Good-bye to Gas

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 45, 3 February 1894, Page 6

Good-bye to Gas

ELECTRICITY lk MANCHESTER

THE ORIGIN OP THE SCHEME

HOW THE WORK WAS DONE

In the great city of Manchester •electricity has been installed as the lighting power, and the Weekly Times of that city gives many columns to the subject, from which we (Town ■and Country Journal) take the following ;—Coal gas, which has done noble service for many years, has been superseded to some extent, no longer •cracks all ceilings by its heat, nor spoils all goods by its profuse distribution of noxious vapours. In its place electricity exercises its wonderfully beneficent [power in not a few cases. The change is delightful. Great brilliancy is now united with a purer, softer, prettier light. The old gas shades, with their foul incrustations, have gone, and make room for crystal globes, charged with a thin oval line of beautiful and brilliant light. “ New lamps for old,” cried the artful magician in the story of “Aladdin.” “New goods for old,” the enterprising tradesman may be tempted to ejaculate as he sees his wares bathed in the serene glow of the new brightness. The “ City of Dreadful Night ” would lose its awful title under the charm ; the main thoroughfare of Manchester steps from modified dulness to a happier and more pleasing state. A section of the City Council, literally men of light and leading, have long been studying this important question of electricity as a means of

lighting-. They fixed their municipal eye firmly on the incandescent lamps, and saw that they were good. Their studies revealed to them that electricity is the light of the future, and Manchester, they determined, must once more be in its proper place —in the van of progress. But they knew too much to embark on the great enterprise on which they had set their hearts with eyes half closed or with imperfect knowledge. The mistakes of the past have been the guide posts of the journey, and to-day it is a demonstrable fact that an installation of electric light may be relied upon as implicitly as a gas supply. Providing the machinery be kept in order all will .go well. The electric spark which has put distant nations on easy and immediate speaking terms has also provided the illuminant by which to read in the night time the communications flashed by the telegraph wires.

At this point the Manchester committee have stepped in, and, entrusting the discharge of their task to Dr Hopkinson, F.R.S., the eminent electrician, of Westminster, have come out ■with Hying colours. The plan adopted is Dr Hopkinson’s five wire system — ■a system which claims to be more economical and more serviceable than any other in existence. It is more economical because it reduces very largely the initial cost for copper conductors, a most important consideration in providing a large installation; and is more servicable, because it renders possible varieties of current in the mains. So far the Manchester installation is the first outside London that has been constructed on DrHop-

kinson’s plan, but the success with which it has been [worked will doubtless lead to its adoption in other places.

The Dickenson street establishment is already a busy place. For the portion of the scheme now in operation six engines of 90-horse power and four of 250-horse power have been built. Six large Lancashire boilers provide the necessary steam power. To each engine a dynamo is attached, and the number of volts that the dynamo will generate is known with absolute precision. The uninitiated may ask what is a volt p The sound of the word is suggestive of a gin palace or a leap over a horizontal bar ; the meaning of the word is the unit of electrical pressure. In other words, in electricity the pressure is expressed in volts. After being generated in the dynamos the electricity is conveyed into the mains. Manchester people know those mains, and have enjoyed the precious privilege of grumbling at them. Unhappily it is not the cus tom to lay «, main along a street without pulling up the street. The opposite plan prevails, and when you pull up a street you inconvenience a great many estimable individuals. Within the area of the installation the mains are complete, and it may comfort the choleric gentlemen whose indignation has been roused to know that an electric main once laid gives little further trouble. It does not leak, as a gas main will at times. It is not likely to get out of repair under ordinary circumstances, and its interment, when once accomplished, is lasting. Of course new districts, when tapped by the electrical sujjply, will be called upon to bear temporary

f inconvenience, but the residents will 1 know by that time that a trivial and temporary derangement will be followed by an incalculable and lasting benefit. Properly speaking, the electric main is a conduit composed of concrete and flagged at the top. In places where the traffic is heavy—a street crossing, for instance—iron pipes take the place of the conduit, and here the cables bearing the current are carefullj' and solidly protected. In the conduits themselves the only protection necessary is air insulation. The connection between the mains and the buildings to be supplied is a matter of e rsy adjustment. Copper wire cased in gutta percha is used. The customer gives some idea of his requirements, and the wires are regulated accordingly. Under Dr Hopkinson’s plan various degrees of current can be secured. An eig’ht-candle power, a 16-candle power, or a 32-candle power is at the option of the purchaser. For ordinary purposes 8-candle power is sufficient. A single incandescent lamp of 8-candle power will give as much light as an ordinary gas-burner, and this is the popular standard. For the object of display, where a great flood of light is required, 16-candle power may be asked for. Greater brilliancy than this is rare. Of course the more dazzling the light the more ex-

pensive it becomes, but of this the public may be quite certain, that whatever may be the case with small supplies there can be no doubt that electric lighting - on an extensive scale is much cheaper than lighting by gas on an extensive scale. Tradesmen and others who like a great flare about their premises may be expected to realise this after a short experience.

The feature of the scheme which requires to be mentioned next in order is the method of distributing the electricity after it has reached the interior of the building supplied. As an extra precaution the wires, for there must be two in order that a circuit may be established, are cased in wood. Great care is taken to keep the wires apart. If they came in contact there would be danger. Insulated, as they are, there is none. The nervous and the timid may be assured of this—a supply of electricity is no more dangerous than a supply of gas. With electricity, the conductor’s being properly insulated, there is no fear of awful consequences arising from leakages, and in case of fire or other serious disaster the snapping of a wire will at once destroy the current. The smashing of a gaspipe might, of course, be attended with, very different results.

Once the light has been brought within a building its manipulation is simplicity itself. Matches are not required, and a frequent cause of conflagration is thereby removed. All that is necessary is to turn a tap (called a switch), which is generally fixed near the door, so that a person entering a dark room may put his hand upon it and at once step into light. In this way much barking of shins against stray pieces of furniture is avoided, and the habit of using hasty and objectionable expletives is not encouraged. The light itself, as everybody knows, is enclosed in a crystal globe and has its habitation on a thin line of carbon. The carbon, which is of the finest texture, may live in flame for 1,000 hours or more* or it may have a much shorter career; On this point no guarantee can be given. The carbon is always carefully tested before being used, but it.

is not always to be relied upon for long* service. It can, however, be easily replaced, and it is an interest ing fact that within the last few days the price of the lamps has decreased by more than 50 per cent, owing to the expiration of patent rights. Even the old-fashioned folks who detest changes, and look with a suspicious eye upon all new inventions, must admit that from the point of view of health electricity enjoys great advantages over gas. It emits little or no heat, and no noxious vapours. Therefore, in places Avhere artificial illumination is required all day, it is a boon and a blessing, Keeping the rooms cooler and the air purer, it cannot fail to benefit the lungs, as all who have found their way into illventilated offices where gas is burning all day will readily admit. Then it may be claimed for electricity that it gives a steadier and softer light than gas, and is on that account less trying to the eyes. One disadvantage, though of minor importance, it certainly has. It must be turned on at full or turned off altogether It permits of no half measures. In considering the question of cost we are soon in the region of comparison. Our commercial instincts naturally lead us to inquire whether the new illnminant is as cheap as the old, and those in search of information on this point will learn that the corporation lias two set charges. On one scale the charge is 8d per unit ; on the other a fixed charge is made for the plant and in addition 2d a unit. The consumer may make his choice, and in doing so will he detox-mined by the nature of the

supply that he requires. Once provided with a supply, he will probably find that if he should use it to a very limited extent electricity will he dearer than gas. On the other hand, he will find that if he should make use of electricity during 960 hours in the course of a year, on the fixed charge and 2d a unit scale, the expense will he about the same as if he burned gas at a cost of 2s 6d per 1000 ft. during a similar period. Burnt for 960 hours during a year on the scale mentioned electricity will cost 5d a unit, and at this rate it is about the same price as gas. Burnt fora longer period electricity becomes cheaper than gas. In use for 2000 hours it would work out about 3;[ cl a unit, all the charges included, thus showing a saving of over 30 per cent in comparison wuth the cost of gas. This is a very considerable economy, and one which all consumers of 1 arge quantities of artificial light will be anxious to effect. The people of Manchester have shown their appreciation of the benefits of the new supply in an unmistakable manner. Already the resources of the Dickenson - street works, and the plant at present in use, are being tested to almost the full extent. People in all kinds of business and the officials in charge of many of the public building’s, including the Town Mall, the King-street Library, and the Free trade Hall, have had the wdres fixed, and have no intention of returning to the old order of things.