News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-11-23
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
AN EXCITING TIME IN GETTING MA
CHINERY STARTED.
steam Engines Running Away and BecOm-
ing MGrnrs Themselves

Edison does not have an easy time in
perfecting his electric light machinery.
The station in New York City is in Pearl
street, near Fulton, and there are already
six immense dynamo machines, each run
by a 2O0-horse power engine, completed
and ready for operation. Each dynamo
Is capable of furnishing sufficient cleo
trlclty to furnish ], 400 lights, and as,
when the whole district is completed,
there will be over 14,O0O lights to fur
nlsh, it will be 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 in 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 not what
had been expected. The difficulty, as
explained to reporter by Mr.. Edison,
may be summed up as follows =
81 found on trying the experiment, :"
said Mr.. Edison, ''that the trouble was
that ubaD +bn o1oo+,;o o,,,,,o,,4 e.,o,,, L.
dynamos was united it was impossible to
make them work smoothly, for the reason
that If 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 merely as an electro-motor
'The result Of the first experiment
was such as to astonish the engineers
and every one who witnessed it, and
came near proving serious. When the
current from the second dynamo was
turned on, first one engine and then the
other would go like lightning, and first
one and then the other was converted
into motor. One of the engineers, wit
Messing the effect, shut off steam, and
still his engine was running Just as
rapidly as before
''He came running toward me as white
as a sheet, exclaiming: My God, Mr.
Edison, what is the matter? 1 have shut
off the steam, and yet my engine is run
ming at lightning speed and [ can't stop
it. In addition to the 200 horsepower
engines running at high rate of speed,
there are also attached to each foUr-ton
bobbin, which in effect increased the
power equal to about 1 200 horse.
''Thenex thing that happenedwa the
melting in a second of six or eight
pounds of copper, which was thrown off
in sort of vapor, filling the room and
nearly binding every one present.
Everybody present groped their way to
the windows, half frightened to death
If the whole six machines had been in
operation at the time don't know what
would have happened. L suppose every
body would have jumped out of the win
dows.
''Ftell you it was a pretty serious bust
ness, and [ saw at once that had pretty
difficult job before me to overcome it.
But | saw what the trouble was and
what would have to be done to remedy it.
'"The problem to be solved was to in
vent some plan by which all the engines
could be made to run at the same speed,
so as to make them practically one en-
gine. And that is just what has occa-
stoned the delay. As many of our Gus
toners had dispensed entirely with gas
and were relying on us for light, it was
for us to furnish them and |
hence we were forced to manufacture |
some electricity.
81 at once applied myself to the task |
of perfecting an apparatus whereby all |
the automatic regulators of the several |
engines could be connected, and this plan |
was soon perfected. But it has taken |
month to construct and perfect the ap-
paratus. 1t is now completed and in per-
feet order and it works to perfection.
eve are turning on light every day
and can safely assert that the success of
the district system has been placed be-
yond doubt or question. The district in
question will, when the entire plant is
contain about nineteen miles
Of underground wires, of which about
seven miles are already laid and con-
lected.