3. Announcements Paper-" Analysis of the Cost of the Generation and Distribution of a Unit of Electricity." By CALVIN W. RICE 4. Topic-" Prices and Discounts for Electric Current and Methods of Billing Current to Customers" I. SECOND SESSION, 3 P. M. Paper Public Lighting With Relation to Public 2. Topic "Legislative Policy as to Public Service Corporations" MINUTES OPENING OF THE CONVENTION The twenty-first convention of the National Electric Light Association was called to order by President Insull, at eleven o'clock, a. m., June 7, 1898, at the Auditorium Hotel, Chicago. President Insull read the following address: Members of the National Electric Light Association. I LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: In calling to order the annual convention of your association, my dual capacity presents somewhat of an embarrassment to me. am in doubt whether as president to enlarge upon the great growth of this association since its formation in this city on February 25th, 1885, or whether as a resident here to dwell at length upon the marvelous growth of the city in which we meet. Chicago and the industry with which we are identified have a somewhat close connection. former, if measured from the The growth of the point of view of the made, is, so to speak, rapidity with which history is the product of yesterday. The electrical industry, or, rather, that portion of it with which we are associated, is but little more than the product of to-day. If the growth of this city and that of our own industry are as great during the next thirteen years as the progress that they have achieved since the date of your first meeting here, I am sure that both the citizens of Chicago and the members of your association will have every reason to congratulate themselves. Speaking for. those of my friends connected with the electrical industry in Chicago, and also for myself, I can assure you that it affords us very great pleasure to welcome you at this convention, and the fact of your meeting in this my home city, enhances not a little my high appreciation of the privilege of presiding on this occasion. The officers of your association have had in mind, in preparing a programme for this convention, the importance of bringing before you subjects of interest in connection with central station management, and the papers to be read at our various sessions, and the topics mentioned for discussion, cover such a wide range that it would seem undesirable for me to occupy much of your time by way of introduction. The various gentlemen that have so kindly consented to read papers, will deal with such important questions as the cost of generating and distributing the product which we manufacture, transformer economy, and the rival claims of alternating currents and direct currents as means of distribution. The many problems which you have to solve in connection with the question of public lighting, and the cost of producing electrical energy by water power, will also be discussed. STANDARD VERSUS SPECIAL MACHINERY A matter that has called forth during the last year considerable discussion, is the question of the use of standard apparatus and the tendency towards the specification of special machinery on the part of electrical engineers. This course is not by any means confined to large work, but is followed by some engineers whether they are designing a small isolated plant or are projecting a large, modern central station. It would seem to me to be of paramount importance to the manufacturer and user that both should co-operate in eliminating, as far as possible, from the business the necessity of building and using special types of machinery. This can only be done by the adoption of standard specifications for various standard types of apparatus. A committee of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers has already taken this subject under consideration, and I believe that we shall be serving alike the interests of the manufacturers and users of electrical apparatus if we take some action with a view to co-operating with the institute and other bodies in this matter. In drawing attention to this subject, I speak with an appreciation of the positions of both manufacturer and user, having had more or less connection with the manufacture of electric apparatus and the manufacture of electric current. Constant duplication of parts, resulting in constant duplication of a given piece of machinery, means, as any manufacturer will tell you, constant reduction in cost. Variation from a given type means increased cost and even the wiping out of an apparent profit. In the last year or so there has been a great deal of discussion in England, prompted by the success of American manufacturers in obtaining large contracts for electric traction work in Great Britain, and the inquiry has often been made, how is it possible for American electrical manufacturers with high wages against them, to compete with English builders, whose scale of pay to their workmen is on a very much lower basis. If you will examine into the amount of electric-traction machinery manufactured in this country under a system of constant duplication and the use of special tools, and then visit the electrical establishments on the other side of the water, and note the tendency there towards specializing each particular job, you will soon recognize that the reason for low cost, and consequently low selling price, on this side of the ocean, is brought about by the fact that in America this class of work is largely designed by the manufacturer, and, as a natural result, is the duplicate of something already produced; while on the other |
