West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1907-01-10

ago. Today the New York Central
Railroad Company is expanding $780,
10000 in the electrincation Of the first
~thirty-hve miles of It's system, and the
car horses were long ago relegated to
the boneyard, If not to the sausage
factory"
They have done marvellous things
since the increasing knowledge OF
electricity opened up a new world Of
achievement, and we have scarcely
crossed the threshold. In 1880 the cleo.
tric car was a dream; i'm 1890. an ex-
pertinent; in 1900, a great and wonder
Iul TACT which IS reyolutiOnizlng pas-
senger transportation and will enable
human beings TO move from place TO
place twice as fast as they do at pres
n
Born in Old Vermont.
When in 1884 Thomas Davenport. OF
Brandon, Vt, ran a toy motor mounted
on wheels on a small circular railway.
The modern electric railroad with its
possible speed Of over one hundred
miles an hour was born.
In 1888 Robert Davidson. of Aber-
deem, Scotland, built an electric loco
motive which actually reached n speed
OF four miles an hour on the Edln-
burgh-Glasgow railway. Nine years
later Professor Moses G.. Farmer on
Grated an experimental car which car.
RED two passengers at Dover. New
Hampshire.
Then the United States congress be-
came interested. BY special grants
Professor Page OF Smithsonian insti.
tute was aided in the construction Of
several forms OF motors. One Of tbem
was used as a locomotive and. driven
By a battery Of one hundred Grove
elcments, was tried April 20. 1851. on
a railroad running from Washington
10 ~Bladensburg. a speed or nineteen
miles an hour was developed. SO great
thai It destroyed the batteries.
Numerous other experiments FOL.
lowed, all commercial failures because
the motors We're crude and tho source
Of power a primary battery. The de-
yeiopment Of the wonderful modern
dynamo was necessary before electric
rnllrOading could become n commercial
success. The first great step was I'm
1850, when an italian named Pacinot-
n invented a continuous current dv.
namO. Three years later the arsf
practical commercial machine for con.
hnuous current operation was made
BY Gramme.
Still the modern electric car wal in-
possible. The "reversibility Of fupc.
ton" had yet TO Doe discovered ipvoI.
wing electrical transmission Oh energy
through two machines. one driven ty
power and generating electricity. the
other reversing the operation. receiy-
Ing electricity and developing me.
oDanical power
Like many other important dr4cov.
cries, this Dr. said 20 have been the "a
suit OF accident. A workman ~conn1o.7
a machine 10 q live circuit bv mis.
take and was greatly astonished 70 ses
II begin 70 rotate. This r~svcreibuitv
~ function was publicly demonstrated
for the 1rst time az the Vienna expo.
sltion in 1873.
Not until 1870 was the nret electric
railway put in operation. taking tho
current from n dynamo. using a MOI.
ern motor and carrying passengers
This novelty was In operation nj the
Berlin exposition and was n mile and
twO.thirds in length. The train con.
sisted ~ a small locomotive and three
small cars, capable o. carrying fvyen-
~ people It reached q speed Of eigbt
miles "a hour.
About this t8ne s3hcu ID. Field
and Thomas Edison m the United
states began experimenting In 1880