Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-02-07
EDISON'S new BATTERY
Inventor Reveals Secrets of His
Wonder Working Dynamo.
FRUIT OF POUR YEARS HARD WORK

49,
Homemade Light ana Heat nn1
Automobile ror All without TIC
Services ~ M expert.
In an authorized interview tic FIRST
one given our Jy Ihol-4s A. ssdisoI fl
explanation Of his new Storage 5stcry
-the great inventor teila jest Low It
is made and what it @1l CO. says tie
New York World.
Eyes, my rev battery IL dnishcd"
said Mr.. Edison to the reporter.
1T Is finished after four years OF
constant work.
"The new battery means that anoth-
or so called impossible thing has been
accomplished. 1t was believed that Ia
the present state Of knowledge of
chemistry no commercially successful
battery could be made without the use
OF lend. My invention negatives this,
as / have used no lead whatever-noth
Ing but iron. nickel and potash.
eThe storage batteries that are at
present in use IA automobiles We're
originally designed for stationary pur.
poses, not for vehicles. The various
automobile companies have been doing
the best they could with them, but they
were entirely inadaptable to vehicle
traction.
"The acid or lead which Is ussd In
these batteries gives a complicated
chemical action. The batteries are
thus not perfectly reversible, or, in 9th
er words, there is a ~leakage-a gradual
loss Of power. A true storage battery
Is one that must be perfectly reversible
for all time.
IF n man buys an electric automo-
bile today. he is furnished with q book
OF instructions about the battery, he
must hire an expert to teach him how
to run it, ard If he does not follow the
Instructions he finds himself in a short
while without any motive power.
"The life Of m old fashioned battery
is In proportion to its weight. If it Is
reduced In weight, its lifetime also is
inevitably cut down. The problem.
therefore, was to construct a battery
not for experts, but for general use, a
battery which u mar a forget and
neglect and which will plod along and
do its work just the same.
"The. thing that was needed was
what / might call brutal practieability.
Every machine made for general use
must be made not only so that it will
work properly when properly treated,
bat when It Is abused as well. The
new battery fills the bill in this re-
gard. 1t has stood every possible test
successfully. For a long time 1t has
been my habit to test the packing of
goods that were to be shipped. The
packages are taken to a third story
window and thrown to the ground. If
they are found to be unbroken when
they are picked up, the packing is said
10 be successfully done. The same
kind of rigorous tests have been APP
Piled to the battery. On Il occasion
the test automobile was turned up
side down with a crash, but neither
operator nor battery was injured.
There is no comparison between it
and the other batteries. The n on
exhibition IN New York city weighs
ego pounds and will drive a heavy
automobile, with two passengers. 100
miles without charging if the roads
are good. 1t has enormous charge
rate and is, in my opinion, the beau
ideal for vehicle traction. At any rate,
1t is absolutely the best that | can do
In that line.
"To describe the new battery in a
popular way is not easy, though the
machine is very simple. 1t may be
called an internal combustion appa-
ratus, Finely powdered iron forms n
pole, and an oxide OF nickel forms the
other pole. These two have never been
used before for storage purposes. |
also use an alkali, which is more stable
than an acid.
when you connect a number OF
these cells with an automobile motor,
the iron rusts or becomes oXidized. If
the iron were outdoors, this rusting
process would produce heat, but In the
battery it produces electricity instead.
1t turns into heat finally, of ourse
The oxygen necessary to burn the iron
is stored up in the nickel, so we don't
havc TO get il from the air When all
the iron is rustcd or oxidi2a1, then the
battery gives no more co. rent and
must be rccharged.
1.-THE battery was invented to solve
i usearYanCad problem IN vehicle trac-
ton. II It failed In any one of half q
oozen particulars. it would be a com,
/ picte failure, When | began to work
On t. four years ago, ! labored for
p'@htccn months without getting amy
thing tangible. AT present nothing re
eains but for an automobile COMPANY
20 build an automobile around it.
Yes, tho uev battery viii settle the
horse-not nj once, but hy degrees. The
price of automobiles will be reduced
so that almost every family may have
rye ard run It without the aid Of All
expert. IN fact. | hope that the time
has nearly arrived when every man
may not only have his W. automobile.
but also be able to light his own house.