The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-08
BOTTLED-UP ELECTRICITY
rms STORAGE BITTLEY AND THE
NEW USfSiTfS PUTTO
ID n ;nities that Inventors Have Finally
Overcome Increasing Use Of storage
Batteries FOR Different Purposes.

first practicable battery OF iNlS SUI "
This present day IL has bech i''0e'''.-s
that "A successful storage on "oO"'''"'''V'
battery would have almost enuie9S "o,''
Invcntors bv hundreds have entered INC
oeld and the Patent Once records sho"
an Immense variety OF inventions IN TINS
line In the fertile b:ains OF the lhNeh'o'o
visions arose Of using wind power ""'o'
mower solar heat gas engines "'' ="
sines hot air engines. ana steam '"h,''''
to run dynamos for producing the o'cO
tric current with the purpose OF conseiF-
ing this force In storage batteries "H'i,
tho moment when 4, was nceoeo' anu
then using 1t for all the purposes LOT
which bottlcd-up energy could be employ
cd. They saw the possibilities OF mus
using electricity for driving Ihro"u
trains road carriages. boats OF an sl"'9,
and flying machines, for lighting iSoia'su
houses. running sewing machines WASH
ing machines. and passenger elevators III
houses: heating the irons IN a LAUNDRY
cooki,r the dinners and. In fact. doing
ANYTHING tha- could be done by the direct
current from "A dynamo or chemical
battery. Dozens of experimental ma
chimes have been made, and from time
TO time these have been announced as
about TO revolutionize one or another "i
tho great Industries Of tho world. faiiure
after failure has followed these announce
ments. but the inventors kept at 1t, and
to-day there Is practical proof that the
storage battery has como into the cleo
trical world TO stay. and even though II
may still Doe short Of perfection IL Is play
Ing a very important part IN applied cleo
tricity.
Tens Of thousands Of these cells are now
I'm use i'm this country and ia Europe. and
they have made it possible TO use sources
OF power for the production Of electric
lights and electric power which could not
have been utilized by any other known
means. You drop a nickel In the slot OF
n phonograph and see the talking ma
chine start and then listen 10 a popular
song. band OF music. or campaign
orators speech as reproduced by the ma
chine. which is run by a storage battery
cell concealed at the bottom of the stand.
The kaleidoscope and dozens of other
nickel-in-the-sot machines are operated
by the same power Gable messages and
ordinary Geographic messages are sent
by the storage battery: electric lights are
maintained by II. street cars run by IT,
and hundreds Of the great country houses
Of rich men depend upon the storage bat
terry TO Eve them lights and elevator ser
vice WITH out the necessity of Keeping on
constant duty a full corps OF engineers
and stok rs TO run dynamo plant. The
New York Custom House saves one or
two shifts Of men through the same
means. and a great many OF the smaller
Office buildings are enabled to practice
this same economy. The whole of the
elevated railroad system IN this city may
be operated and lighted with storage bat
tories in conjunction with a direct cur
rent. and the Union Traction Company
Of Philadelphia is already using a big
battery Of these cells to carry its trolley
cars over hill and thus relieve the
dynamo machinery from an extra strain.
The term storage battery" is a good
enough one for popular use, but II con-
veys a wrong impression. II implies that
tho electric current Is a pOnderable sub
stance. like water which can be gathered
up and stored away I'm bulk This is not
true. The only invention which comes
near 10 producing such an effect as this
f. the Leyden jar. where an outer and an
inner coating Of tinfoil are kept separated
by the glass of the jar and "A charge Of
what is known as static electricity is
driven into the tinfoil from one Of the
old-fashioned friction electric machines or
its equivalent. This. however. is bottled
lightning Connect the inner and outer
coatings for a moment and the lightning
jumps out with a fash and the stored
energy is all expended IL is evident that
this device could not be used for any Of
Che commercial purposes for which cleo
tricity is wanted What the storage bat
terry does is TO receive current and util-
ize II to produce certain chemical
changes i'm the materials of its cells Then
by the natural tendency of these ma
terials to change back again the battery
reproduces the electric current. only Civ
ing II out in an opposite direction.
curious thing about these batteries Is
that they receive and give ont the cur
rent at the same time II required, and no
matter what the pressure voltage Of the
..f.s.
the current given off is OF a fixed voltage
dependent entirely upon the number OF
storage cells coupled together.
Just as II Is true that Ben Franklin
made q working model Of an electric mo-
tor and pointed out the way 10 almost
an the uses 10 which electricity has since
been put the principles Of the storage
battery were discovered nearly a century
ago, I'm lS0i. by Gotherot who observed
that after he had passed a current for
some time through q couple Of separated
platinum wires immersed in sulphuric
acid and water. these wires would give
out a reverse current when the feeding
wires were detached. Plante made his
battery OF two sheets OF lead. separated
by a blanket Of felt and rolled up to-
gether. These were immersed in sui
ph1ric acid and voter. one sheet Of lead
wa attached by wire 10 the positive
n
TO the negative side What happened
when current was passed through this
battery was this: The water I'm the bat
terry was separated into oxygen and
hydrogen: the oxygen went TO the positive
plate and formed peroxide Of lead. and
the hydrogen went TO the negative plate
and was held there in the meshos of the
lead. When the battery was set to work
the other way this process was reversed.
The amount of work which this battery
could do was very small
About 1881 a large number OF persons
who had been working 10 improve this
battery. both in this country and abroad,
all hit upon about the same methods.
Among these inventors We're Sir William
Thompson Of England. Faure. Swan and
Vollkmer. all In Europe and c. +. Brush
OF the United States Their scheme was
10 make eridiron plates of lead and IN
IN the openings with a paste composed
OF peroxide Of lead-the ordinary red lead
OF commerce. on one plate and lithaee for
the other. mixed with acid water Sir
William Thompson made bic battery of
this sort which he sent 20 this country
and called a 5OOO-horse power box. This
was the way I'm which the Julian batter
les were made. with which a few street
cars were run for a long time on the
Madison and Fourth avenue line in this
city II Is still asserted that in some
places whore the circumstances and care
were favorable these old plates were sue
cessful. although IL Is admitted that In
MA hlk In