The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-12-28
LIYIEesUNDER WATER.
Edison's New Inventor Permits Man -
nfacture of Air ON Submarines.

ii
Edis0n's New Inventor Permits Man.
nfactuFe Of Air ON Submarines.
r. Inomas a. Edison has inyented q
storage battery for use in submarine
Doats which Will enable crews to- live
beneath the water 100 days, IF need
Des provided they have with them in
Lhe craft snfa9 ent rations and Wftar
20 4ast them andatubess ilIed with conn
pressed oxygen or the raw chemicals
needed tor the manufactures ofgexxgeni
Anati was announced by Edison's enRi-
neer and right hand man, Mr.. M. RI
Crimson He added that if saueh =
battery had been In use under s1,cli
condition eon the iIl-starreT iJauanese
submarine that sanks intact with aair
GREY 5lAs1de those h Japanese. fxftar.H
Woulo not have suffered injury from
tnelr AmeEslep. az they could have
lnA4 uIaetured RaneEer-failing supply
| OF sIresh air and have lived in safety,
= not 40 comfort. until their disabled
cEaH mad been discovered, raised TO
I tne surfaces and their fpertod of inn
pElsQQnments tendedsil Nor would the
olaEy Of the heroics but hepelessacom.
manaer o. that submarine ever have
been written. how that brave crew
dfed-Rot from wounds or lack 9of
IIsrood and water but from lack. OF that
great essential of life, pure air. These
men hreathed and rebreathed the
EsmaH amount of air in that tight lit-
tie null until it was so full of carbonic
acid ga shat it spelled death, to
breathe It again. With one of Edi4
sons submarine batteries on board it
would have purified the air of that
carDon1c acid gas, the compressed
oxygen tubes would have supplied the
other, atmospheric element needed.
and the submersion, of the little Jan
Warshlp. would have been a mere incl
dent instead Of q tragedy that stirred
the sympathies of the world. :
Edison has not yet put his new in.
Vent1on on the market. He has inst
perfected it, and the machinery: for its
manufacture is being built. ,tT -;
We can charge this new submarine
battery in an hour If we want to and
discharge it in 80 minutes, = Hutchin-
son said. 1T has two and .one-half
times the capacity of the storage bat
terlesa now in use in submarines and
occupies only the same place. Under
conditions as they exist now 1t takes
from six to seven hours to recharge
one OF the submarine batteries. I'm
der normal conditions we can recharge
our battery in three hours, and in one
nour II emergency should seem co re-
qulre 1t, and the power of such re-
charging is available Put one of our
batteries in a submarine the size { f
the Cattlefish, put II men on board
and submerge the craft and those IA
men will cable to live 100 days with
out coming to the surface before the
expiration Of that time. That means
they could live down there three
months and one week and come out in
good condition.
How would your battery accom-
plfs hthat result?" the engineer was
asked. a..
when men breathe, they exhale
carbonic acid gas, which poisons the
air and, in close place, means death
The potash solution that we use in the
new Edison submarine battery will alb
sorb that carbonic acid gas as fast as
it is manufactured by the exhalation
OF the men and thereby purify the at
mosphere and make the air fit to be
breathed again. Of course, it will be
necessary for the men to have with
them a means of supplying themselves
with fresh oxygen. That may be &C
cumulated by carrying in the subma-
Tine tubes filled with compressed oxy-
gen such as is used by physicians now
in cases of extreme illness. New
York Press.