Semi=weekly graphic., 1896-11-28
SAYS HE HAS GOT IT.
EDISON ENTHUSIASTIC OVER HIS NEW
LAMP.


sumption Pey Candle Happy as
Child over New Toy.
Thomas A. Edison has had the new
lamp in readiness for some time, but
was not ready to show it until he had
completed the accessories.
He greeted a New York Herald re-
porter pleasantly the other day and
said, Well, I've got it. :.
Then he led the way into the room
where the K ray experiments have been
conducted. Here was transformation.
The walls and the ceiling Of the room
were covered with light colored paper
in order to bring out the effect of the
light He closed the door, aud we were
in Egyptian darkness till Edison shout
ed out, "Onl' His assistant in The next
room turned on the current, and the new
lamp shone out, suspended in the center
of the room.
The light was a beautiful one, clear
and white, and, while Mr.. Edison said
that it was only = or 4 candle power,
yet, as the light was turned on and off
and alternated with the Is candle pow
er ineandescent lamp, there was not
much difference between them IN illu-
minating power.
The new lamp is simply Crookes
tube of the usual shape, about inches
long and inches in diameter. The
popularity of the light is in the interior
Of the bulb When it IS being made,
about thi1nbleful Of crystals Of new
substance is introduced into the bulb,
and the latter is slowly rotated in an
intense heat just short Of the melting
point of the glass. The result is that the
crystals * this new substance are dis
tributed evenly all over the interior Of
the bulb and are fused by the high heat
till they form a coating on the inside.
Mr.. Edison was asked what this new
substance was. and he laid his finger on
one side Of his nose, and. with quiz.
zical look. replied Don't you wish
you knew? But | am not going to tell
you. Let these other fellows that know
so much find out what it is if they can. =
All that he would say was that it WIS
a natural mineral, very abundant and
very cheap, and that it possessed nearly
three times the fluorescent properties Of
the tungstate of calcium, which was
also the discovery of the wizard
How do you expect to get greater
light2''
THAT is very simple, he replied
"all that you have to do is to increase
The size Of the bulb and you get the
larger amount Of light. The fact is that
have succeeded ia ilnprisonipg the x
rays in the bplbs and there are none OF
them that escape. have tested very
carefully for their presence outside Of
the bulbs and there are none there. -
Mr.. Edison then said that the only
thing further te de was to work out the
problem Of commercial values and Is
overcome some of the difficulties IN pro
dueing the light
He said: Why, this thing is a star
fling revelation in the wonderful econ
omy of energy. When first reached the
result brought out my ammeter and
my voltmater to test the electrical en-
ergy required, and I was dumfounded
when the calculation was finished at the
enormous saving. L was sure that thert
was some mistake about the matter and
that the meters were wrong I got q
the results agreed, and [ realized what
an enormous eeon0mizer Of energy this
new lamp was. .
"What We're the fgures?''
IT found that the lamp eff 81 or A
candle power, " he replied figured up
an energy. consumption of only 80 foot
pounds per candle power, while it is
we'll known that the incandeseent lamp
as now used reGpires ehoaG $50 foot
pounds energy per candle power Put it
another way Taking 80, 600 foot pounds
as the horse power and dividing by SO
we find one horse power equal to $40 Of
| these lamps
Have You tried them in multiple arc
clrcuits?'
Yes, and they work as weIIor better
than singly, and SO thai part of the
problem is solved. -
Have you succeeded in getting the
Xrays direct from the current and with
out the Intervention of the Rulnnkor1
ooil?''
mo; that has not vet been done
You see, the conditions arc peculiar.
Here 1 have in this induced current al
intensity OF 40, 600 on 80. 600 volts, with
an amperage that Is practically nom,
inal. So far no one has yet been able
to do this without the Ruhmk0tf col,
OF some other form Ct the induced eur,
rent. But ] am at work OH II new trans
former, which have great hopas Of. that.
if successful, win accomplish >ais very
result, and then we shall be able 20 get
the x rays direct from the main cur
rent -
What lines are you new working
On
well, in addition to this transform
er ana working at the tubes TO increase
che endurance tests aud to simplify the
whole and bring the matter into com.
mercial shape.
GLOW long is that going to taIe?''
well, you know inst as much about
that as | do The NJ, tier is one that
viii require large amount Of hard
analytical work, aud until we get to
the end we shall not know. You may
be sure Of one thing. and that is that
the lamp Is, as you see, Il wonderful
success, not only in the quality Of the
| light, but, us I have said, in the enor-
nous saving of energy, and with these
Us q starte;, the rest viii follow
Are the tubes heated much?"