The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-09-27
THE TELEMACHoN.
An Electric Machine that VIII Transmit
Power by Wffs=-fhe F0rces0f Niagara to
Be Distributed Over the United States.
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transmitting it from regions where not
used to points where it is invaluable,
has long puzzled scientists. In places
away from the seaboard and the great
water cources, especially, power has
heretofore been obtained only by the
erection of expensive machinery, the
constant generation of steam, and the
consequent consumption of vast guam
titles of coal brought from distance.
While visiting the mining regions of
the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains
in his late western tour, Prof Edison
was struck with the difficulty there had
by miners in drilling and boring, though
in many cases in the vicinity of rapidly
flowing mountain streams. Except in
"placer" mining, where the ore is wash
ed out of the bed or banks of a river or
where expensive steam drills are used,
the work of mining is laborious While
watching miners drilling by hand, a
means of facilitating this work evolved
itself from Edison's fertile brain. Turn
ing to his Intimate friend, Prof. Barker,
of the University of PENNSYLVANIA, he
exclaimed, abstractedly, "Why cannot
the power of yonder river (pointing to
the Platte river on the plain a thousand
feet below be transmitted to these men
by electricity?'' This thought seemed
not to go from Edison's head, and all
the way across the plains on their Jour
ney home he and his friend, 'Barky," as
he calls him, discussed various problems
for the transmission of power
Before starting for the west, Professor
Barker had visited Ansonia, Conn,
where his friend Mr.. William Wallace,
is engaged in the manufacture of eIectri-
cal machines. Mr.. Wallace has profound
scientific research, and besides the me-
chanical part of his business, he devotes
himself enthusiastically to that part of
physics that cOmprehends electricity,
magnetism, and the polarization of light
He showed Prof. Barker an instrument
to which he had devoted the best years
of his life, but which was yet in crude
condition. He was still experimenting
with it, but he believed he would so per
feet it as to transmit power from one
point to another by means of electricity.
When the Edison party had arrived in
New York, Prof. Barker bethought him.
self of the instrument previously shown
him by his friend, and which at the time
he had only curiously examined. He
invited Prof. Edison to visit Ansonia,
an invitation that was at once accepted.
The party consisted of Prof Edison and
Barker, Prof. Chandler, of the board of
health, and Mr.. Edison's assistant, Mr..
Bachelor.
1t was an agreeable surprise to the
party to find that Mr.. Wallace had per-
fected his machine. Being exceedingly
modest and caring not for notoriety, he
had shown the instrument to few, and
these only persons whose lack of scien-
tific knowledge prevented them from
comprehending its usefulness. Mr.. Wal
lace calls it telemach0n, and he smiled
with pride as he pointed to a numberfof
L.
ment upon its predecessor, and each
having required years to design and
nearly 1000 to construct.
MIR. Edison was enraptured. He fair
ly gloated over it. Then power was APP
piled to the telemachon, and eight cleo
trio lights were kept ablaZe at one time,
each being equal to four thousand can
dies, the subdivision of electric lights
being unknown to science. This filled
up Mr.. EdisOn's cup of joy. He ran
from the instruments to the lights, and
from the lights back TO the instrument.
He sprawled over the table with the
simplicity of a child, and made all kinas
of calculations. He calculated the pow
er of the instrument and of the lights,
the probable loss of power in transmits
sion, the amount of coal the instrument
would save in day, a week, month,
manufacturing.
The cool, impressive professor Chand-
Ter also went about, notebook in hand,
informing himself upon the minutest de-
tails
That man like Mr.. Wallace, after
studying privately upon the subject for
years, should calmly, deliberately and
without ostentatiOn, bring out before
them an instrument calculated to revo-
tutioniZe the whole manufacturing bust
ness, filled the party with amazement.
By means of it power may be obtain
ed from places where river power or IL
dial power is abundant, or may be gener-
ated where fall is cheap, as at the coal
mines, and by means of an ordinary ca
bic can be transmitted hundreds of
miles. The cable may be tapped at any
point and power used therefrom.
Mr.. Edison believes he can so assist
Mr.. Wallace in perfecting the telema-
chon that power can be transmitted from
one point to another as though it were a
telegraphic message. Already by this
instrument Mr.. Wallace is enabled to
transmit the power of the Naugatuck
river quarter of mile. The power of
this stream is great enough to drive the
ponderous machinery of the Wallace
factory, where 300 men are employed.
% Settles Vi experiments Will Ill0 lnSUru-
ment has shown that in the transmission
of this enormous power by electricity,
only 20 per cent. is lost.
In this instrument the electricity is
produced by the Wallace dynam-electric
machine, no battery being used. -Four
large electro magnets are placed with
their poles facing each other. On the
axis parallel with and situated between
them is a disc of iron carving upon its
opposite faces row of electro-magnets
thirty in number on each face, whose
poles, facing outward, revolve as close
as possible to the poles of the large
magnets, called the field of force On
the same axis, but outside of these discs,
strips of copper are placed equal in num-
Der to the magnets on the discs, each
strip of copper being connected to one
end of the wire of the magnet. The 9TH
er end of the wire goes to the next strip.
Each strip, therefore, is connected to
the last ends of the coils and to the first
end of that Immediately following it.
When the disc, with its magnets, is re-
yOlved by any power, the weak magnet
ism remaining in the iron itself gener-
ates a current of electricity IN the wire
surrounding these magnets. In virtue
of the principle discovered by Farraday,
that whenever a conducting wire is
mOVSO IN the Vicinity OF q magnet,
current of electricity is caused to circu.
late in that wire, the feeble current thus
generated flows around the feeble mag
nets of the field of force, increasing their
This increased magnetism
reaches upon the revolving magnets, in
creases the electric current, and so,
until the maximum is gen
Grated in the wires ofthe revolving mag
nets This current bears for each per
fectly definite ratio to the power con-
summed, and they are capable of convert
Ing SOper cent. of the power applied in
TO electricity. The electric current gen
Grated is carried by two copper wires to
a second machine, the telemachon. This
effects the reverse operatiOn-that is to
say, the reconversion of the electricity
into mechanical power. The telemachon
consists of a field of force and a revolv-
ing armature. This field of force con-
sists of twelve electromagnetic in two
sets of six each, the poles of each set
facing each other and connected togeth-
er by heavy bands or bridges. In the
space inclOsed by these magnets, and
parallel with them, is the armature axis
supporting an armatufe consisting of a
ringsof iron wire servingas acore around
which is wound an insulated copper
wire in two series of fifty coils. The
ends of these wires come out alternately
to the right and left of Che armature. and
are connected with two break pieces up
on their axis Six sDrinCS 0T- brushes