The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

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Metadata

Title

[LB016297], Letter from Thomas Alva Edison to J Ferro, May 11th, 1883

Editor's Notes

TAE letterpress version - re canvassing the Caribbean port of Barranquilla, on the Magdalena River in Northern Colombia,not selected The letter from J. N. Magallon [possibly mispelled name, try Magdelena ]just at hand. Its nature is such that it would be an injustice to all concerned to attempt to quote a price for apparatus to give an unknown result the letter is to Vague, The party writing does not give sufficient explanation as to the amount of light each Lamp should give or if they are Arc or Incandescent. I should not be willing to sell the Machinery without a certainty that it would be successful in every respect and gave satisfaction to the purchaser both as to working Economy, and results required, hence I ask that you write your correspondent to obtain the following.##A map of Baranquella showing the squares Streets, Etc, such maps should be drawn to scale so measurements can be taken.##2nd Let the position of the street Lamps be marked by a cross (x) on the map also the position of the houses that are to use the Light with the number of Lights marked and the average hours that the parties will burn these lights or in other words the average number of hours the Party will burn each Light every night, Also mark on the map the position of the Ground or the building [illegible text] with its width length of ground or building, also the heighth of the ceiling, if there is already a Building.##The price of Steam Coal.##If the Water is good or bad for Steam Boilers.##The price of and method of obtaining water##The price of wood.##If the Streets are paved or unpaved or any portion paved. if any paved mark on the map.##If there are carts in Baranquella capable of handling a large boiler.##The Duties on machinery such as will be used in Electric Lighting.##The Cost of Lumber common per 1000 feet. The Cost of Brick per thousand##The average closing time at night of the Stores.##The average time people go to bed in private Houses##The population of Baranquella, also State that we make several sizes of Lamps all of which can be worked on the same wire##No 1 Equal to best gas jet. No 2 Equal 1 3/4 of gas jet or 3 Kerosene jets.##No 3 Equals 3 gas jets or 5 Kerosene burners.##No 4 Equals 5 gas jets of 8 Kerosene Lamps.##No 5 Equals 10 gas jets or 16 Kerosene jets.##We obtain 10 jets, each equal to a gas jet for every indicated horsepower of the Engine, and the other Lamps in proportion, that is to say 5 Lamps of 2 jets each, one Lamp giving a light equal to 10 gas jets.##I herewith send you as a sample the Town of Danville Penna. showing that portion of the Town where the lights are most used, that is to say the best portion of the Town that would pay the greatest profit on the smallest investment. The lines running in the Blocks with figures at the end indicate the number of gas jets. The lines in the Streets show our Wires. The Star within red circle show the Central Station and red lines the wires from the Street wires to the Station.##There are about 1000 Gas jets in this area. The cost of the whole thing Erected complete is about $29,000 including the building wires and all apparatus at the Stations and meters.## The extra cost of Erecting at Baranquella would be the Fares of Experts, Freight, Custom Duties, and increased cost of material which must be obtained at Baranquella.##Please explain to your correspondent that the wires are on Poles, that wire is run from the Main Street wires where they enter a Meter and from that to different parts of the Building where the Lamps are situated.##The cost of Wires and Fixtures in the Building are paid by the person using the Light. The meter measures accurately the amount of light used in the house. The unit of light is the amount of light obtained in one hour from a candle burning 100 grains per hour of tallow. 10 such candles are equal to the average coal gas jet in practice at Danville.##We sell each gas jet for one cent per hour or rather light equal to 10 candles for one hour for one cent.##Two thousand candles of Light measured on the meter equal the light given by 1000 Cubic feet of common coal gas. for this we charge $2.00 The dividend will be about 28 percent at Danville on the Cost of the complete Plant.

Author

Edison, Thomas Alva

Recipient

Ferro, J

Date

1883-05-11

Type

Letter

Subject

Electric light and power

Central stations

Folder ID

LB016-F

Microfilm ID

82:404

Document ID

LB016297

URL

https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/LB016297

Rights

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Publisher

Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University

License

CC0 1.0 Universal

Has Version

Archive.org Viewer, Microfilm Series Reel 82

Item sets

[LB016-F] LB-016 (1882, 1883)