TELPHERAGE.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7258, 14 March 1889, Page 2

TELPHERAGE.

At the Boyal Cornwall Polytechnic Exhibition, held at Fal mouth recently, Mr James Henderson, of Truro, gave an interesting account of the development and working of the telpherage, or aerial electric transport system, which is about to be introduced at East Pool mine, for the purpose of conveying the tin-stuff from the mine to the stamps, In the course of his-paper Mr Henderson said the telpher cable fine must not be confounded with the ordinary well-known wire-rope haulage system, the wire cable being a fixture, on which a motor travelled, pushing or pulling its train of skips. The electric current was carried to the locomotive by a separate wire of about half-an inch in diameter, on which a copper " jockey " wheel travelling caught, as it were, the current of electricity, or a portion of it, as it passed, and sent it down to the motor suspended below. The rapidly moving shaft in the motor, which made about 1,700 revolutions a minute, was connected by suitable gearing and an endless chain, such aa was. seen in tricycles, to the driving wheels of the locomotive, which propelled a train of ten skips, each skip being suspended from a frame running on two wheels on the single wire rope or cable, containing about two or three cwts. of material. The trains moved with a speed of to 4 miles an hour. Mr Henderson said these remarks applied to a telpher line now actually at '"ork, and which he himself inspected. He believed telpherage had a large future before it, and that the system was peculiarly applicable to many Cornish mines. The first experiment with telpherage for really commercial purposes was made in the construction of a line about a mile long at the Olynde Clay Works, under the close superintendence of the late Professor Jenkin, in 1885, and he was subsequently aided in his valuable researches by Professors Ayrton and Perry. Having given a rough sketch of the line Mr Henderson said he would turn to the generator or prime mover of the electric current. This consisted of what was called a " compound mound," dynamo, worked at a constant potential or power, Le,, whateverthequantity of current given from the dynamo at a given moment the pressure we* kept constant at a 200 " volts." Most of them knew the principle of a dynamo, or dynamoelectric machine, which converted the energy of mechanical motion into that of electric currents by the operation of setting conductors (usually of copper wire) to rapidly rotate between the poles of a powerful magnet The power of the magnet was produced by being eorrounded by coile of wire alone which a current of electricity wm passed, generated by the engine, which at the

same time rotated the armature, when™ the remainder of the electric current warn sent on to the possibly distant motor Th* prime mover at the Glynde line was a semi-portable steam engine of about 10h n and appeared to do its work very eatisf'ac torily. The engine and the dynamo were placed In a suitable house, constructed of corrugated iron, about half way on the line; a part of the house was used as a fitting shop, and a lathe was there worked when required by means of a belt attached to the engine. The erection and dismantling of a telpher line was readily effected It might, however, be taken for granted that the conveyance of coal, sand clay gravel, grain, &c. by horse and cart could be most profitably superseded by telpherages and the.system was especially adapted for the carriage of minerals ata cheap rate, and where great speed was not required! He need not remind them that water power would be perfectly applicable to the working of the dynamos, and it was a startling fact that its power could be transmitted even for a distance of several miles. In conclusion Mr Henderson said Oornishmen were as a rule somewhat slow to take up with new schemes, but in the present instance he hoped they would see the ad vantages of the system which he had advocated.