Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-02-14
ELECTRIC RAILWAY PATENTS.
The Control of Green's Inventions Trans
ferred to New York Company.

The interest awakened about a year ago by
the issuance Of the two patents to Geo. F.
Green OF Kalamazoo. Mich, covering his pio-
neer electrical railway inventions has been re-
rived with promise of interesting litigation by
the announcement of transfer of the patent
privileges by the assignee, o. s. Kelly, of
Springfield. Ohio, to the General Electrical
Company of New York. The negotiations for
the transfer Of the patents were conducted on
behalf of Mr.. Kelly through his attorneys, But
terworth and Dowell of this chs, and an ar
rangement has been effected whereby the
company is to acquire the full and exclusive
rights under the patents. 1t is understood
that the consideration for this acquisition to
the already large and extensive patent privileges
OF that company runs up into the hundreds of
Thousands Of dollars. 1t is claimed that these
patents are at the very foundation of electrical
railroading and cover broadly the principle in
volved in the electrical railway systems now in
common use throughout the country, so as to
render the various trolley systems tributary to
the owners of these basic patents.
The history OF these patents is both inter
esting and instructive, particularly to q large
class OF persons who are financially and other
wise interested in the electric propulsion of We
hicles for carrying passengers, especially as
applied to street railway service. The patents
were issued on December 10. 1891, and num-
August 10, 1879. as shown by the patent. office
records, on which date the original apple. ION
was filed.
Mr.. GREENS FIRST EXPERIMENTS.
"hie o'ueiS "e'e iseu'sinS 'ne possiplities
OF electric traction, and as early as 1885, shortly
after the striking experiments of Page had
drawn attention to the subiect Mr. Cream than
earning n livelihood as n working necbanic
was deyoting his leisure bours to The constrrc,
ton of an electric railway and built His first
small-sized experimental railway in 1875 which
he operated in the presence Of friendz and &C.
quaintances, causing the little car 70 run back
and forth over the track to the great amuse-
.u .ioli Vi himself ana lrieius.
of filing his anplication a cbaip Of circnm-
stances, combined with his poverty and the
general incredulity of the public as to the DOS
sibility of electric propulsion becoming COM
mercial success, prevented him from patenting
and introducing his inventions. but in spite of
overwhelming discouragments and with poverty
staring himself and family in the face he con-
tinued his efforts to raise means and to interest
capitalists for the purpose of demonstrating
tie commercial practicability Of his ideas by
building a commercial street railway, but
without success
In 1873 he succeeded in building n small trial
railroad. which attracted considerable atten-
ton and received complimentary notices in
limited and the difficulties which he encoun-
tered in trying to build a commercial road
we're insurmountable with his meager earnings.
But in 1873 he succeeded in building and oper-
ated an experimental railway. which. as shown
by the records of the applications in the patent
Office. was the first railroad of the character
now i'll common use and capable of carrying
passengers that was ever built in any country
A number of experiments we're made prior to
that date by other inventors. but they did not,
it is claimed. amount to practical contriyances
for the accomplishment OF the much-desired
result.
PRIOR rxprp,Nrxrs
-, -.
=, 'Ao LID. iOeu experiment was
lha' OF lhomss davenport OF Springfield,
Mass. who. in December, 1885, constructed a
mipiature electric railway FoIlowing Daven-
port Scotchman bv the name Of Davidson
constructed an electrical locomotive in 1912
and tried it on the Edinburgh and Glasgow
railway. 1t carried batteries. &c. weighing
about five tons and attained a speed of about
five miles an hour Int like Davennort's ey.
periment. was abandoned AZ imDracticabIe
The next notable experiment was that of
Prof Moses G. Farmer, who in 1874 exhibited
an electromagnetic locomotive which. it is
said. with forty-eieht pint Gun cells of Grove
nitric acid batteries drew little car CARRYING
TWO persons on a track loot ana Eali wide;
p;.tsbrrr D. oo-'a,rnn.aa "- "a ovL,r; - y,
miniature electric railway, and m Is5O or 1S5I
Prof. Thomas Hall exhibited a similar expert
mental device at the Charitable Mechanics fair
In Boston.
Prof. Page made his far-famed experiment in
1851, propellnS car from Washington to
Biadensburg by means of a magneto-electric
engine of his own invention in circuit with
battery carried by the car. This experiment
was regarded as scientific achievement Of con-
siderable Importance, but on account OF the
enormous consumption of zinc by the acid and
the interference with the cells Of the battery
caused by the rafting and shaking of the car
II was abandoned as being impractlcable. In
TACT similar fate has befallen the various ex-
periments conducted up to the time when
Green gave to the world practical demonstra-
ton OF his system.
Following Green's 1878 American railway,
DR.. Werner Siemens built and operated Il rail-
way of the same type on the grounds of the
industrial exhibition at Berlin i'll 1879. which
led to the construction of the Lichtertielde road
in 1881. which was successfully operated for
business purposes.
The famous American inventor, T. A. Edi-
son, successfully operated his electric locomo-
tive at Menlo Park. n. j.. in May. 1880. Next
came Stephen ID. Field with his railroad which
was successfully operated at the industrial ex-
hibition III Chicago in June, 1883.
rnrrx,s .-,n,-,o, ,o
-.
III august 1919, oFeeh hieo Dis appncatlon
for patent. but on account OF his poverty was
,nahIa 10 am.lnv nm attornay 20 a,s;s, liz, j.,