Page:Incandescent electric lighting- A practical description of the Edison system.djvu/114

 from 22 to 25 pounds of water per indicated horse power per hour. I do not know of any Corliss manufacturers who are willing to do any better. This is for non-condensing; condensing from 17 to 18 pounds of water per horse power per hour. Engines of this class are as well built now in workmanship, and as reliable in operation as can possibly be desired. Added to this, we have the advantage of direct connection to our generators, avoiding, all the intricacies of shafting, etc., and the unreliability they entail. Tests made at the Brooklyn station have shown that the engines have actually come up to the guarantee made on them, and that the plant there is showing, as compared with single cylinder engines, an economy of coal per unit of output of from 25 to 30 per cent, better. In a station of this kind, the actual coal consumed per unit of output at the dynamos is considerably larger than is shown in a direct test where we charge the engines only with the coal it uses directly. The weekly records from