The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-08
That Is. Horses. Except for Pleasure
Driving, Are slowly Making
Way for Electricity.
THE EDISON STORAGE BATTERY
INVENTOR SAYS 1T WILL BE CHEAP
AND GOOD FOR ALL USES.
He Is Giving "a the Most Thorough
Test on the Roughest of New
Jersey Roads.

Correspondence Of the Indianapolis Journal.
NEW YORK, June with the cost Of
an auto at rock-bottom, about $50, the
horse must go for commercial purposes.
Ny storage electric battery will propel ev-
cry sort. Of vehicle. its usefulness is unlim-
tied Its use will ultimately be extended
to trains and ships. but vehicles will re-
ceive the first attention" says Edison.
Within half dozen years from now"
continued the wizard. "four-hfths OF all
vehicles will be propelled by electricity.
This means the passing OF the horse. clean
er and healthier streets and increased traf-
fic facilities. The city streets OF the future,
1 venture to predict, will easily accommo-
date four times as many wagons and peo-
pie now.
THE retirement OF the quadruped in
favor Of an inanimate machine of superior
speed. and requiring a minimum OF outlay
in care and cost, has been threatened in
the United States even since 1906 or 1906.
when John Stevens. of Hoboken, memo
rallied the Legislature of New York urg-
ing the building of railroads which would
permit locomotion at the rate of twenty to
thirty miles per hour. with the prospect
of increasing TO one hundred miles
when, twenty years later. Gridley Bry-
ant ran his pioneer steam cars over four
miles of Iron ways" as rails were then
called, to connect his Quarries in Quincy,
Mass, with the nearest tide water. enthu-
siastc advocates of steam power predicted
that the days of the horse were numbered.
The fact that steam carriages were about
to take the places of mail coaches was ad-
duced as an additional indication of prog
ress in that respect
THE OPPOSING ELEMENTS.
But, 10, opposing interests-horse breed
ers and owners. not to mention the sport
ing fraternity-killed the early automobile
carriage undertaking. The very factor
that had given it birth, the railroads.
helped to bury it, Oliver Evans drove a
dredging machine by fits own steam through
the streets Of Philadelphia in 1904; in SO
twenty-five steam passenger coaches were
employed in and about London: but dur
ing the following quarter of century all
experiments Of the kind were discontinued
and the horse once more held undisputed
sway in the streets and highways for pur-
poses of utility and pleasure.
Next to the competition OF the loco
motive, and in a lesser degree. the insult
ableness Of the roads. the early crude con-
struction Of the automobile vehicle was re-
sponsible for it's failure. The engines of all
the early types were not economical and
required constant supervision. The large
amount of fuel necessary TO produce low
pressure and the cumbersomeness of the
whole affair tended to keep the speed be-
low the horse standard. though, of course.
the propelling power of the machine was
comparatively greater.
Even in those days il needed but a per-
son Of average intelligence TO see that the
true motor vehicle. for passenger service.
must be little heavier than the ordinary
carriage, while the traction engine for
freight should not be more cumbersome
than the regulation wagon or cart. Ability
TO start and stop instantly and to dispense
with a professional conductor is also requi-
site. A power vehicle built on those lines
makes not only the mare. but the horse
go. Such a one Edison seems 10 have in
vented.
Speeding over the rough roads in the hills
Of northern New Jersey are several auto
mobiles. that the problem of transportation
by electric vehicle may be solved. Each
is fitted with one Of my new light storage
batteries" says the inventor. who con-
tinues: There are heavy machines and
light machines. each of a different make.
Each of these machines is to run one hun
dred miles every day until it has covered
5000 miles. The toughest roads, those with
the most hills and ruts and crossings. are
preferred We go at highest speed. making
no stops or slow downs except for cause.
want to give the battery test greater
than any that it will meet in actual use.
THE battery, I think. will run auto
Wit h.
out recharging. But, that there may be no
mistake. 1 shall keep up the experimenting
for several months"
A PROMISING OUTLOOK.
This looks encouraging. Electricity, or.
for that matter. any agency that will drive
the horse from the streets OF our great
cities. should be welcomed, for horses are
the cause Of much disease and unsanitary
conditions There are laws preventing ciu-
zens from keeping certain domestic animals
within the city limits. The advance in
electricity will soon add the horse 10 the
prohibited list. along with pigs and cows.
Chauncey NJ Depew said pointedly: II
have given up anticipating what electricity
will do for Us next and when il viii do il.
imagine that one fine morning we shall
wake up with apparatus ready 10 take Us
10 Our OIIlCeS through the dlI Du's III Sp4Nc
OF my full belief in the electric carriage"
he added. Il doubt whether the services
OF the horse will ever be entirely dispensed
with. l cannot conceive our active Ameri-
cans adapting themselves 70 the pursuit OF
pleasure in carriages moved by electricity,
or by any other kind OF motor but the
horse What has made the bicycle so uni
versally popular but the one fact that II
permits OF action the part OF the rider
that it affords excitement? For similar
reasons the carriage horse will always have
friends and admirers; his style. action and
movement cannot be duplicated or imi-
tated. AS to the ordinary. everyday horse.
he is certainly doomed. The extent 10
which electricity has discredited and re-
/ placed him is exemplified by the fact that
| II no longer pays 10 breed horses that COM
mand moderate price only"
Already horse cars are curiosity In any
but the smallest towns and villages OF
America-and In New York city This is q
remarkable achievement full OF promise
from a sanitary and commercial standpoint