The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-08-15
HAS new SYSTEM
P. H. Finnegan Talks About a
Street Car Motor.
Invention Said to Effect Important
Saving in Fuel and Causes In
crease in Speed.

P. Fl. Finnegan of Chicago, formerly
Of Mankato, who spent Tuesday in
the city, came under the belief that
Mankato had a street railway line In
course of construction. He is leading
direstor of the Leffler Electro Magnetic
Railway company of Chicago, which
nas inaagurated novel motor system,
that is said to effect an important
saving in fuel and big increase in
speed. y
Under the new plan, small electro
magnets, imbedded between the rails
Of the track, are used to pull the street
cars. Successful tests have been
made.
P. W. LETTER, who is apparently a
conservative mechanic and electrician,
makes this claim for the new system /:
"We either have the biggest thing
going or else nothing at all. And I
am convinced that we have the system
which will do away with the trolley.
overhead or underground.
P. II. Finnegan, is even more en-
thusiestic.
'We are going to revolutionize the
scheme of using electricity az a motive
power for street railways, and possibly
steam railways. the world over. I" he
says. "Before leaving here Mr.. Yerkes
saw our plan and offered as 500, 600
for 81 per cent Of the stock in our
company. He will deny that now.
We have had a number of other visi-
tors, and they may have been fatter-
ing, but they tell US We have the
greatest invention known in the mat
ter of street railway power. Mr..
Letter has had his invention pretty
well formulated for some years, but
has never before called the attention of
the public to it. Like most of the in
Rentors, he has been secrstive about
his pet -
The fundamental idea of the new
system is ''to cut motor in two.
The electro magnets form one-half of |
the motor ana are placed in the |
ground in line half way between the
tracks. The other part, the armature,
Is attached lengthwise to the bottom
Of the car. 1t is long iron bar, cut
up into feet and so attached that the
ends ordinarily are within an inch of
he top of the magnet boxes. But the
primary difference between the new
Jystem and the trolley car motor is
hat the electro mangets do not cause
he armature to turn the wheels. The
lew Car is not propelled by the fric-
ion of the wheels with the track, but
" the invisible force of magnetism.
A dynamo is required for the new
ystem. Each magnet is connected
With main feed wires, heavily insu-
ated and bringing electricity from the
,ower house. In fact the electro
magnets are coils of wire magnetized
" the electricity running through
hem. But when the Car is not run
ling over them the magnets are not
Magnetic. In other words they are
lot in the circuit except when the Car
ONES over them.
The great saving which the inventor
laims is in the amount of electricity
equired. He says seventy five
mpheres will suffice for forty cars,
While with the present trolley system
twenty-five ampheres are required for
ne Car. He says the saving in coal
will be more than one-half. 1t is also
laimed that the cars can be run faster
han trolley cars because they are al
7ays under perfect control. They can
ever jump the track because there is
down pull as well as forward pull I
q the magnets. 1t is thought that it
7ill be easy to run the. cars at 100
lilies an hour with safety.
The Letter company has a contract
D equip 300 miles of rural street rail-
ray between Michigan towns
q