastle and Gateshead Chamber, to the effect that as the telephone patents are expiring, the Post Office should be communicated with, to place the telephonic system of the country under such regulations as would give the public the greatest facilities. An amendment by Mr. Massey, of Hull, suggesting that the matter was one for local enterprise, was, after a good deal of discussion, unanimously adopted. On the motion of Captain Bailey, of Plymouth, seconded by Mr. Hunter, and supported by Sir Henry Waring, the association expressed its conviction that the coast guard stations, the shore and rock lighthouses, and the lightships of the United Kingdom, should be placed in telegraphic or telephonic communication with the general telegraph system of the country.

Accident to Train-Lighting Dynamo.-A singular accident occurred on Thursday last week to the 9.17 Great Northern train from Barnet to Moorgate-street. The car riages are lighted by electricity, the current being supplied by a dynamo placed in a special compartment attached to the rear guard's van. Soon after the train left the Finchley Station, the rear guard discovered that flames were issuing from the electrical chamber, and that fire had taken considerable hold of the woodwork. By opening the airvalve, he released the vacuum brake, and brought the train to a standstill. A gang of porters were quickly on the spot; and by the plentiful use of water, they subdued the fire. A telegram was despatched to Finsbury Park, where an electrician met the train. It was then found that the dynamo was intact, and the light was available for the remainder of the journey. It is conjectured that undue friction in connection with the dynamo had set light to the woodwork of the chamber.

Odessa. Her Majesty's Consul-General at Odessa (Mr. T. B. Sandwith), writing to the Foreign Office, mentions that the port of Odessa (in contradistinction to the town of that name), having for many years remained unlit even by oil lamps, and within two years only being lit by gas, has at length been illuminated by electricity. An installation has been completed at a cost of 80,000 roubles (£8,400). This consists of 64 arc lamps of 2,000 c.p. each, and of two lanterns, one at each end of the breakwater which runs the whole length of the port. The illuminating power is generated by two of Willans's vertical engines of 67 h.p. each. The Odessa Town Council has assigned a sum of 20,000 roubles (£2,100) annually for the working expenses. The new installation is regarded as a great boon by the shipping interest, the whole port being brilliantly lighted, so as to admit of the loading and discharging of steamers by night as well as by day.

Electrolytic Separation of Zinc.-The process introduced by M. Nhansen may be applied to the electrolytic separation of zinc by employing a bath, the temperature of which can be lowered according to the density of current employed. The inventor notices that the temperature must be lowered as the density of current is reduced. The mean of 120 observations is shown in the following

If it is desired to work with a density of "100 per square metre," the bath, to obtain compact metal, must be kept about 20deg. C. In commercial practice it is always preferable to use currents of less than 50 amperes density, and to maintain the temperature below 10deg. C. by means of ice or refrigerating apparatus.

Electric Melting and Welding.-A new claimant for honours in electrical welding or forging is receiving attention in Boston, according to the New York Electrical Review. An exhibition was recently given by Mr. George D. Burton. The Press accounts state that one experiment was the melting into liquid form of a bar of steel an inch in diameter and 12in. long in 45 seconds, without the temperature of the room being raised a single degree from its normal condition. Another thing shown was the making of a steel railroad spike. The bar was cut into the required length, the pieces passed through the electrical machine, where one end was heated, and then to a die, which shapes the head on to the heated end, the point being compressed into the shape without heating. Another exhibit was the forming of an auger screw, the flat bar of iron being fastened in the machine at the two ends and heated almost instantly, and then twisted into the required spiral by the automatic turn of the machine. These experiments were witnessed by Dr. W. H. Wahl, Prof. Van der Weyde, and others.

Crystal Palace Exhibition.-The Crystal Palace Electrical Exhibition, to be opened on the 1st January next, has now received the sanction of the Board of Trade, and is duly certified as an international exhibition, under the provisions of the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act, 1883. This Act provides for the publication of any description of the invention during the period of the exhibition, or the use of the invention for the purposes of the exhibition, or its use by any person elsewhere without the privity privity or consent of the inventor, without prejudicing the right of the inventor apply for and obtain provisional protection, and a patent within six months of the opening of the exhibition. The

to

right of application for registration of designs is also protected by this Act for a period of six months from the opening of the exhibition. The exhibits of her Majesty's Government will include historical telegraphic and electrical apparatus, instruments, and appliances, as well as the modern apparatus and instruments now in use in the Postal Telegraph Department. This exhibit will be arranged under the direction of Mr. W. H. Preece, F.R.S. Lightning Conductors.-It may be remembered that in the spring of 1888 Prof. Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., gave two lectures on "Lightning Conductors" to the Society of Arts, in which he promulgated several revolutionary views on the subject, and supported them by a series of direct experiments with Leyden jars. The experiments also branched off into a study of electric waves, a subject which was being simultaneously worked at in Germany by Hertz. At the British Association meeting in Bath that same year, Prof. Lodge's views were goodnaturedly controverted by Mr. W. H. Preece, partly for the purpose of raising a discussion and partly because some of them were rather startling. Since then a more complete communication from Prof. Lodge to the Institution of Electrical Engineers and to many scientific periodicals, as well as a recent paper read before the Royal Society, are generally held to have fairly substantiated the new views, and we understand that during the present year Prof. Lodge has been engaged in welding together the principal portions of all this literature, with sundry additions, and that Messrs. Whittaker and Co. propose to issue it as a large volume of the Specialists' series in the course of the autumn.

Bolton Technical School. The careful consideration of the Bolton Technical School Committee has been given to the question of engines, and they have decided to put down the Griffin double-acting gas engine of Messrs. Dick, Kerr, and Co., Kilmarnock and London. In this engine there is an explosion every revolution, first on one side of the piston head and then the other, which ensures great regularity in running. The consumption of gas in these engines is stated to be as small as in best single acting engines. Two engines are required, each to indicate 35 h.p. One will be used to work the machinery and the other the electric lighting, but they will be so arranged as to be worked separately for either purpose, so that any accident to either engine would not completely stop any part of the work of the school. In addition to the large engines, a 3-h.p. engine will be provided, and serve as a starting engine for the large ones, and also will be available for use when it is required to run only a small portion of the machinery. This will enable students to use some of the machinery for special purposes without the necessity of running the large engines, and will be a great convenience in the effective working of the school.

Manchester. At a meeting of the Manchester City Council on Wednesday, Mr. Brooks moved the approval of the proceedings of the Gas Committee, together with a resolution to apply to the Local Government Board to sanction the borrowing of £150,000 for the purpose of carrying out the electric lighting scheme of the Corporation. Sir John Harwood, in seconding the resolution, said that for some time the committee had been taking the opinion of the best men in the country as to the best mode of putting down an installation of electricity. They consulted a considerable number of the best-known electrical engineers, and that morning he had a final conference with Dr. Hopkinson, who, he believed, was one of the best authorities in this country. The whole of the arrangements had been placed in his hands. The scheme would involve o tht for 12 months after it was finished. The en of the hydraulic

power and electricity schemes would work in harmony, and they expected that under the same rule, and very largely under the same administration, they should be able to have the same motive power, so far as steam was concerned, driving those two forces, and producing for Manchester the very best modern approved form of both hydraulic power and electricity. The resolution was adopted.

Artificial Production of Rain.-Within the last three weeks, according to the New York correspondent of the Standard, nine showers of rain, of which one was considerable, have been artificially produced in a region almost rainless normally. The district selected for experiment by the United States Agricultural Department is near the midland staked plains of Texas, a grazing country, where agriculture is impossible because of the aridity of the climate. For more than three years no rain has fallen there, except in very occasional small showers. On Wednesday the vegetation was parched, the sky unclouded, the barometer at 305, the hygrometer between dry and very dry. The cowboys, who are shrewd judges of the weather, declared that rain was impossible. With this condition of the atmosphere the following experiment was tried: Five balloons, each 12ft. in diameter, and charged with onethird oxygen and two-thirds hydrogen, were exploded by electricity on time fuses, at heights ranging from 1,000ft. to five miles. Three hundred and fifty pounds of Rackarock dynamite was also exploded in scattered packages of from 10lb. to 20lb., at intervals of one minute, ending at 10 p.m. At three o'clock the next morning a sharp clap of thunder was followed by heavy rain. At sunrise a beautiful rainbow was seen. The rain stopped at eight o'clock, but began again to fall after more explosives had been used.

Cause of Heat in Electric Welding.-According to Prof. Elihu Thomson, says an exchange, it is not the extra resistance at the break that gives rise to the heating in electric welding. The imperfect contact there no doubt hastens the heating of the joint, but a solid bar placed between the clamps of an electric welding machine can also be raised to the welding temperature. The real cause of the concentration of the heating between the clamps is the the relatively greater conductivity of other portions of the welding circuit, which is usually composed of massive copper conductors, kept cool in the case of large work by the circulation of water. By keeping the conductors cool in this way their resistance is maintained constant, and an accentuation of heating effect follows at the joint where the rise in temperature increases the resistance. In large works it has been found that hydraulic power can be advantageously employed both for clamping and making contact with the pieces to be welded or worked. In dealing with metals such as lead, tin, zinc, the temperature required for welding is so low that the metal never glows, and the progress of the breaking cannot be watched with the eye. By properly shaping their ends, leaden water-pipes can easily be welded together end to end. The meeting edges should be thinned so as to reduce the surface of contact below the area of the pipe wall. Joints thus made are very good and sound. Most metals can be welded without the use of a flux, but for good work a flux is often desirable.

The Marvin Electric Drill.-The Marvin electric percussion drill, a recent American invention, consists of an iron bar, to which a drill is connected, reciprocating axially between two solenoids intermittently energised by pulsations of current delivered to the two coils in alternation over separate circuits from a special dynamo. The two solenoids are mounted in a boiler tube casing, and the whole apparatus is mounted upon an adjustable support. As the coils are alternately supplied with pulsations of current over

separate circuits from a special dynamo, no commutating devices or sliding contacts are required either upon the drill or in its vicinity. The moving parts are simply an iron rod travelling axially, and a ratchet arrangement that serves to turn the drill slightly at each stroke. The whole machine is designed to endure the roughest kind of abuse in mines and quarries. The machines now ready are capable of drilling holes from 1ft. to 8ft. deep, and from lin. to 2in. in diameter. They will cut about 8ft. per hour in granite, and require about 5 h.p. The drill travels in synchronism with the dynamo, and by feeding the machine up to the rock the stroke may be made as short as is desired for starting a hole, while the number of strokes per minute remains the same. A peculiar property of the machine is that when the machine. is withdrawn out of striking range of the rock the plunger immediately loses its stroke. It takes up a position about midway between the coils, and its motion becomes a mere quivering. There is no pounding against buffers, as the rod is perfectly cushioned by the magnetic action of the coils.

At full stroke the drill has an excursion of about 4in., and strikes 650 blows per minute. It is of about the same weight and bulk as an air drill of the same capacity. Arbroath.-The electric light has just been introduced in a practical form into Arbroath by Mr. Andrew Lowson, flaxspinner and manufacturer. The installation has been carried out by Messrs. Lowdon Bros., Tay-street, Dundee, and the work having now been completed the light was last week submitted to a final test. The installation is similar in most respects to numerous others fitted up in the district by the Messrs. Lowdon. The total number of lamps is about 300, these being distributed over the factory, the preparing, spinning, and winding departments, the mechanics' shop, and offices. The dynamo, placed in the engine-room, is a compound-wound "Manchester," capable of developing a current of 180 amperes at 105 volts, and also of supplying 300 incandescent lamps of 16 c.p. each. The dynamo is driven by the main factory engine, power being transmitted from the main shafting to a pulley in the pulley in the engine-room. A switchboard is fitted up in the engineIn the factory about 160 lamps are fitted up, one light being provided for each loom. The lamps are suspended by flexible wire ropes from the wooden casings, and are hung about 21ft. above the centre of the looms. Each lamp is provided with a reflector, the whole of the illuminating power being thus concentrated on the loom. Judging from the results of the test a single lamp appeared to give sufficient light for each loom, and the shadows were considerably less than gas light. Two lamps are sufficient for the effective lighting of each pass in the spinning department. In the mechanics' shop ingeniously contrived hand-lamps are provided for the use of the workmen. Wall sockets are fixed at intervals along the benches, so that the workmen can have lamps which can be either hung up, or placed upon the bench at the spot most convenient for him. The trial was witnessed by a number of leading manufacturers and gentlemen belonging to Arbroath.

room.

Lithanode. The use of the lithanode cells invented by Mr. Desmond FitzGerald is, we are glad to be able to record, coming into practical usefulness. Lithanode is not "compressed peroxide of lead," as is sometimes supposed; for, however strongly this material may be compressed, the resulting plate will disintegrate when immersed in water. It is produced from protoxide of lead, or litharge made into a pasty mass with a solution which causes the material to set so that it will no longer fall to pieces in a fluid; the moulded mass is then converted into peroxide of lead in an electrolytic bath. By the use of lithanode, a peroxide plate

which is not subject to local action may be constructed; an inoxidisable metal, such as platinum or gold, being in this case used for establishing contact with the plate. A great advantage is thus secured in the construction of an element which will retain its charge for any length of time, even when partly discharged and left immersed in dilute sulphuric acid. In discharging a battery containing lithanode elements it is not advisable to allow these elements to run down beyond the point at which the potential difference between them and a spongy | lead element is 18 volt i.e., beyond the point at which the normal E.M.F. of an ordinary lead accumulator has fallen 10 per cent. The electrical capacity of lithanode, when used with the precautions indicated, is almost exactly one ampere-hour per ounce avoirdupois, so that with an element weighing 1lb. 16 ampere-hours may be obtained. It is interesting to note, however, that when the rate of discharge is very high the apparent capacity of the lithanode becomes diminished, the current ultimately falls by reason of polarisations, and the elements require rest before the discharge can be completed to the extent of the full capacity of the lithanode. The rate of discharge obtainable with lithanode batteries varies within wide limits, according to the character of the lithanode, whether dense or porous, the perfection of the contact, the strength of the acid electrolyte, etc. An ordinary rate of discharge, it is stated by the makers, per square inch of lithanode plate in. thick, is 11 of an ampere, but in some cases the rate exceeds

of an ampere.

Bradford Electric Tramways.-With the view of obtaining a good basis of calculation as to the advisability of the adoption of the overhead electrical system for the Wakefield-road tramway, the Tramways and Baths Committee of the Bradford Corporation have been making arrangements for an experiment with overhead conductors. The arrangements, according to the Bradford paper, for this test are now completed, and will be submitted to the Town Council in the minutes of the committee at the next Council meeting. Mr. Holroyd Smith, the well-known electrical tramway engineer, has undertaken to run an electric car on the tram lines from the Midland Station to the Bradford Grammar School, starting from each end every quarter of an hour, for several weeks, for the purpose of proving the reliability of the system; and he hopes also to prove that the adoption of the system for Wakefield-road would not be too expensive a matter. Mr. Smith will provide the car and execute all the necessary works. The Corporation will supply the electric power, and, by the proposed agreement, if the experiment is not a success, they will not be put to any expense beyond the cost of the supply of the electricity. If it be successful the Corporation will contribute £500 towards the cost of the experiment, and if they proceed to utilise the electrical system for the Wakefieldroad tramway, they will appoint Mr. Holroyd Smith as the electrical engineer, giving him a commission of 4 per cent. on the cost of the work falling in his department. The Bradford Tramways and Omnibus Company have granted the use of their lines for the purpose on the condition that they shall provide a conductor for the car and collect and retain the penny which it is proposed to charge each traveller. The car will carry 36 passengers, half of them inside and half outside. Further information as to the working of tramcars by this system is to be obtained by the chairman of the committee and the borough surveyor, who will shortly go to Frankfort, a town in which the conditions as to levels are pretty similar to those in Bradford, to investigate the results of the working of electric tramways there.

CROMPTON'S ELECTRICAL HAULAGE PLANT.

Mining engineers are beginning to appreciate the immense advantages offered by electrical transmission. For some time past experiments on a small scale have been carried out in different mines, and sufficient information has been obtained to warrant the introduction of a much larger plant, and the haulage machinery recently installed at Abercanaid Colliery for the Hill's Plymouth Company in South Wales is the latest development. Mr. J. C. Howell, of Llanelly, Messrs. Crompton's South Wales agent, undertook to supply the owners with haulage machinery which would replace 27 horses, many hauliers, and a number of doorboys, and enable the output to be increased by 100 tons per day.

After careful consideration it was decided to accept the offer, and Messrs. Crompton and Co. at Chelmsford set to work to design the most efficient plant for the purpose named. Many points had to be most carefully considered,

volts, running at 550 revolutions. The cable connecting the dynamo with the haulage plant is 3,200 yards long and composed of 37 strand No. 14 high conductivity copper wire, highly insulated with vulcanised bitumen, double taped and served with two layers of jute yarn compounded between each. It is protected by a double sheath of No. 8 steel wire, the first stranding being of 30 wires, and the second 36 wires, laid in reverse directions. The current density is 870 amperes per square inch, and resistance of cable 3192 ohm, allowing a loss of potential of 51 volts, or 10 per cent.

From the generating plant the cable is carried down the level by the side of the shaft, and between the hauling engines it is fixed on each side of the roadway. In case of "falls" the cable has been constructed so that it can stand a shearing strain of 10 tons per square inch. A number of visitors were invited by the Hill's Plymouth Company to see the opening ceremony, amongst whom were many connected with collieries in different parts of the country, and many well-known mining engineers. The

and besides the necessity of making the plant very compact, the haulage machine was required to be most easily controlled. The winding gear was the usual form employed in the main and tail-rope system, and this was found to work exceedingly well. The motor is a Crompton patent series-wound machine, built to run at 600 revolutions per minute, and take 80 amperes at 450 volts. At starting, when a heavier current is required, it will take 160 amperes without harm. The motor is placed horizontally at one end of a wrought-iron frame, which forms the bed for the drum and spur-wheel. The drum shaft, which is of steel, is driven from a countershaft by means of spur gearing, and the motor drives the countershaft by means of six lin. ropes. The haulage engine is fitted with two drums 3ft. 6in. diameter and 1ft. wide, which are controlled, as above stated, by clutch and foot brake. This plant will haul coal from three different parts of the pit, and although these are not far from the motor at the present time, it is expected that coal will have to be dealt with nearly a mile distant. The generating plant comprises a Crompton dynamo, hori zontal pattern, built on a wrought-iron bed-plate. It is compound wound, and will give out 160 amperes at 500

engineer to the company, Mr. Bailey, stated that his father had put down the first system of rope haulage for mines 30 years ago, and the electric system of haulage now inaugurated would enable the company to increase its output very considerably. The great difficulty in colliery enterprises was the labour cost, and the coal could not be got to the surface unless they had mechanical means of bringing it up long distances. The system of rope haulage by compressed air was very costly, and they were thrown on their beam ends, as it were, when Mr. Howell, of Llanelly, offered to supply this electrical plant. They found that the capital required was only half that of compressed air; while the latter only gave 30 per cent. efficiency, electricity gave 65 per cent., which was a most important improve ment. He added that he placed perfect reliance on Mr. Howell's estimates and working, the more especially as since Mr. Howell had erected their electric lighting arrangements at Abercanaid they had never had one hour's stoppage, which spoke well for the machinery and for Messrs. Crompton's work. The machinery must be well made and put up well to act in this manner. He hoped and believed that the electric haulage machinery started that day would prove