The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-07-23


nope ef nsaktng 4 comnerctai poss1ndl-
ny Next he Devised . battery In whicA
Ase carbon was decomocsed by the &C.
'Nfon Of chiofxse 81 potash and snlphurfc
acsd- oszt In the process Of deriving the
electrical snerIy. which was accomplish
"a without the production q heat. the
Chemicals we're consumed 30 that u was
fnnpracsicahie from a commercial view
Then NJ. Case showed In iOs. before the
New Tcyk Electrical Society "A expert
nsenf Of oxsdixsng his carbon with oxygen
from water by means Of chlorine turned
N at TIE Negative pole. which deccmposed<
the water. The oxygen attached and
oxidixsd the carbon. forming the positive
poie The exoertm~nser aroused much
interest by using haemogaobsn. which IL
TIE chemical carrier of oxygen In the
human blood. and by rs use deriving
electric force from the action OF carbon
upon this. In the lecsure which accom-
panied these experiments he gave this
advice 90 the electricians
Keep without the second lau Of theY-
mo-dynamics. search for q suitable car
rfef OF oxygen or some cheap source Of
oxy8en supply and hydrogen or carbon,
OF carbon compound easily oxfdixrd
Does u nof seem iogscal that by follow
ing along this lire and by preparing the
HaIcffai 70 be consumed nature does
In the human body We may vet be able
Shortly after this lecture Mr.. Case was
IN the Auburn library going through
some Old chemistry books In search OF in
formation on subject IA no way allied
TO the matter Of electric energy. when,
W textbook which had been out Of date
TOT twenty years. he happened upon the
statement that ferrfc salts were reduced
TO ferrous by carbon Constantly on the
lookout for some chemical action that
misnt Dc applicable TO his pet theory. he
carefully read the paragraph There
vas no mention OF the production OF cleo
olcai energy or OF regeneration Of the
sass b. the atmosphere Moreover.
mere Was footnote stating that later
authorities denied the truth Of the sfata
rnen' and that II was apparently an error
It's worth trying. anyway said Mr..
Ease. ano he made note OF IL
In TIE course Of time he made the ex-
pertinent and Il fully realized his hopes
lie tried various solutions. and the out,
come wns the battery exhibited 20 the
nosa. society In bis experiments Mr.
Ease has used several forms of cell. The
following paragraph describes one form
for the benefit OF electricians.
An ensetsve form Of cell Ia one conn
posed OF an inner and outer jar, the inner
oeihg porous cup containing ferrous
cnsoriuc solution and finely powdered
carbon. This carbon serves as the post
chloride solution kept up by the consinu-
Gus blowing IN of current OF air Prior
analysis and experiments have shown
that ~ grams OF carbon would be J.
auired TO produce the changes which
would take place In such a cell aside
from the sir blown In. causing a produe-
ton OF rs ampere hours. The electro
motive force equals from 3 to s OF a volt.
The rs ampsre hours produced would
theoretically require but So grams OF
earboo. instead of the - above stated.
showing a current efficiency Of si per
cent These are the first figures showing
wha, electric current a battery consum-
trojan has been for some years calling
upon electrical experimenters for figures
en- this line. this being the defective point
of all papers on the subject"
Mr.. Case does not assert for his con-
trivanee that IL is at present Of CONNER
ciai value He calls II the germ Of a
discovery" but ne thoroughly believes.
now that the principle is established, a
method viii be- found TO make II CONNER
cfaily practicable. The difficulty with the
present battery Is that II does not generate
the electric force with sufficient rapidlty
A Sun reporter saw Mr.. Case shortly after
his return from Europe and asked him
about his invention
III IN. at present, only a matter Of
scientific interest" said he. THE public
doesn't care much about a new form of
motor power until n becomes practical;
until You can do something with it-~run
trains or propci boats or drive machinery
This has not yet reached that stage II
has merely been demonstrated that the
production of energy direct from coal
without heat and without the consump-
ton Of any chemical OK value except the
carbon Is theoretically possible. This pro-
cess uses up only the carbon ard the oxy
gen from the air. which ia FIRE. TO all.
believe. however. that We are on the Dor
der Of the solution OF the greatest of all
cheaper energy. II may not come immedi-
a,eiy. but in time this germ OF q discov-
cry. / firmly believe. Will be turned to
practical use
What would be the results OF thatr''
asked the reporter.
"A change In the worlds manner OF do
ing work 80 cheaper ard cleaner
method. The appearance OF cur indus'ri-
al communities will change There will
be no smoke or SCOT or steam, no steam
engine or dynamo, Fire will practically
80 cat ~ use except as destructive
agency as this electrical energy Is trans
muta Die into heat 81 will When the time
comes IL will be one 81 the great changes
IA thu worlds history"
Mr. Case - at present at his summer
place on owasco lake. near Auburn. He
Will continue his experiments in che ox,d-
igatian ~ carbon. He is not vet ~ and IL
az independent fortune. which enables
him 90 spend all his time tn experiments.
This ~ the second paper he has read be-
fere the Royal Society on electrical mat
tess He Is the inventor OF several eiec-
tr.cal coutrtvanoes Now York sun.