Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-18

sI"As"k BATTERY sNsrfN vaica OFFICERS OF
THE ROAD THINK Is FRACricaBLK-THE Road
To BE EeuTrPED WITH srcH Cars IN c.sr
FURTHER rEsrs RESULT sArIsracroRuY.
Quite large crowd Of people WAS STANDING
IN front of the Metropolitan Railroad Com
pany's P-street office yesterday evening. gazing
intently al a something IN the car shed. NOT
visible TO the pSsser by. A Sr,R reporter. IN
route to Georgetown, dropped OF a wes,-bound
car 10 add little 70 the avoirdupois %
the multitude and then saw the object
of public curiosity. There was moth
ing extraordinary in its appearance.
Ii was an ordinary strcst car at first GLANCE.
bright and new; but that was nothing rare.
Almost before the curious mob could get out
Of the way the apparently helpless car made =
dash for 4 street and the mystery was cleared
up. for on the orange-hucd dashboard. IN
shiny silver letters Was the legend. Electric
Motor Car No. Is Met RE- Co"
THE CAR srPEAEs
'E-r-rang' went big electrically excited
gong. aud the car shot ont onto 4 street and
raced down to the bridge. then 1t reversed
and moved toward Georgetown az whatever
rate Of speed the operator called for. Aftcr it
had been exercised little II WAS run back
under shelter and declared 10 be satisfactory
10y President George ". Pearson OF the Metro
P"lItan company and Directors Robert Besll.
A. A. Thomas aud nr. Clark.
This Is the car. said President Pearson 20
the lnqulrlug reporter. The storage battery
system has always been regarded as the best
but heretofore there have been serious difficult
hes M the way of Is practical everyday Appli-
catlon- We have the correct principle right
here. and Mr.. Pearson looked as though ne
was very much pleased indeed.
THE RESULT OF Much LABOR
Coming right in at this time when the eth
street cable line has just starte q out the public
VIII doubtless be considerably interested in a
motor that promises to succeed horse power on
the street and 9Th street lines of the Metro
pChtan 'oinpany. For nearly three years past
the management have been looking everywhere
Tor an independents motor. Ii did
not want system which would. n
any serious accident occurred 20 machinery
embarrass the working OF the entire road. each
ear must Ice perfectly independent of the
other Some time ago drawings we're made
ana specifications prepared for storage
battery motor and since then couple of eNper,
electricians have been az work making and as
sembllng the various pieces of mechanism
The system employed l. neg and original
one IN which. II Is claimed. the weaknesses
OF previous lnve ntions are avoided The chief
electrician. Mr.. {. %. MaIllouN, invented
number OF important improvements and the
result Was seen in the exhibition given last
night. There Will be several additional tests
made before the motor will be regarded as
fully equal To ITS work. but no one who saw the
ear move believes that the final result will be
at all unsatisfactory.
DESCRIPTION or THE CAR
The car does not differ materially from the
regular twO-hOrse cars on 4 street Fastened
against the inside OF the dashboard and 70 the
left hand of the 'motorneer''-as the driver is
called-ls seml-cIrculAr box. which rises a
couple of inches above the rail In the center Of
the top are two horizontal handles. Joined to-
Sether IN the middle Immediately above n figure
marked dial Beneath tins dial and inside the
box Is rotary switch, by means of which the
amount OF electric energy delivered TO the
motor can be regulated so as 70 produce differ
ent rates of speed. When the needle points
10 zero the car ~ generally motiOnless; IN
1t Is turned to the figure 1 the motor
begins TO whirr, and If the motornesr
Is so disposed the ear moves: at
the power Is materially increased and when
the needle is over the the motor has a gait
on 1t that beats even runaway. This easv
regulation of power is accomplished partly by
grouping the batteries and partly by grouping
the winding of the motors.
AN AUTOMATIC ''crr-our"
OF good deal of interest to the travelling
public. for whose Use the car and lot more
like IL are intended, is the automatic safety de-
vice. ''cut-out. which is inside the switch
box. If there Is a short circuit. If the circuit
becomes disconnected. if there is any approach
to dangerous flashing. II anything goes wrong.
this device shuts the whole trouble
right on before il becomes apparent
to anyone but tine motorneer. Alongside
the semi-cylindrical switch-boN is the reversing
switch. a simple piece of mechanism which can
be operated either by hand or foot. and which
enables the car to be reversed in an instant.
This is one of the best features OF the novel
mechanism. for heretofore reversing was ALWAYS
accompanied by a disastrous breaking OF cogs
and debllitation of gears.
THE LEVER.
At the right hand of the motorneer is steel
lever about four feet long and similar 10 those
used on a cable grip. Ii is a combination and
has two functions. When it is drawn back ward
III its ratchet-slot IL couples the axle with the
motor 10y means OF the peculiar gear used.
When it is perfectly vertical IL has no Office
The mOtorneer has full control by this
lever. The motor is started by the
switch-handes. but IL races-runs without con-
nection-untl the lever is moved back
II IL is only shifted "A notch or two the ear
moves OFF so easily that its first motion il
barely apparent; as il is pulled harder the speed
increases, but If the mOtorneer wants to stol
the car he can do IL by forcing the lever for
ward, thus disconnectlng the motor and the
aXles and allowing the former TO race. Start
ing ANA stopping can be accomplished without
Earring the passengers in the least.
THE STORAGE BATTERIES
There are two motors. one on each axle but
they are so connected as to he operated stimuli
taneously. Each is nominally of twelve horse
power The electrical force is stored in and
drawn from l2O cells. 60 on each side OF the
car They are some distance beneath the seats
and are reached by lowering the hinged panel
along the bottom of the car body At present
il has not been definitely decided what kind Of
a battery will be used a steady thing
Above the mOtorneer's head, alongside the
front door. is an electric gong operated by a
button. which is easily reached by the motor
ncer's feet. 4 brilliant electric lamp will be
made TO DO duty as a headlight and the lllumi-
nation III the interior of the car Is by incan-
descent lights.
The motor was constructed from drawings
by Electrician G.. q. MaillouN and his assistant.
Mr.. 4. II. Chamberlain, and Yesterdays test
was the first practical one which has been
made. Supt. Richard ". Wilkinson also had a
good deal to do with the incorporation Of car
and motor. Everything moved very smoothly
and there was minimum OF noise. IL the mo-
tor Is uniformly successful in the remaining
tests the company intends equipping their lines
with motors in place of horsefesh.
Excitement I'm the Banana Market.
From the Baltimore sun today.
Yesterday morning the steamship Pirate OF
c. c. Buchanan & Co.'S feet arrived at Bowlys
wharf with cargo of bananas from Port An