The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-11
BRIDGE SWUNG BY ELECTRICITY
A Storage Battery in Omaha Handling
Weight of 8 100000 Pounds.

| + lOLA ALlG AuAdub DUE
The swinging of the draw of the Omaha
Bridge and Terminal company's structure
across the Big Muddy has been accom-
| plished by the aid of the Waddell- Entz
| storage battery now in position. For
| four months Engineer V. A. Hewes has
been working on the motive power TO
swing the span, and the other day, in the
| presence of a number of the officers of the
! terminal company, aud for the benefit of
| Chief Engineer J. "A. l.. Waddell, who
came up from Kansas City to see the test
made, the span swung out over the river
| without a jar or hitch, thus virtually
! completing the /b1idge which connects
! two of the great asisterhood of states
| The power used consists of two
| forty-hOrse power motors, weigh
! ing $500 pounds each, and is the
same system now in use on the Second
avenue line, New York. Thestorage bat
| terry is Of the well known Zinc-copper al
kaline type, the positive element consist
! ing of an agglOmeration of finely divided
| copper held about a central copper wire
| by fine wire netting. To still further Sc
cure the finely divided copper in a posi-
| ton an outside covering of cotton is
woven around it, thus giving the finished
! product the appearance Of insulated mag
net wire. This wire, as it may be
] bbEu6us Is bIlGu NOuul SplIdilY 70 IOFIn a
! fiat, rectangular sheet the thickness of
the insulated wire. A number of these
! sheets or plates, usually seven, are then
united together TO form the positive
side of the cell and are placed in
an iron case divided so that there
is an iron partition between each
| of the positives A solution of potash In
! which zinc has been dissolved forms the
| electrotype Upon charging the cell the
/ zinc in solution is deposited upon the sides
| and partitions of the case, and the copper
| of the wire is OXidiZed; in dischargihg the
| battery may be considered a simple oxide
| of copper ana zinc cell, the zinc being re-
dissolved into the solution from the iron
| surfaces and the copper oxide reduced.
| Eight racks are used To- manipulate the
! power, 3S4 cells being contained in the
racks. The cells are connected in series
| on each rack, each two racks being in a
! series, thus forming four units. being the
same as four individual batteries. These
| are led into a controlling device, from
/ which wires run TO the armatures Of
! the motors The j controller has
! single lever that works
| cylinder and on whichlare contact points,
| by means of which the batteries are
! coupled in series, giving the different
| speeds to the motors. by turning the
| lever in the opposite direction there is
| given three different speeds in reverse di-
| rection. On coming TO the zero point of
/ the controller the armature forms a mag
netic brake which stops the motor in
| stantly. While in operation the machinery
| is under perfect control by simply work
/ ing the lever of the controller.
| The switchboard has a number Of
| switches so arranged that the batteries
may be charged from the trolley wire of
the East Omaha Street Railway Com
| pany, or the batteries may be renewed
/ by the same current. Toe whole
| battery may be charged in series or il
| may be divided into separate parts
and each charged separately IN
/ operating from the batteries the switches
/ can be thrown in such manner that the
machinery may be worked from oue-haf
/ the battery Independently Of the other
! half, one-haf thus being in use while the
other half is being charged. The arlna-
/ lures on the motors are Of the gramme
/ ring type with internal fields, these fields
being unique in their way, having eight
/ poles and but a single magnetizing coil
/ The motors are gearcd 10 the lifting and
/ interlocking shaft and also 10 the main
1 and Turning shaft. Upon the interlock-
/ ing shaft arc friction clutch gears, and
/ upon the center shaft which carries the
/ piuion driving the equalizer, are
I two friction clutch couplings The
main or turning shaft is cut at the
[ center and the equalizer introduced, this
/ equalizer being introduced for the pur-
/ pose Of egualiing the strain upon the
! large rack. The main gear wheel Of the
I equalizer Is . feet in diameter with a T.
| inch face. The matter Of moving and
stopping the motion Of such an immense
weight, at present being 3 900, 900 pounds,
| buJ which will be increased to 1900, 900
/ when the carriage and fooJways are com
/ pleJcd has been carefully studied out so
/ that the machine IN position can move the
| draw as easily as child can life a lead
| pencil In fact, child could swing the
draw Of the largest span in the world Oy
simply moving the lever which controls
the current. Those who were present
pronounced the test perfect, Mr. Waddcl
being particularly sauguine that the stOr-
age battery would revOlutionize the power
used in swinging draw spans Of bridges.