Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-05-13

can drive them"
For a year and a half Mr.. Edison
labored night and day in his West
Orange laboratory without obtaining
any results whatever.
Then he found a clew-the substi-
tuition Of iron and nickel for acid and
lead. He worked for two and a half
years longer, and produced the battery
which was the central figure Of the
recent automobile show In New York.
THE problem of vehicle traction"
says Mr.. Edison, lis now solved, and
another so-caled impossible thing has
been accomplished.
"Yes, my new battery is finished
said Thomas A. Edison to a World
reporter.
1T is finished after four years of
constant work.
"The new battery means that an.
other so-called impossible thing has
been accomplished. 1t was believed
that In the present state of our knowl.
edge OF chemistry no commercially
successful battery could be made with.
out the use OF lead. My invention
negatives this, as | have used nc
lead Understanding but iron, nick.
ell and potash.
"In 1896 the London electrician
said: Although a real commercial
traction battery cannot be said to ex,
list, we don't care to assert that the
outlook is hopeless. This was as
much as anyone cared to promise al
that time.
THE storage batteries that are a,
present in s in automobiles were
originally designed for stationary pur
poses, not for vehicles. The various
automobile companies have been do
ing the best that they could will
them, but they were entirely inadapt
able to vehicle traction.
"The acid or lead which is used IL
these batteries gives a complicated
chemical action. The batteries arr
thus not perfectly reversible, or, II
other words, there is a leakage,
gradual loss OF power. A true stor
age battery is one that must be per
fectly reversible for all time.
III a man buys an electric automo
lie today he Is furnished with a bool
Of instructions about the battery, h,
must hire an expert to teach him hov
to run It, and II he does not follow
the instructions he finds himself in
short while without any motive pow
err.
"The life of an old-fashioned bat
terry is In proportion to its weight. !
It Is reduced In weight, its lifetime
also Is inevitably cut down.
THE problem, therefore, was t
construct q battery, not for experts
but for general use-a battery that
man can forget and neglect, and whicl
will plod along and do its work jus
the same.
THE thing that was needed wa
what | might call brutal PRACTICABLE
ity. Every machine made for genera
use must be made not only SO tina
1t will work properly when properl,
treated, but when 1t Is abused as wei
"The new battery fills the bill II
this regard. 1t has stood every possi
BILE test successfully. For a long tim
1t has been my habit to test tn
packing Of goods that were to be shiI
ped; the packages are taken to
third-story window and thrown to tn,
ground. II they are found to be IN
broken when they r picked up, tn,
packing Is said 10 be successful.
done.
"The same kind of rigorous test
have been applied to the battery. Ol
one occasion the test automobile wa
turned upside down with a crash, bu
neither operator or battery was injur
ed.
There is no comparison between
1t and the other batteries. The on
on exhibition In New York Cit,
weighs 600 pounds, and will drive
heavy automobile. with two passen
gers, 100 miles without charging,
the roads are good.
1T has enormous charge rate an
is, In my opinion, the beau ideal TO
vehicle traction. At any rate, 1t
absolutely the best that I can do II
that line.
Others coming after me may d
more. Nature Is q pretty big propc
leition, and q man would certainly hav
q swelled head who imagined that h
had reached q finality in any line
No one knows more than a hundre'
thousand millionth of 1 per cent
about this universe.
ITO describe the new battery in
popular way Is not easy, though tn
machine is very simple. 1t may b
called an internal combustion appal
atus. Finely powdered iron forms on
pole and an oxide Of nickel forms tn
other pole. These two have neve
been used before for storage purposes
also q an alkali, which Is nor
stable than an acid.
When you connect a number {
these cells with an automobile motto
the iron rusts, or becomes oxidized.
the iron were out doors this rustin
process would produce heat, but
the battery 1t produces electricity II
stead. It turns into heat finally, {
course.
The oxygen necessary to burn III
Iron is stored up In the nickel, SO v
don't have to get 1t from the air. Whe
all the iron Is rusted, or oxidize
then the battery gives no more Gu
rent and must be re-charged.
THE battery was invented to sol'
a pre-arranged problem In vehic
traction. II It failed In any n
half O dozen particulars 1t would
complete failure. When I begf
work on II, four years ago, | LAHORE
for eighteen months without gettir
anything tangible. At present not
ing remains but for an automobl
company to build an automobi
around II.
" These improvements and inYe