Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1892 — Estimating Horse Power. [ARTICLE]

Estimating Horse Power.

The horse-power unit was established by James Watt about a century ago, and the figures were Settled in a curious way. Watt, in his usual careful manner, proceeded to find out the average work which the horses of his district could perform, and he found that the raising of 22,000 pounds one foot per minute was about an actual horse-power. As a method of encouraging business, Watt offered to sell engines reckoning 33,000 foot pounds to a horse-power, or one-third more than the actual.