The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-09-26


pas succeeded eth the electric light.
It is not new thing for Mr.. Edison
% succeed with the electric light, and
hence the reader il not disappointed
in finding that the article is but q re-
iteration OF the assertions 80 widely
published last winter, and 30 gener-
ally ridiculed by scientific men. Mr..
Edison is always about to succeed,
and when, therefore, he tells us-thst
an exhibition is to begin two months
hence, it naturally proyokes q smile.
In this respect the methods OF two
inventors were never more strikingly
different than those OF Edison and
Brush. It is said the latter never per-
mits any preliminary flourish, and
never allows a piece OF mschinery to
20 from his hands until it is ready 10 |
entirely accomplish the purpose for
which it was intended. The failure
of the one and the substantial success
of the other attest which is the better
method. Brush long ago discarded the
incandescent lamp as impracticable
and expensive, but Edison seems to
have cluug to il with . lenaoity that
it's merits scarcely seem to warrant.
The only change that Edison seems
to have made 10 his lamp is the
substitution of the fibre OF Japanese
plant for the horseshoe paper
carbon, the form being changed
from g horseshoe to loop. 1t is
claimed that the bamboo is more
tenacious, and viii last longer when
subject to conclusions. Now it is q
well known fact in science that in
candeacent carbon, no matter what
the material is that has been carbon
lied, even in a perfect vacuum such
as Edison claims, if heated sufficiently
to be OF any value as light-produc-
ing agent, can last but G short time
owing to a peculiar disintegration OF
the material, the cause of which has
never been satisfactorily determined.
1t seems that Edison, in order TO
make his loops last reasonable
length of time, heats them to a low
temperature only, thus sacrificing
their light-producing power to add to
their durability, which mus! after all
be very much limited. But grantipg
that Edison's lamp is all that he
claims it to be, he is then simply on
the threshold OF the solution OF the
problem, for the question of economy
ia generating the current at once
arises. On this point Edison IN his
article carefully confines himself to
generalities. He announces. how
ever. that he has decided to use dy-
namo instead of magnetic machines,
and ten of these are to be placed at
each station, instead of 100 magnetic
machines as at first determined. With
120-horse power engine Mr.. Edison
says he will be able to drive 800
lights of 10-csndle power each, or
an aggregate illumination OF 5000
candles, equal to 800 gas jets OF the
normal standard OF 16-candle
power each. His generator is dis.
eribed as q rather poor form of the
D!emeps machine, and its compRTA-
tive efficiency may be judged when
we stats that ten dynamo machines
OF the Brush system will produce a
light equal to 10000 candles as
against 5000 candles according to
Edisou's claims. Edison, again,
only claims his lights to be 10-candle
power, and therefore will find some
difficulty in getting people to accept
the dim light OF a 10-candle power
lamp for that of q 16-candle power
gas jet. But those who have ex-
amined his new lamp claim that it is
not even 10-candle power, for
large amount Of light is lost by the
loops being fiat and therefore
giving scarcely any light at
the sides. Last winter Edison
claimed shat he would soon be able to
get ten of these lights from 1-Eorse
power, but now claims only five and
a half. It was apparent to those
who examined his apparatus last
winter from the sizs of the belt used
for driving, from the rspidity of the |
revolution OF the machine, and from
the heating of the armstures and
field magnets, that each machine
was absorbing from 5 to 7-horae
power, so that with four machines,
and the sixty lights be obtained, he
only got in fact three lights per
horse power. But granting that hs has
succeeded in getting even ak lights
per horse power, it would require
of coal for every ak
lights that would make it far less eco
nomical than gas. The plant is an
other item that Mr.. Edison does not
seem to have considered, but which
offers g grave obstacle to the intro
iuction Of the System In each block
u district OF a half mile square he
would require q separate plant. and
n 8 thickly populated city, like New
York, it would require large num-
,er of 120-horse power engines to
upply the light needed. In New
York 500 lamps would 20 but very
little way. There are 1000. 900 gas
burners in New York. and it would
equire ], 500, 900 of Edison's lamps
o supplsnt them. This would re-
luire about $500 120-horss power
lngines and 5000 dynamo ma |
,hies. II the engines cost $4,000 8
ach complete, and that is q low
stimate, It would cost SO, GOO, 900. !