The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-08

They are placed In q moulding frame and
the lead and anthony grid Is forced all
around them and into their channels.
while II e. partly melted, by means OF
force pump. Then pure zinc plate Is
wet with sulphuric acid and laid over the
prepared plate. The zinc plate makes a
galvanic battery IN combination with the
other. and the acid eats out all the zinc
in the chloride loZcuges and leaves the
lead IN them in metallic form and full OF
holes like the finest Of sponges. This
plate is now ready. IL will DE seen that
each plate contains bodies Of lead or
oxide. each OF which offers vast surface
to the action OF the acid solution. as com
pared with flante's original plain plates.
The action OF a charging current upon
these plates is TO change both the metal
lie lead in the negative and the oxide OF
lead in the positive plate into sulphate
of lead. This change does not affect the
form Of the fillings OF the grids. but can
be detected by q change i'm color. When
this change has been fully effected the
battery has been charged. Connect the
two plates in a circuit Of wire ana the
sulphatc OF lead in each plate begins TO
change back. IN the one 10 metallic lead
and I'm the other TO oxide Of lead. These
alternatir. changes can go on indefinitely
and IL Is asserted that plates which nave
been in use in Europe for ten years are
still I'm good condition. From each pair Of
plates a current is produced Of about two
volts pressure and Of a quantity Of am
pereage dependent upon the size Of the
plates.
Europe produced a practicable storage
battery and found uses for IL long before
America took II up. one of the earliest
uses found for It then, and one Of the
largest to-day, is in connection with
water powers for lighting towns. This
use will explain also the general manner
i'm which these batteries are used every
where. There are many places where
streams offer power enough II used dur
ing twenty-four hours of each day 10 sup
ply all the electric lights that an adjacent
city needs and perhaps a considerable
surplus. ana this without putting in an
expensive dam. But the demand for
lights takes place only at night and only
during an average OF four or five hours
of the night. TO store up the flow Of
water until night would require great
sums for dams. and then to produce the
current needed for the town would take
big water wheels and dynamOs. Instead
water wheel is put in which will Just
use the ordinary flow OF the stream. This
runs a small dynamo which sends a con-
slant current into storage battery and
there the current Is stored up until night,
when IL can be drawn out as rapidly as
Il is required. In Switzerland alone there
are nearly 90 Of these lighting plants,
working from little mountain streams.
Such a plant has just been put in at
Woonsocket. r. /.
a more interesting use for the storage
battery is i'm private houses. one Of the
first to be supplied with storage battery
Is the country home Of Gov. Morton at
40 hp a
time. when the steam engine which sup
plies power for other purposes is not fully
employed its power is used TO run a dy-
namO whose current is stored in the stor-
age battery. At night while the engineer
sleeps and the engine is at rest, the Gov
ernor can have his whole place lit up and
keep the lights going until day light If he
wants 10 and there is never a question
Of current to supply them At Biltmore.
the palace of George w. Vanderbilt. near
Ashville. y. G.. there is a battery of sixty
cells. capable of supplying 500 incandes-
cent lamps for ten hours.
There was a description i'm the Sun
while ago of a private house in West
Seventy-sixth street where the lighting
was all done by electricity and an auto
matte elevator was also operated from
the same source The power came ORR
ginally from a gas engine. and no care
or knowledge was needed in running any
part of the plant except what an ordinary
house servant possesses. once every day
or two a servant goes 10 the gas engine.
turns on the gas. and starts the ma
chinery. Then she goes away and locks
the door TIE storage battery does the
rest. The engine drives a dynamo and
charges the storage. battery. When the
battery is charged a current Is switched
off. which, by means of a magnet. turns
off the gas and stops the engine Touch
"a button and the lights are turned on
whenever YOU want them. or touch
similar button and the elevator rises TO
your floor. stops and awaits your plea
sure. You get in. close the door. and
touch another button and the elevator
goes to the floor whose button you have
chosen and no one outside can call IL
until you are out and have again closed
the door behind YOU. Nearby Is another
house where with similar absence of
supervision a storage battery furnishes
the power to heat the house. cook, and
iron. besides running an elevator and
lighting the house.
Two Of the Edison electric lighting sta
tions I'm This city have great storage bat
terry auNiliaries. and the sub-basement OF
the new Bowling Green building is TO be
used I'm part for another great battery
which can be charged from the Pearl
street station to take the peak OF the load
when all the Offices down town burst into
a blaze Of light almost 40 once 300 carry
night Of The fall and winter. The Hart
ford Electric Lighting company Is said
10 have the largest storage battery in the
world This consists Of l3o cells. capable
Of giving out n current OF 10000 amperc
hours. The Western Union Telegraph
Company has also become n great user Of
these cells. In its larger stations outside
of New York II began putting ia storage
cells about two and onc-half years ago.
and IL IS said now TO have 10000 of them
IN use. These have supplanted 10000 OF
the old chemical gravity cells IN which
the current was produced by using mp
zinc plates and blue vtriol. The cost Is
said TO be IS cents year for each OF
the new cells against S.75 year for each
of the old ones The company has such
plants in Washington and Atlanta. and
new one has just been added AT New Or
leans. in which SCI Of the new cells are
used. Many Pullman cars are lighted
from storage cells and the coaches Of the
Intcrcolonial Railway Of Canada are sim
ilarly supplied.
The new Holland submarine torpedo
boat Is TO have a battery Of storage cells
10 drive II when II IS submerged. capable
OF running II sixty miles. There was
road motor at the American Institute
Fair which was operated by a storage
battery and there are many electric
launches I'm use supplied with the storage
battery.
1-.,,.i..ol, 30 a more ovfor1ei ffeo ~,