The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-08-02
NOT A DEADLY rRoLLEY.n
And Il VIII Evidently 30 Some Time BE-
fore IT Is Displaced.
~.

Especial Correspondencel
NEWARK n. j., July 17.-Frequently we
read of accidents the accounts of which are
headed "The Deadly Trolley" Nothing
can be more absurd. There is nothing
deadly about the trolley. The pressure
maintained upon the circuit Is quite insult
ficieut to produce death It is possible to
receive a shock from the wire great enough
TO throw some people from their feet. but
not strong enough to produce fatal results.
IL Is q singular fact that horse receives
much more injury from an electric shock
than human being A shock that man
. will hardly notice will often throw a horse
TO the ground The power to receive
shock differs greatly with different people.
Some will receive with no bad effects a
shock which viii entirely unnerve Others.
Yet public sentiment is so strong in op-
position to the trolley wire that efforts are
now being made to devise means whereby
{ the trolley wire can be successfully laid in
conduit under ground, thus not only re-
moving all source of danger, but the dis
figuring trolley poles
As yet no great success has attended such
efforts. Experiments with storage bat
teries to be carried by the cars themselves
have also been in progress for several years.
but for reasons hereafter stated they also
have proved inefficient.
The storage battery consists of several
closely perforated lead plates placed paral-
lei to each other in a glass jar, which is
filled with very dilute sulphuric acid. Con
tact between these plates, which rest upon
gutta percha cylinders in the bottom of the
jar, is prevented by a leaden framework,
which rigidly holds together each set of
plates. Two sets of plates are placed in the
jar so that each plate of one set falls be
tween two of the other.
The perforations, which are usually
square, in series, and quite close together,
are filed with oxide of lead, or litharge.
This substance comes in the form of a
straw colored powder and is a combina-
tion Of metallic lead and oxygen, the well
known active element in the atmosphere.
Electricity is allowed to flow in at one
set of plates for some time through the
dilute acid and out through the other set.
The oxygen from one set of plates will pass
to the litharge Of the other forming, by
the action of the current, spongy lead on
the first set and red lead on the other. If
the two sets of plates are now connected, a
cuTent Of electricity will flow until the
plates return to their first OF normal con
dition
~ bDJhln Jile requisite power TO run an
electric car at least 100 or more of these
large batteries are necessary. Containing
as they do such large amount of lead,
they are extremely heavy and add much TO
the weight of the car, which necessitates
an expensive, well ballasted roadbed. With
the trolley system cars may be run over
old horse car tracks, considerably reducing
the cost of construction. The storage bat
terry also requires close care and attention
and frequently has to be carried to some
station where a current can be obtained to
charge it,
However, the main difficulty is the unre-
liable character of these batteries. The
plates are apt to curl up and buckle when
a large current is taken from them, caus-
ing contact between plates of different sets
and rendering the battery useless This
may occur in the best makes after very
little use, while others may last for quite
awhile, A corrosive and disagreeable gas
rises from them, especially when being
charged,
Altogether the use of storage batteries
has been found unreliable and expensive
and until some new method has been used
with practical results the trolley wire and
poles will continue to be used.
WALLACE NJ HILL M E.