Direct current lifts

Elevators or lifts in this town have in most cases in the past been designed principally as a means of avoiding the climbing of stairs, and their utility as such was very well demonstrated recently by their absence owing to the strike. The engineer was given very little consideration in erecting the machine and was usually assigned some out-of-the-way place, possibly under staircases, in which to instal the machine. To-day the utility is better appreciated, and the design, speed, and capacity are carefully considered in relation to the number of passengers or weight of goods, speed, number of floors to be served, and number of stops. In America express lifts are largely used, travelling many floors at a high speed (600 or 700 feet per minute), and then running local for the rest of the trip. In this town no buildings warrant such a service, and our fastest machine is 340 feet per minute. This speed is too great for local work, but is a great time-saving factor in returning to the ground floor or answering a call when two or three floors have to be travelled. The local speed of the machine is about 250 feet per minute. The average speed for passenger lifts in this town is about 200 feet per minute, although there are many of 250 feet to 300 feet.