The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1882. THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 623, 4 July 1882, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1882. THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

The doom of yus appears co bo sealed, and tliose who are ])crpetunlly worrying themselves with the question " What sha'l we do wlmmi the earth's store of coal has been exhausted ?" will be glad to hear that one drain on that most useful commodity will shortly cease. It will not, however, stop there ; the "caged lightning" that curries our messages, and will shortly light our towns, will undoubtedly before long drive our machinery and perform numberless tasks for our convenience. Its immense power has enabled it to remain tree long after its we»k brother, steam, has been made a useful drudge, but now it is at last reduced t;> our service, it is certain to supersede all other motors, owing to its gigantic power. It will be a great blessing indeed to all residents in. towns when the electric light supersedes gas. It is produced without smoke, and is therefore exceedingly clean. It v of great illuminating power, and should be a great deterrent of crime, from the fact that it will , lighten every hiding-place where, shrouded by ;he dune, vice flourishes, lor darkness is the mother of evil. It will 3ost only about oue-sixth of the money that gas does, and it can be produced anywhere, for there is no spot on earth where the electric fluid is not present. It does not need coal to produce it ; water or wind power could be utilised in the event of a scarcity of iVifil ; and in buildings it consumes no air, and is comparatively without heat. In the last " Hansard" is a very interesting speech of Mr Kelly, th 0 member for .New Plymouth, on. lighting the Parlument Houses at Wellington, wnich ahows the speaker has devoted much thought to the matter. We quote the following extract ; — With respect to the quality of the lettiic light, those who hud hud oppor-

tnnities of seeing it practically applied would admit that compared with gas it was a purer and whiter light, consequently mors brilliant; that it shewed colors, like sunlight, in their natural hues; that it caused no disagreeable smell, that it did ii'it vitiate the atmosphere, and that it was not a source of danger with respect to causing fires*. All there desirable propertine had bfion practically demonstrated, and were admitted as beyond doubt. Such being the case so far as the quality of the light was concerned, it was in every respect superior to gas-light. The question for consideration was, whether it could be applied for lighting the building economically. For the purpose of contrasting if with gas-lighting in this respect, he w:>uld confine hid remarks to the chamber in which they were now assembled, ao that it would be more readily understood by members. This room was lighted by a lantern in the roof, containing 240 gas-lights; each light consumed 5 cubic feet of gas per hour, or in all equal to 1,200 cubic feet for each hour tho chamber wan lighted. The quality of the gas was what was culled 15-candle, being equal on the whole to a light of 3,600-O'indle power, at a cost for each hour, for gas alone, of 12s. To produce a light of equal candle power would require two gramme mao lines of 2,000 candle power each, and these machines would require to be driven by a Hteaui or gas-engine, and one of six-horse power would be more than sufficient to light this chamber with a light superior to that now given by ga*. Tho oust of coal and labour to drive this engine would be about 3s per hour, as compared with 12h, the cost of gaa. To prove that this was a practical contrast, he would quote the cost of lighting by the 1. Swan" lamp system, where small lights were required, and by the arc light, where large spaces were to be illuminated, as in this chamber. Sir William Armstrong's house was lighted by .37 Swan lamps, each of 25 candle power ; and the dynamo-machine which gives out the electric current was diiven by a aix-horse-power water—wheel, and the electric energy conveyed by a copper wire of 1,500 yards. The light thus distributed was equal to 154-candle power for each horse-power utilised ; and assuming that the water-power cost the same as a steam-engine, say, for a sixhorse power, at 2a per hour, it would be equal to gaa at 6s per 1,000 cubic feet. Pie visited-the " Manapouri " and found that she carried 170 Swap lamps and one Siemens arc light, the electric current being given out by a large Siemens dynamo-machine, diiven by a steam engine which developed from 10 to 12-horse power, and supplying a beautiful light much cheaper than Wellington gas. These systems of lighting were the mont expensive, for great loss of energy was occasioned by dividing the electric current to produce small candle-power lights; and when applied by the arc system to large spaces, as it would be in thin chamber, the cost was much mo;e economical. The Alhambra Tueatre was lighted at a cost of £500 for machine, engine, and fittings ; and tho saving ivas M,B to £10 a week, as compared witli gas at 3s per 1,000 feet. An hotei in Chicago was lighted by seventeen arc lights, which replaced 570 gas jets nnd effected a saving of £60 a month. The British Museum vvas lighted by four lights of 4.000 candle power, and seven of 400-candie power, making a total of 18 800-cunlle power, w'lich cost 6s per hour, an compared with 6,000 feet of gas to give the same light, which, charged at only 2s 6d per 1,000 feet, would be 15s per hour. Sir Julius Vogol has, as all oui" readers probably know, arrived in Australia as the agent of/an Electric Light Company, and Auckland and Wellington are already busy devising schemes for the illumination of those towns, and we see by the Christchurch and Dune iin papers that the people, of those cities are devoting much atteutiou to the matter. The LytteUon Harbor Board, too, propose to light the wharves with electricity, and thera ib littta doubt that before many months arc past ihis system will be almost universal. From nil we can 1 • m, it will be a groat blessing to sniail communities like our own. The expense of tho m ichinery required in producing' gus is so large that it is practically out of our reach, but from all wo can gather regarding the electric light, it appu.us to us that its blessings are within our moans. Of one thing v/o may be sure, and that is, that amongst the many marvellous discoveries of the nineteenth century, posterity will not consider that the letst valuable is the application of the electric light.