Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-04-21
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
INTERESTING MATTERS FROM
TIE FIELD OE SCIENCE,
The Woodbridge Gun--Wood Bent
Like Wiz Q --New Departure In
Electric Traoti-
New Departure In Electric Trao-

New Departure In Electric Trao-
ton.
A system OF electric traction, which
embodies new application OF meth
DDS at present in use, was recently
tested at Coney Island The inven.
tor is n colored man, The claim is
made for this system, that il IL not
the trolley, nor the storage battery,
nor the conduit, but an entirely
original method OF overcoming the
difficulties met with in all As n
matter OF fact, has many points i'll
common with the last named sys-
tenn,
Iron blocks or "heads" placed
along tho track project about three
quarters oil an inch above the sur
lace OF the street, and are connected
by wire which runs underground to n
distributing station near by. The
distributing stations are built in the
form of lampposts, and each one
has from twelve to twenty
batteries. Each battery -
connected with a separate head
AMI so arranged that it only can sup
ply current at the time, The car is
supplied with copper brushes which
pass over tho heads aud thus cause
the current TO bo transmitted. An
excellent feature of the system il that
when the front brush strikes n head,
the rear brush IL just leaving one,
thus closing a current in each. There
are no exposed wires ana no portion
of the line is alive except that beneath
the car. A block or arrangement OF
any portion Of the road does not al
feet any other part of the line, The
System OF employing distributing sta
tions, located u block apart, prefer
ably in the form of lamp posts, pro
vides means for lighting the streets,
or supplying electric lights along the
line oil the road without having ex-
posed wires at any point.
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT IN UNIVERSAL USE.
The electric light, perfect as it IL,
would know no rival were it's cost
brought within an easily feasible limit.
Increase in it's popularity and reduc-
| ton in it's price have, IL is true, gone
hand in hand from the day OF it's in
PRODUCTION Yet the consumption OF
the electric light is but small frac.
| ton OF what il can be made to be, In
New York City, for example, the lead
| la. al. nt,.t,, lt,t,
per cent. last year in i;s aggregate OF
Gust omers, yet at the end OF the
twelvemonth their number was only
| 1915. A tar estimate OF the grand
| total OF electric consumers IN the me
tropolis, including patrons OF other
companies and users oiisolnted plants
would be 5000 What il this number
compared to the city's populatlonY
| What would 5000 consumers oil water
have to pay were the mains OF Croton
laid solely for their benefit So the
query suggests itself. What reduction
in price would bepracticable were cleo.
trio light, like water, provided
in every house in New York;
The question is pertinent ut
this time, when electricians are
agreed that the first experimental
stage OF their art has closed, leaving
the essentials in production and dis.
tribution at the point OF practical
perfection. During the years OF the
Immediate future progress lies IN
bringing to every mans door tho
Proteus, which is light, motive power
heat, or chemical energy, rs master
| wills.