The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-10-21
.EDIS0N'S NEW MARVELS.
Ono Hundred Miles IN Hour on
tho Great Railroads
WILL Be ATTAINED BY HIS MOTOR.
That viii Dc the Speed and Steam IL
TO 10 Suppresscd.-.Ifls Lately Per.
icctcu Street Car Motive Power
Docs Away with Overhead Wires
ana Storage Battcrics...imp"ovcd
Rapid Transit IL Coming Soon.

New YoRH, Oct. 20.--Thomas A. Eli.
son, the electrical wizard, has just com.
plotted two inventions before the won.
dcriul and far reaching results OF which
Ill his other remarkable discoveries
arc comparatively insignificant.
One is tho practical application OF
electricity to great railroad lines, by
which speed far beyond anything
achieved by steam may be attained,
and the other tho application OF cleo
trici,y TO The propulsion OF street ears
without the use OF the dangerous, un-
slightly and inconyenient overhead con-
s.ruction, which has heretofore been
referred to in these dispatches.
For two years Mr.. Edison has been
engaged on experiments III this diroc-
ton. lie has met with almost insuper-
able difficulties, but he has stuck to his
work with that logged pertinacity for
which he is famous, and at last he has
been successful.
The general principle OF the street car
invention is that tho electric current
passes down through one line Of rails. is
picked up by the car, passes through
tho motor beneath it, and goes out on
the other side and returns through tho
other line OF rails to tho central power
station.
At the first thought tho bare idea OF
this is paradoxical. The question will
naturally occur why the electrical cur.
rent does not dissipatc itself in thc
ground. To this no positive reason cNn
be assigned except the bare statement
that it does not In general terms the
effect is accomplished byhaving the cur
rent one OF low voltage or pressure. 1t
is Il well settled 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. Mr.. .Edi-
sons experiments have all been in this
dircction-that is to say, in the endcav-
or to construct Il motor sufficiently pow
criul to do the work, in which the volt
age was reduced to SO low point that
the natural tendency OF the electric cur
rent to fly off to the ground and be dis
sipatcd would be overcome, and the
passage through the motor to the oppo-
site rail would be easier for the current
than to pass through the ground 10 the
centralstatlon.
The plan OF having central rail for
the return current was experimental
Oh ior 4 long time, but when the motor
had been perfected SO 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 Il
quarter Of mile long, was constructed
through the laboratory yard down to
the yard OF the Edison Photograph
works. In its length it presented all the
various kinds OF difficulties that actual
use would encounter. a part OF it was
laid on 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 conditions of actual use were
provided.
The experiments have now been fully
completed and the invention passes
out OF the first experimental stage into
the second stage, its adaptation to prac-
tical work. The experiments have been
made by Mr.. Edison for the Edison
General Electric Company, and until
Mr.. Ellison has turned the invention
over TO that company Tor actual work,
the minute details OF the invention arc
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 average voltage OF the
overhead t.olly system is in excess OF
5O0 From this it will be seen how
great 4 revolution tho new invention
will effect in the whole matter OF electric
traction. Several prominent horse rail
road systems have offered their lines to
tho Edison General Electric Company
Tor the introduction OF The invention,
and it is probable that i selection will
be made in the near future and arrange.
AiiS!itS iA.'NC W pNb tIlS Hl5b IisryblEtti
experimental line in operation.
The most remarkable feature OF the
invention is in the "piel; ups that
take the current from one line OF rails.
Anovcl and ingenious mechanism has
been so arranged that it will work with
perfect certainty and effect through six
inches OF mud or slush or work.
NEW SIZED RECORDS PROMISED.
Mr.. Edison's other great discovery is
to obriatc the difficulty met in the at.
tainmcnt OF high speed on Tho ordinary
Steam railway, which is the interference
o; steam. Tho injection and exhaust Of
tho steam into and from the cylinders is
so rapid in its alienation that beyond 8
certain limit it is impossible to work,
md this is IN Inherent defect in I'LL
steam propulsion because of the ncccs.
aity OF the conversion OF rcciprocating
motion into rotary motion. In the new
electric motor this difficulty vanishos,
and the limit Of speed IS only tina: oil
tho endurance OF the machinery and
the strength oil tho tracks.
With this invention OF Mr.. Edison q
speed OF 100 miles or moro an hour will
be more easily attained than tho ordi
nary speed Of fifty to sixty miles al
hour. This is also IN the hands OF the
Edison General Electric Company, anG
negotia tons arc now in progress fol
the application of the system to one 0
tho long lines OF railway.