SIR JULIUS VOGEL AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 995, 9 February 1883, Page 2

SIR JULIUS VOGEL AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

On the occasion of the illumination of the Spencer Street railway station, Melbourne, by (he electric light,' Sir Jnlins Vogel, in the course of his speech said : “ Now, as regards figures, I reply to Mr Munro’s challenge of Does it pay 7 by this counter challenge. lam prepared to arrange with municipal authorities or with companies to provide in any locality an agreed number of arc lights and incandescent lamps at prices that will yield to start with a good income over expenditure. Take this for an example. I supply a local government or a company with 5,000 incandescent lights. 1 install them with power ami everything complete and ready for use. They tell me where to put them, and obtain the subscribers. Suppose they charge £2 per annum for each incandescent lamp, and MO for each arc lamp, they will be charging less than the gas cost and have an income of £20,000. I will undertake that, after deducting expenses, this will yield a splendid return on the cost of Ihe plant and the exclusive rights which I confer. In the case of corporations the result will be most splendid, for they can pay me in debentures, and the net income, after paying interest, will be, sufficient to redeem the debentures in less than ten years, and give them their plants and exclusive rights for nothing. I can supply from one centre practically any number of arc lamps. I can supply from one centre 2,000 or 5,000, or 10,000 or 20,000 incandescent lamps. I have heard the electric light business and the use of the electric light objected to here on the ground that possibly improvements might bo devised that would be in advance of present results. If an ignoble fear of this kind were to be allowed to interfere with the pursuit of enterprise, what progress would any undertaking make ? By a parity of reasoning we should never advance —we should never take advantage of the knowledge of the day—we should scarcely be dressed for clothes may be improved. Depend upon it, no one ever marked out for himself a subject of greater interest than this same subjection of electricity to useful purposes. I may not have the pleasure of meeting you again. Will you let me indulge in a prophecy—that the use of electricity will grow upon you, that you will have it for your lighting, for your motive power, for your rail and tramways, for a vast variety of domestic uses. Your sons will find new fields of occupation in the study of electricity and its application to practical purposes. Years hence you may date from this evening a new era of comfort and usefulness.”