CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE DRAWING OFFICE, THE TRANSFORMING STATIONS, AND STREET LIGHTING.

THE three subjects in this chapter are grouped together, not because they are closely related, but because the description of the work of each need only be short, and is not, therefore, sufficient by itself to form a separate chapter.

Drawing Office.-The chief draughtsman should be a man of varied experience and one accustomed to maintaining discipline. A suitable salary for the post is £250 per annum. The men under him comprise mechanical draughtsmen, surveyors, electricians, and clerks.

The mechanical draughtsmen are of three kinds, viz.: (1) Those used to the ordinary work of a mechanical engineer's drawing office, and competent to plan out machinery and plant and make designs for new work; (2) architectural draughtsmen, capable of designing the buildings for extensions, sub-stations, etc.; and (3) draughtsmen having a good knowledge of mechanical work supplemented by a fair electrical knowledge, their work being to draw out switchboards, fittings for use in connection with the mains, etc.

It is practically impossible to get one man who can efficiently combine the duties of (1) and (2), but those of (1) and (3) may occasionally be merged in one individual. The first two will only be required while the undertaking is growing at a rapid rate and can probably be dispensed with ultimately, but a draughtsman of some kind will always be wanted, and the third will probably be able to acquire sufficient knowledge of the work of the other two to enable him to do all that is required, and he is likely to be the most generally useful. A suitable salary for these draughtsmen is from £2 to £4 per week.

The surveyors employed do not require any very extensive knowledge of surveying, practically all that is necessary being the ability to use a dumpy level and a knowledge of a field book and the plotting of their observations. They are chiefly engaged on recording the laying of the mains, a matter

fully described in Chapter XXIV. In addition to this they will survey and stake out any new land that may be purchased.

The electricians are charged with the testing of the mains after laying, and the amount of training necessary for this is not very extensive. A salary of from £1, 10s. to £2 per week is sufficient for the principal tester, and from 15s. to 25s. per week for his assistant. In addition to this testing, the principal man will act as inspector at the maker's factory to see that the requirements of the Chief Engineer's specifications are carried out.

The clerks are required for making out the balancing sheets relating to consumers, described in Chapter XXIV.

There is not much to describe in connection with the drawing office, on account of the bulk of the work having been given in detail in other chapters. It may be pointed out that care should be taken to properly index all drawings, so that any one wanted may be found at once.

It is convenient to keep all drawings in pencil; it is mere waste of time to ink them in, and if they are in pencil, alterations can readily be made at any time. A standard tracing in ink should be made of each drawing when completed, and should never be allowed to leave the drawing office. Copies may be traced or prints taken from it when required.

The best prints are undoubtedly those in black lines on a white ground, since they can be coloured, and are in all respects as good as drawings. The process is very simple, but the paper is somewhat expensive. Blue prints cost about half, and answer well enough for many purposes. In connection with this subject may be mentioned an apparatus for printing that is invaluable in a busy office. It consists of a glass cylinder half the circumference of which will take the largest tracing it is desired to print from. The cylinder is placed vertically, and the tracing wrapped round it, two being printed at once, one on each half circumference. Next to the tracing is placed the sensitised paper, and outside this a sheet of canvas, secured tightly by means of straps. An enclosed arc lamp, burning with a long arc on 200 volts, gives a strongly actinic light, and is gradually lowered from the top of the cylinder to the bottom, its motion being controlled by a 'scapement and pendulum. The bob on the pendulum is adjusted until the rate is such that the lamp effects the printing on passing once downwards. The apparatus gives most excellent and certain results, and the time taken is very short, less than ten minutes for a double elephant print.

It is prudent to keep all standard tracings and drawings and the records of the mains in a fireproof chamber, for their loss would be irreparable.

Transforming Stations.-These should be placed in the charge of one engineer, who is responsible for their maintenance in proper running order. The nature of the plant in the sub-stations varies with the system employed, but in all it is chiefly electrical, the mechanical part in no case being more

than a revolving armature. For this reason, the engineer should be an electrical one, and any mechanical repairs required can be effected by the mechanical engineer's staff from the generating station. A suitable salary is from £150 to £250 per annum, or more in a large system.

The transforming stations suffer from the disadvantage that they are scattered, and it is therefore difficult to keep an efficient watch over the men employed in them. For this reason, it is particularly important that the men engaged in them should be steady and reliable. Experience shows that time-expired naval men, especially torpedo men, are exceedingly satisfactory to place in charge: they are steady, self-reliant, prepared for emergencies and well disciplined. Each sub-station will require at least two, and some three; one of these may live at or near the sub-station so as to be at call if wanted. If no living accommodation is given, the wages may be from £1, 10s. to £2 per week. A boy should be in attendance with each man, so that in case of accident an alarm may be given.

The transforming stations just referred to are large overground ones of many hundred, or several thousand, kilowatts capacity. For small sub-stations, usually placed underground, a staff will be required to go round from time to time to see that all is in order.

Except in the case of small sub-stations, every transforming station should be in direct telephonic communication with the generating station, so that no time may be lost in case of emergency; this will also give the engineer the opportunity of surprise calls, so that he may ascertain that his men are on the alert.

A log of the plant in use and of the output should be kept for each substation, and a weekly report be presented by the engineer in charge to the Chief Engineer.

Street Lighting.-This department is of great importance, because the light is more in evidence in the streets than anywhere else, and any interruption or unsteadiness is an exceedingly bad advertisement for the Undertakers. Assuming that good lamps have been selected and a steady pressure is given, success is principally dependent on careful attention to detail, for neglect or slovenliness will cause the best of lamps to burn badly.

The inspector in charge of this department should have a thorough knowledge of the mechanism of the lamps, and should give his close personal attention to the work of his staff. A suitable salary is from £150 to £200 per annum.

The staff consists of three divisions, viz.:-(1) Trimmers, (2) Repairers, (3) Testers.

The trimming staff will vary in number with the amount of lighting done. If the lighting be general, each trimmer should be able to trim, and keep in thorough order, 50 lamps per day. Each trimmer should have a boy to help him and to look after the ladder while he is at the top of the

post. The trimmers' wages are from 6d. to 74d. per hour; and men should be chosen who are used to climbing and are not likely to turn giddy; naval men are well suited to the work.

It is practically essential to have a small repairing staff, as the wear and tear on arc lamps is considerable, and it is always necessary to get repairs done quickly. A few lathes are practically all the tools required, and one or two men can get through as much work as is likely to be wanted.

All lamps, whether new or repaired, should be thoroughly tested before being fixed on the circuit, and be carefully adjusted to take the right amount of current. It is useful, if there is a great deal of street lighting, to provide a photometer room.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THE CLERICAL DEPARTMENT.

THE clerical work in connection with a large undertaking is very heavy and calls for good organisation. As far as possible the engineering staff should be relieved of clerical work, for not only is it wasteful for a highly-paid official to occupy his time with work that a youth at £1 per week could do, but, as in all labour, the man whose profession it is will do the work far better and more quickly than one to whom it is a merely incidental part of his duty.

This work, as has been shown in the general scheme, is divided between three departments, viz.: those of the (1) Chief Works Clerk, (2) Private Secretary, and (3) Secretary.

The chief works clerk has to look after everything in connection with the ordering and issuing of stores as required; the checking of the accounts for goods purchased; the keeping of the time worked by the men, and the preparation of the account of the wages due to them each week. From the returns of stores and wages, he has to work out the cost of each Works Order, whether in connection with the generating station or the mains, and, from the various reports supplied to the Chief Engineer, to ascertain the cost of production. He has charge of the whole of the clerical work in connection with the receipt of applications from consumers, and the issue of Works Orders for their connection to the mains; he enters up the particulars of the consuming devices actually installed, and of any changes or additions that may be made from time to time; he looks after the readings of the consumers' meters; and he supplies the particulars of their consumption of energy so that the secretary can charge their accounts. All the reports from the various engineering departments pass through his hands, and he prepares digests and summaries of them under the direction of the Chief Engineer. The salary for this responsible post should be from £300 to £500 per annum, according to the magnitude of the undertaking.

The working of this department will now be described as far as possible, but for certain portions of the work the reader is referred to special chapters on The Consumer and The Mains.