A PRETTY LITTLE ELECTRIC HOT PLATE FOR TABLE USE

(The British Electric Transformer Co.)

Makes of Lamp.

The invention and development of the drawn-wire lamp, made by various firms and sold under trade names such as "Osram," "Mazda," and "Z," have made a great saving in the annual bill for electric light, and at the same time have raised the standard of illumination. With the carbon filament, a 32 c.p. lamp would burn for seven and a half hours with the expenditure of one unit of electricity. Now the same light can be obtained for twenty-five hours at the same cost with the metal filament lamp. Against this saving must be set the increased cost of the lamps and the fact that higher candle-power lamps are being used, so the saving is not as large as the above figures would indicate. This type of lamp will undoubtedly be further developed, and the time is not far distant when the present consumption will be considerably reduced, so that a combination of lower charges and improved lamps will bring the electric light within the reach of even "the poor man."

Scarcity of labour and the difficult state of the domestic labour market have made many people look round for labour- and dirt-saving methods of warming and of cooking; and certainly if not as attractive as a coal fire, an electric fire is both convenient and dirt and labour saving; it is likewise a boon in bedrooms and other rooms which need to be heated only for an hour or two at a time.

PLATE XLIII

AN ELECTRIC COOKER OF CONVENIENT MAKE SUITABLE FOR FAMILY USE

(Messrs. Townshends, Ltd.)