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Muirhead & Co., and Messrs. Siemens & Co., which are fixed upon the
same bed plate. These engines are driven by six boilers of the locomotive
type by Messrs. Davey, Paxman & Co. The system adopted
is the low tension continuous current, the mains being laid on the
three wire system. At the time of your Sub-Committee's visit, the
Company were supplying about 45,000 lights of 8 c.p., and the system
adopted had proved eminently satisfactory. This Company is
undoubtedly the most successful electric lighting undertaking at
work, from a financial point of view, at the present time. Its capital,
according to Electricity, at the end of 1891 amounted to £99,900
ordinary shares and £100,000 preference shares. The total expenditure
on capital account amounted to £139,458, while it had placed to
reserve, depreciation and redemption funds, the sum of £21,820.
The revenue for the year ending 31st December, 1891, amounted to
£31,898, against an expenditure of £21,336, a profit during the year
of £10,562. The dividend paid was 8½ per cent. on ordinary shares
and 7 per cent. on preference shares. The accounts for the year 1892,
which have been recently published, shew a still more satisfactory
return. Dividends have been declared for the year at 7 per cent. on
the preference and 7¼ per cent. on the ordinary shares. This
commercial success is doubtless due to a large extent to the exceptional
district which the Company supplies, but there are other
causes which contribute to this result. For instance, the Company
has the largest output of any Company working on the low tension
system, and consequently the working expenses have been considerably
reduced. The total cost per unit delivered to consumer in 1891 is
shewn in a statement which recently appeared in Lightning at 4.77d.,
as against 6.41d. for the Westminster Company and 5.l7d. for the
Kensington and Knightsbridge Company. The same cost for the
year 1892 is returned at 4.24d. The price charged by the Company
is 7d. per Board of Trade unit.
Kensington and Knightsbridge Company, Kensington Court.
Your Sub-Committee visited this Station on the 23rd of November. The
members were met at the Station by Mr. Crompton, of Messrs.
Crompton & Co., Electrical Engineers, and the Secretary of the
Company (Mr. R. S. Erskine). This Company supplies a somewhat
limited area around Kensington Court, Cromwell Road, Queen's