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TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE

Saturday January 18, 1890

ANOTHER COMPARISON

Of Transmission of Energy Between Wire Ropes and Electricity.

A discussion of the merits of the two systems of transmission of power which have been put in on the Comstock to run the Nevada and California mills, electric and wire ropes, respectively, can do no harm, and probably some good may result from it.

To run 60 stamps at the California mill it required one and one-half horse power each, or 90 horse power. To run 12 Boss special grinders required 7 horse power each, or 84 horse power. To run 30 regular pans and 4 tailings pans required 12 horse power each, or 408 horse power. Grand total, 582 horse power to run the mill. They claimed that it required 600 horse power to run it. To do this, crushing four tons to the stamp, they used 137 inches of water.

The Nevada mill's 60 stamps requires 90 horse power, and 20 regular pans and 2 tailings pans, 264 horse power; total, 354 horse power. We believe it is calculated that it requires 400 horse power to run this mill, being a difference of 200 horse power between the two mills. The Nevada mill uses 187 inches of water and crushes, according to their figures, about three tons of ore to the stamp.

We therefore have from the above data 187 inches of water at the Nevada mill developing 400 horse power, with the aid of a surface Pelton wheel; and at the California mill, also with the aid of a surface Pelton wheel, with 137 inches of water the wire ropes developed 600 horse power. To sum up, one inch of water by the electric system of transmission develops 2 187-200 horse power, and transmitted by wire ropes the same quantity of water develops 4 137-150 horse power. The result of the work in the number of tons crushed is nearly in the same proportion. Forty of the 60 stamps at the Nevada mill were run on Hale & Norcross ore, which is about as easy to crush as Con. Cal. Va. ore, and 20 of the stamps were run on Chollar ore, a much harder ore to crush.