The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-10-22
RDIsoN's LATEST MARvEL5.
100 Miles an Hour to be the Speed on
the Great Railroads.
From the Nelc Yo,k World.

From the Neic Yo'k World
Thomas A. Edison, the electrical wizard,
has lust CO npleted two inventions before
the wonderful and far-reeching results Of
which all his other remarkable discoveries
are comparatively Insignificant.
One is the practical application Of cleo
tricty TO the great railroad lines, by which
speed far beyond anything achieved by
steam may be attained, aud the other the
application of electricity 70 the propulsion
OF street cars without the use OF the danger
Gus, unsightly and inconvenient overhead
construcnoI.
For two years Mr.. Edison has been ems
gagged On experiments in this direction. He
has met with almost innumerable Difficult
ties, but ne has stuck to his work with that
logged pertinacity for which be is famous,
and at last has been successful.
The general principle Of the street car
invention is that the electric current passes
down through one line of rails, il picked up
by the car, passes through the motor be-
meath It, and goes out on the other side and
returns through the other line Of rails to
the central power station.
At the first thought the bare idea Of this
is paradoxicaL The question will naturally
occur why the electric current does not dis.
sipate itself in the ground. To this no
positive reason can be assigned except the
20 oldbSIlcub kusAk IL GOec GOb Ia oiAS1 al
terms the effect is accomplished by having
the current one Of low voltage or pressure
Ii IS a well settle principle Of electrical re-
search that the higher the voltage the
greater must be the insulation, and that the
lower the voltage can be brought the
less need Of insulation. MIR. Edisons
experiments have all been in this
| direction-that is to say. in the endeavor TO
Construct a motor sufficiently powerful
n do fha work in, vvhipD tina UOltQ "a
duced to so low q point that The natural
] tendency of the electric cur -ent TO fly OF 20
the ground and be dissipated would be over
come, and the passage through the motor TO
the opposite rail would be easier for the
current than to pass through the ground to
the central station.
The plan Of having central rail for the
return current was experimental on for a
long time, but when the motor had been
perfected 80 that it would work efficiently
Mr.. Edison found that he could dispense
with the central rail and return the current
directly TO the station through the opposite
rail.
ON THE EXPERIMENTAL TRACK.
The experiments were conducted at the
great laboratory in West Orange. Here an
experimental track. nearly quarter of O
mile long, was constructed through the
laboratory yard down to the yard OF the
presented all the various kinds of difficulties
that actual use would encounter. A part
OF it was laid on a very heavy grade Of
nearly 800 feet to the mile; there are several
sharp curves in the road, and portion of it
runs through sunken spot where the track
could be flooded with water or covered with
mud. In this way all the varying condi-
tons OF actual use we're provided.
The experiments have now been fully
n0mnlafaA a nd tina fnyaptinn otYf s,f
the first experimental stage into the second
stage, its adaptation to practical work. The
experiments have been made by M. Edison
for the Ellison General Electric Company,
and until Mr.. Edison has turned the invea-
uon over TO that company for actual work
the minute details of the invention are of
necessity withheld from the public
Enough, however, has been said to show
the character of the invention. The voltage
Of the current employed will be, as has been
said, very low, less than 100, while the aver
age voltage OF the overhead trolley system
is in excess of 800. From this it will be seen
how great a revolution the new invention
will effect in the whole matter of electric
traction. Several prominent horse railroad
systems have offered their lines to the Edi-
son General Electric Company for the in
PRODUCTION OF the invention. and it is posi-
BILE that selection will be made in the near
future and arrangements made to put the
first practical experimental line in opera
ton.
The most remarkable feature OF the IN
ventlon is in the ''pick ups" that take the
current from the line of rails A novel and
ingenious mechanism has been 80 arranged
that it will work with perfect certainty and
effect through six inches Of mud or slush or
water.
NEW SPEED RECORDS PROMISED.
Mr.. Edison's other great discovery is to
obviate the difficulty met in the attainment
of high speed on the ordinary steam rail-
way, which is the interference of steam.
The injection and exhaust Of the steam into
and from the cylinders is SO rapid in its
alienation that beyond certain limit it is
impossible to work, aud this is an inherent
defect in all steam propulsion because Of the
necessity or the conversion of reciprocating
motion into rotary motion. In the new
electric motor this difficulty vanishes, and
the limit of speed is only that Of the endur-
ance Of the machinery and the strength Of
the tracks.
With this invention of Mr.. Edison a
speed Of 100 miles OF more an hour will be
more easily attained than the ordinary
speed of fifty TO sixty miles an hour. This
is also in the hands Of the Edison General
Electric Company. and the negotiations are
now in progress for the application of the
system to one Of the long lines of railways.