AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL New York, September 20th, 1893. The seventy-ninth meeting of the Institute was called to order by President Houston at 8 o'clock, p. M. The President :—It has been suggested, that, since the paper announced for the evening, by Mr. JD. McFarlan Moore, from its interest may call forth prolonged discussion, that the President's inaugural address be postponed until after its reading. I will therefore call on Mr. Moore to read that paper as soon as the Secretary has made some announcements. The Secretary :—At the Council meeting this afternoon the following associate members were elected: Name. Address. Endorsers. Albanese, G. Sacco Inspector on Electrical Construction, R. H. Pierce. Electrical Engineering Department, L. Stieringer. C. W. Pike. Professor of Physics and Electrical H. A. Foster. Electrician and Head Salesman, The R. W. Pope. Electrical Expert, Fort Wayne Elec- H. A. Foster, Electrician, Hammond V. Hayes. National India Rubber Co., John C. Lee. Bristol, R. I. F.A.Pickernell. Wisconsin Telephone Co., D. C. Jackson. 1530 Grand Avenue, N. S. Keith. Milwaukee, Wis. R. W. Pope. Electrical Engineering Department, R. H. Pierce. World's Fair, Geo. M. Mayer. Chicago, 111. R. W. Pope. Almon, G. H. Anderson, W. E. AUERBACHER, LOUIS J. Barnes, Edward A. Blake, Theodore W. Boardman, Harry B. Boggs, Lemuel Stearns, Supt. Construction, General Electric Bracg, Charles A. Dow, Alexander ElCKEMEYER, RUDOLF Fitzmaurice, James S. Flegel, Geo. C. French, Thomas, Jr. Greene, S. Dana, Hammatt, Clarence S. Haskins, Clark Caryl Irving, Frank K. Iwadare, Kunihiko Manager Phila. Agency, Westing- R. W. Pope, house Electric & Mfg. Co , Girard Cecil P. Poole. Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa. A. L. Johnston. Electrical Engineer, Montreal Street Railway Co., J. H. Vail. Wm. J. Jenks. A.E.Winchester. Proprietor and Manufacturer, Day's R. W. Pope. Kerite Wire and Cables, 203 T. C. Martin. Broadway, New York City Geo. M. Phelps. Edison Illuminating Co., R. W. Pope. 238 27th St., D. C. Jackson. Milwaukee, Wis. II. A. Foster. Electrician. General Electric Co., Wm. J. Hammer. 398 Broad Street, H. A. Foster. Newark, N. J. R. W. Pope. President and General Manager, Chas. F. Scott. Creaghead Engineering Co., 296 L. B. Stillwell. Plum St., Cincinnati, O. Albert Schmid. Solicitor of Patents, with H. C. Townsend. H. C. Townsend, 5 Beekman St., C. O. Maillonx. New York City. Ed. L. Nichols. Professor of Math. U. S. Navy, R. H. Pierce. Chief Inspector, Electrical En- Geo. M. Mayer, gineering Dept., World's Fair, H. A. Foster. Chicago, 111. Engineer, Chicago District, Brush Electric Co., Geo. Cutter. Charles Wirt. R. W. Pope. C. P. Steinmetz. R. W. Pope. H. A. Foster. Chief Engineer, The Electric Light Gustave Fischer. Branch, 300 Kent Street, Sydney, W. J. Spruson. N. S. W. R. W. Pope. Electrical Editor, R. W. Pope. The Railroad Telegrapher, H. A. Foster. Argos, Ind. M. O'Dea. Professor of Physics, University of W. J.Hammer. Cincinnati, Avondale, Cincinnati, H. A. Foster. O. R. W. Pope. Assistant General Manager, General W.J. Hammer. Electric Co., 44 Broad St., New F. J. Sprague. York City. T. C. Martin. Supt., Jacksonville N. S. Keith, Electric Light Co., A. F. McKissick. Jacksonville, Fla. R. W. Pope. Electric Light Inspector of Chicago, R. W. Pope. 582 West Congress St., G. A. Hamilton. Chicago, 111. T. C. Martin. Consulting Electrician, Franklin E. T. Birdsall. Electric Co., 67 McDougal St., T. Wolcott. Brooklyn, N. Y. L. Wm. Serrell. Electrician, A. E. Wiener. Osaka Electric Light Co., James Burke. Osaka, Japan. Harry N. Marvin. Johnson, J. N. Keller, E. E. KlRKEGAARD, J. GEORG Merrill, E. A. Mott, S. D. Nutting, Samuel E. Paul, J. S. Electrical Engineer, Passaic, N. J. Electrician in Cable Dept., Western John L. Hall. Manager and General Supt. of Ex- R. W. Pope, position Work, Westinghouse Elec- R. H. Pierce, trie and Mfg. Co., 5506 Monroe R. N. Bayles. Ave., Chicago. General Incandescent Arc Light Co., W. J. Johnston. 172 President Street, W. D. Weaver. Brooklyn, N. Y. W. A. Rosenbaum. Electrical Engineer, Pierce & Miller H. L. Lufkin. Wm. J. Hammer. Electrican and Supt., Nutting Elec- Wm. D. Ray. Post-Graduate Student in Civil and W. J. Hammer. Pedersen, Frederick Malling Assistant Electrical Engineer, M. I Pupin. Crocker-Wheeler Electric Co., 327 F. B. Crocker. Reber, Samuel Lieut. U. S. Army, D. C. Jackson. Johns Hopkins University, Harris J. Ryan. Baltimore, Md. Louis Duncan. Ross, Norman N. Electrical Engineer, Canadian Gen- W. M. Rutherford. eral Flectric Co.. 350 Main St., John Langton. Winnipeg, Manitoba. R. W. Pope. Sciioen, Allen Mcgee Electrician, South Eastern A. F. McKissick. Tariff Association, R. W. Pope. Atlanta, Ga. Thos. D. Lockwood Siirader, William Professor of Electrical Engineering. R. W. Pope. University of Missouri, Harris J. Ryan. Columbia, Mo. Brown Ayres. Seitzinger, Harry M. Consulting and F. N. Sanborn. Constructing Engineer, R. W. Pope. Wilkesbarre, Pa. G. A. Hamilton. Stevenson, Edward W. Electrician, Brush Electric Illumina- T. C. Martin. ting Co., 210 Elizabeth St., New Geo. M. Phelps. York City. A. E. Kennelly. Stratton, Milton G. Assistant Electrician, Lawrence Gas WalterC. Fish. Co., 256 Essex Street, Lawrence F. Sheble. Sventorzetzky, Capt. Loudomer Military Engineering Acad: R. W. Pope. emy, St. Petersburg, N. S. Keith. Russia. H. Cushman. Wait, Henry H. Warner, Ernest V. Assistant Electrical Engineer, West- E. M. Barton, Electrical Engineer, Western Thos.D. Lockwood. West, Julius Henrik Electrical Engineer, R. W. Pope. 3743 Locust St., H. A. Foster. Philadelphia, Pa. N. S. Keith. Whittemore, Chari.es F. Secretary and General Supt. Davis Ed. L. Nichols, Electrical Works, Chicopee Falls, H. J. Ryan. Worswick, A. E. Electrical Engineer, A. F. McKissick. Mutual Light and Fower Co., R. W. Pope. Montgomery, Ala. N. S. Keith. Wray, J. Glen Cable Tester, Chicago Telephone Co , A V. Abbott. 104 Linn St., D. C. Jackson. Janesville, Wis. John E. Davies. Total, 48. The President :—I take great pleasure in introducing to you Mr. D. McFarlan Moore, who will read a paper entitled "A New Method for the Control of Electric Energy." American Institute 0/ Electrical Engineers^ New Vorh, September 20, 18Q3, President Houston in the Chair. A NEW METHOD FOR THE CONTROL OF BY D. JIc FARLAN MOORE. The rapid growth of electrical science, and the almost daily unprecedented addition to it of new inventions, have caused those well versed in the present state of the art to greet new theories with a certain amount of doubt, owing to the large number of false alarms that have been sounded to tell the world that all present theories and methods will, in the future, be history; and that a new and revolutionizing principle has been discovered. Be that as it may, there is reason to believe that this paper treats largely of an heretofore uninvestigated branch of electrical science and phenomena which may be of great value to the commercial world, and of even greater interest to the scientific world. The key to this branch of science may be expressed in a few words, viz:—A varying-in-pressure contact in a vacuum, produced by a variable magnetic field. The present means for the control of electric currents—ohmic resistance—is crude at its best, as in any form it is an uneconomical device. All existing forms of rheostats, regulators, resistance boxes, controllers, etc., are bulky, clumsy means for accomplishing a desired object. This is conspicuously illustrated in the case of stage regulators, which often occupy valuable floor space and consist of a tremendous weight and length of wire. That the design of apparatus for controlling current is a matter of great importance and is essential to all electrical installations, is exhibited in the fact that over half of the |