Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-11-11
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
An EXCITING TIME IN GETTING: MA
CHINERY STARTED.
steam Engines Running Away and BccOm-
ing Motors Themselves.

Edison does not have an easy time III
perfectng his electric light machinery
The station i'll New York City is in Pearl
street. near Fulton, and there are already
six immense dynamo machines, each run
by 20O-horsc power engine. completed
and ready for operation. Each dynamo
is capable of furnishing sufficient cleo
tricity to furnish 400 lights and rs,
when the whole district is completed,
there will be over 14,000 lights to fur
nish, it will he necessary to have six
more similar machines to operate the en-
tire district.
The six dynamos already completed
and set up were ready for use seven
weeks ago. but when they came to be
tested defects were found to exist III the
machinery which were at once recognized
as serious and which it has taken Mr.
Edison all that time to overcome. Each
engine and dynamo are on one bed-plate
and form one machine.
The idea was to turn all the electricity
generated by the six machines into one
set of mains When the experiment was
tried. however. the result was moi What
had been expected. The difficulty, as
cNpl lined to reporter by Mr.. Edison,
may he summed up as follows =
Il found ON irving the experiment, $
said Mr.. Edison. THAT the trouble was
that when the electric current from two
dvnamos was unit 4 It was impossible 10
make tn m work smoothly, for the reason
that ii one engine ran faster than the
other the fast engine would take all the
load off the slow one, and the slow engine
would be run mcr,l " rs I'm clectro-motor.
The result Of the first experiment
was such rs to astonish the engineers
and every one who witnessed it, and
c.umc near proving serious. When the
| current from the second dynamo was
turned on. first one engine and then the
other would 90 like lightning, and first
one and then the other was converted
into Il motor. One of the engineers, wit
Messing the effect, shut off steam. and
still his engine was running just as
rapidly rs before.
He came running toward me as white
as a sheet. exclaiming My God, Mr.
! Edison. what is the matter? ] have shut
off the steam. and yet my engine is run
ming at lightning speed and | can't stol
it. In addition to the 300 horsepower
engines running ut high rate of speed
there are also attached to each four-tou
bobhn. which i'll effect increased thu
power equal 10 about 900 horse.
"ThcncXt thing that happencdwas the
melting in a second of six or eight
pounds Of copper, which was thrown of
in sort of vapor, filling the room and
nearly binding every one present.
Everybody present CROPPED their way to
the windows, half frightened to death
If the whole six machines had been il
operation 1T the time | don't know what
would have happened. | suppose every
body would have jumped out Of the win
dows.
II tell you it was a pretty serious bust
ness. and saw at once that had prctt,
difficult Job before me to overcome it
But | saw what the trouble was auC
what would have to he done to remedy it
The problem to he solved was to in
vent some plan by which all the engine
could he made to rum at the same speed
50 as to make them practically one en-
CINE And that is just what has occa
stoned thu delay. As many of our Gus
toners had dispensed entirely with ga
and were relying on us for light, it wa
necessary for MS to furnish them anC
hence we were forced to manufactur,
some electricity.
II at one applied myself TO the tasl
Of pert citing an apparatus whereby al
the automatic regulators Of the severa
engines could he connected, and this plan
was soon p If ctad But it has taken
month to construct and p IF ct the up
parltus. l. is now complet d and in pr
f ct order and it works to p If elton.
we are turning on light every ia,
and | can safely assert that the success o
the district system has been placed be
yond doubt or question. The district il
question viii, when the entire plant i
completed, confirm about nineteen mile
OF underground wires. Of which abou
seven miles are already laid and con
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