TRANSPORT BY ELECTRICITY.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4867, 15 August 1884, Page 2

TRANSPORT BY ELECTRICITY.

: INTBIIKSTING TO MININO DISTEICTS.

In the Hall of; the^ociety of Arts, London in May Jisfc, tinder the presidency of Sir 7 F.^Atf|i (s§ys r 4he London Times of a recent date); Professor Fleming read a paper b,b '* Teipherage/' which, as he explained at the outset, is a. word intended to-designate all modes of transport effected aut6mically with the aid of electricity. The forms of telpher lines to which the Professor confined himself were Bach as were adapted to tbe conveyance of minerals and other goods at a slow, pace and a cheap rate-—a variety wh;ch;^ first presented -itself to his mind, atid which he, had developed. The problem" which occurred to him was whether it' wbufi^not be possible to telegraph goods'and ppisengers as well as, or instead of messages. He proposed that these telpher lines should be run on suspended rod^, whjch would not involve embankments, cuttings, bridges, fences, end the purchase of land ; and the rods could be so placed abdre the level of the roads as not to be interfefoi with by men or animals. A single wheel pah gave the minimum of friction, and the rolling stock would be much more easily managed than if they attempted to let . vehicles ran on double, swinging .•r r6peß;:-'.-'.f.:-.-.-;..' : . ■ ;•.,.;..,,..-' '"•'". '.'?.::: :/;.'v<?>V.-;r Last year a company was formed to test and carry oat his patented inventions and those of Professors Ayr ton :andPeri'y for electric lecomotipn; ; Experiments had shown that a train of more than a ton .^weight had been' ruii- with complete; success at a speed of fire miles an hour. | The lecturer dealt at some length with the mechanical problems involved in telpherage, which he illustrated bymeaas of working models, remarking that though the electric motor had not yet been brought to a state of perfection, improred designs, proportions, and materials had been introduced":month by,month, end (hef Iresult ■ already attained. ,had proved/ sufficient for their purpose. Belative to the economical results to be derived trcni such a line as this, it .was calculated that the cost of locomotives driven by steam was at the rate of £6 103 per horse per annum, while the cost of electric motors would be much* smaller. The estimates winch he had made led him tq^b'eiiereV;thai;;':thpvtptal::oost,;i*nejdditfg' everything connected .-■- with the; electric lide, would not be more than £1555 a year for a daily jduty of 600 ton miles,' though they would be able to carry goods to any distance at the rate of 2d per ton per mile. "■ The cost of making the line would be very slight. One very important feature | in respect'to the.cost of telpher lines was* the fact that the larger part of that cost was due to - plant, such as locomotives, trains, and dynamos. This could be increased injproportion to the work required $ thus there was a very, moderate increase of cost in the rate per ten per mile for" a; small traffic as compared with a large one, and, on the other hand, a line laid down for a small traffic would acoommodate a much larger traffic with no fresh outla/ on the line itself.

Iv conolusioa the lecturer summed up his case by enumerating some of the uses to which telpher lines might be, but had not been, put. They would conrey goods, such as grain, coals, and all kinds of minerals, grarcl, sand, meat, fish, salt, manure, fruit, reliables—in fact, ail goods which could be diyided conreniently into parecls of two or tbreo hundred, weight. If it we're necessary, he should,*

fee! n.) hesitation in designing lines ta carry weights of five or six hundredweight i.Q each truck. ' When establUhed in coun« tries where oo roads exists,; the line could bring up its own materials, as a rail waydbei. Gircu'ar aaw or agricultural implements could be- driven by wirer connected; with the line, and this without stopping the trafic on the line itself. In fine, he: did not believe that the suspended telpher lines would ever compete successfully with railways, where the'traffic was suffi* cient to pay a dividend on a large capital. Hebeliered that telpher lines w^uldv find a very extended use as feeders to rail ways in old countries,-and as the cheapest mode of transport in new countrie¥^ : In pre^; senting this view to themi he restedthis argument mainly on the cost of different modes of transport,; which he believed, be stated atpproxinaately:as folr: lows:— Railways, Id per tpn per^mile; cartage, Is per ton per mile ; telpher lines 2d per ton per mile; and let it be remembered that, in taking the cost of cartage at Is per mile/ the fir«t cost and main-« tenance^ of :th&^^road'.was left wholly out of account 'f^whereas i in^^ his calculations for the telpher line, allowances had been made both for estiibiishhient and maintenance, lecture, which was illustrated by working models, greatly interested a large audiencejy somiel -among.•; whom.;;;<b*!My. criticised the paper,* all agreeing that tire indention was ono of considerable importance and interest. 1 :.-;:'" f'.? V>';;V ■' '. There is not the slightest doubt that such' mode of -conveyance jrould be of immense advantage - to: all mining com-' munities . wterev low grade -and quartz has io ;:be conveyed any distance for treatpaenV: ; ': ■ '.:-..::\:.-i~.:y y ,. \