Phe annual general meeting of shareholders in the Shanghai Gas Company was held Monday at the Shanghai Club. Mr.
Forbes, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, presided; and there were present—Messrs. J. G. Purdon, F. G. White, Directors); R. E. Wainewright, Solicitor to the Company; F. H. Bell, E. H. Lavers, P. Hiibbe, H. Vinay, A. Veitch, O. Wyatt, Win, Bit, GB. Hill, Butler, J. Harding J. Skeels, W. Saunders, J. Reddio, A. Young, H. Pelegrin, G. W. 0. Wintle, ©, 8. Sharp, J. Buchanan, and Geo. J. Yeo (Engineer and Secretary) representing 606 votes, who Secretary having read the notice convening the meeting, The Cnamwan said—The minutes of the last annual general meeting had been sirvulated promptly among the Shareholders, and, he supposed they might, be taken as read, as well as the Report of the Directors and the Accounts, which had been in the hands of the Shateholders for several days. The draft of the new Deed of Settlement, which had been prepared under instructions conveyed in a motion passed at the last annual general meeting, hind also boon circulated among theSharcholders, and there would be an opportunity for discussion it Inter on, In proposing the adoption of the Report and Accounts for the past yea, he was glad to be able to congratulate the Shareholders on the fact that perhaps for the first time the Company's works were fully efficient, and that the Settlement was now satisfactorily supplied with Gas at all ints. The only complaints the Directors lad now to deal with wore from consumers on the Bubbling Well Road beyond the Skew bridge, and he must admit that their complaints were well founded, the increasing consumption on the Bubbling Well Rond having proved too- much for the small mains laid by a former engineer in the Company's service. They had only recently discovered the mistake that was then made, for, like a great many of the other mistakes that had been remedied, it was buried under the ground and not indicated in any of the plans in their possession. The Directors had applied to the ipal Council for their permission to open up the road, but the Council had declined to allow the work to be done until after the races, so consumers on the Bubbling Well Rond "would hare to wait little longer before their wants could be attended to. The consumption of gas during last year was the largest of any year singe the formation of the Company; while, on the other hand, as compared. with 1877, there had been a decrease in the amount of coal carbonised of three per cent., and a decrease of twelve per cent, in the cost of coal per ton, while, at the same time, the yield of gas per ton of coal carbonised had been more than ten per cent. greater. This, he thought, must be taken to be very satisfactory still.the Directors hoped for even more favourable results during the next year. These good results of last year's working were entirely owing to the considerable ex: ensions which had been made in the mains and retort house. The cost had been large as the accounts showed, but the money, as the results proved, had not been uselessly spent. They had spent Tis, 4,400 in extending the retort house, and Tls. 13,900, in the extension of mains, new retorts, and machinery. There were in addition interest paid to the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, and the unexpectedly heavy charge of Tls. 1,289 made by engineer, sent to Paris, to report on the the Municipal Council for repairs to roads. electric light. That engineer reported The amount which the Directors proposed that if it was required to distribute the to write off for depreciation was about eight electric light from the six stations at Berlin per cent. on the book cost of the Company's now occupied by gas works, and to replace working stock. This might be thought the light now given by the 700,000 gas by some to be an excessive percentage to burners in Berlin, each station would rewrite off, but the Directors thought it quire an engine of from five thousand advisable to continue to urge a steady writ-to six thousand horse power, and that ing down of assets instead of accumulating the copper for conducting the current a paper reserve fund. They must bear in would cost £13,000,000 sterling. There mind that gas engineering had been greatly stimulated lately, and they could not had estimated the cost of replacing the was also a report from two engineers who tell how soon the movement might econ-50,000 public gas lights, in London by the mise the production of gas, or require electric light. It appeared that by the unforeseen additions to their works. Last Werderman system, which produced as ear was a very eventful one for Gas many as ten electri¢ lights on one circuit, panies. It had been the year of the 17,000 electric lights would be required, electric scare, He said had been advisedly, and. these would be worked from 1,700 Decause the scare was uow over, and stations, and each station would require they were face to face with results a driving engine of two horse power, which showed what the best informed and duplicate electric machines in case of engineers had always asserted that Gas accident. The annual cost would amount Companies had, as yet, no reason to fear to £8,000,000, or about four times as much competition from the electric light. The as the public lighting of the streets of Directors had followed up very closely London to-day. With these figures before the course of events with reference to the them, he thought they had only to look at electric light, and as very little information the very small number of public lights had appeared in the local prints on what in Shanghai as-compared with the area of might be called the Gas Companies' side the settlement, to see that there was very of the question, he would venture to little chance of Shanghai being lighted hi lay before the Shareholders, as briefly as he any system of electricity yet discovered. possibly could, some of the information he Even as regarded the electric lighting of a had gathered on this very important and in-restricted area, the result of recent experiteresting subject. It would hardly be supments was not such as to cause Gas posed from a great deal that had been Companies much uneasiness. The expense written and said on the subject, that of lighting the Avenue de L'Opera was the discovery was no new thing, or that 125 centimes per light per hour. The Eiison's rumoured invention of means of ighting Committee of the Paris Muni-sub-dividing light had been anticipated cipal Council report that each Jablochkof! in Brussels over twenty years ago, So far light was equal to eleven ordinary gas nothing practical came of the lamps, and that these eleven gas lamps Belgian invention, but since then electric would have cost 23 centimes per hour, science had made great strides, and in making the ing by electricity five turn had developed' wonderful. improve-times as expensive as gas. The Comments in the electric light. For certain mittee also stated that according to their specific purposes, this light was unquestionbest information the working cost per hour ably superior to any other light yet dis-of the Jablochkoff system to the con-covered, and he thought he might safely leave tractor for motive power, coal for the to others to explain its peculiar merits and steam engines, the cost of the electric advantages. What he was concerned to appliances and the carbon candles, would explain to the Shareholders distinctly was be 73 centimes per hour, or 34 times as that it did not in any way encroach on the expensive as gas. The Council only con-field of Gas Companies, because it was sented to pay for further experiments in not at all adapted for the purposes of eneral illumination, They might take electric Tighten, on the basis of 30 can times per light per hour, wadi was a third it for granted, that the invention and more than gas. At the risk of wearying skill of electricians would continue un-the Shareholders, he would venture to diminished. They might also take it give them a little information on the for granted that steps would be taken electric lighting of Westgate-on-sea, in to remedy the present irregularity in the England. A large landowner, who wished electric light, and to reduce the motive to increase the attractions of the laces Bourth. Tt might further be taken for ower at present required to about one-tried to obtain from the inventor reliable estimates of the working of the electric granted that means would be devised, if light. Failing to obtain any such possible, to prevent the sudden extinction estimates, he determined to make the Of electric lights, such as had been seen in experiment himself. Accordingly, in last the experiment in the Avenue de L'Opera, December, he had six Jablochkoff lights in Paris, where, out of sixty-two lights put on the Sea Road, the distance between tried, from four to sixteen frequently went the two extreme lamps being 400 yards—out together and remained out from one to from the Club say to the Hankow Road. forty-five minutes. They might also admit The lights were 80 yards apart, and a 10- that measures would ba taken with the horse power nominal engine was employed, view to improve and reduce the cost of and the lights were exhibited for four the -carbons, which were now sold at a hours a night for twenty-four nights. The sum sufficiently high to prevent the in-engineers in charge of the experiment convention becoming popular; and they might cluded their report as follows:—Tu draw-further admit that the complexity of the ing the report to a close, we would remark present regulators might ultimately be so that, while the exhibition of the electric arranged that the electric light, like the light at Westgate, as an electric light, gas light, could be safely left to the man-has been most successful, and every effort agement' of persons of ordinary capacity. has been made by us to give the sys-But there were laws of electricity which no tem the fairest possible trial, we say, with inventor could alter, and among the practi-the greatest confidence, that this method is cal consequences was that the size and surrounded by so many practical difficulties, therefore the cost of the conducting wire, that no amount of improvement is likely to increased enormously in proportion to the fit it for general adoption. The liability of greater distance the current was made to the machinery to derangement at any travel; and, further, the more the current moment, the defective character of the was sub-divided the jess was the illumine candles, the incessant variation of the ting power, and therefore the greater illuminating power, want of diffusibility and the cost of producing the light To means of storage, the constant care and show the difficulty of these two elements attention the lights require, and the distance and sub-division, he would enormous cost of producing the light, all refer them to the report of a German unfit it for a general public illuminating
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.