The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-06-22
WILL WORK WONDERS
NEW STORAGE BATTERY PER-
FECTED BY EDISON.
Can Be Used in Cars, Automobiles
and All Kinds of the Ordinary
Vehicles.

Edison's new p 'orage battery,
which he is now perfecting, will sure
ly work wonders If all that is said
of it is true. In speaking of it the
Manufacturers Record says:
Just when the storage battery ell
ectric car is establishing itself in
favor with street-railway men for
service comes Thomas A. Edison
with the announcement that he has
designed a new type of storage bat
terry, which is wonder, and 1t may
further popularize cars without troll
leys. A few days ago he told a re-
porter of the New York Times about
the new invention, saying that, al
though it will run a car or automo-
bile, and, in fact any kind of vehi-
Gle, it can be put in a suit case, be-
ing small and light, yet containing
sufficient power for 50 or 60 mile
trip. Moreover, it can be recharged
in three or four minutes, whereas
the first storage battery he produc-
ed required long time for recharS-
ing. Furthermore, If necessary, IL
can be partly recharged in a min
ute or less should time be pressing.
He is working along the same line
to produce a battery for heavy SER
vices on railroads, doing work as
efficiently as steam locomotives 90
now, and is also quoted as saying
that one of his storage batteries is
working on butchers wagon IN
West Orange, N. j., where Mr.. Ed1-
son resides, running for II miles at
an expense of ., cents. The battery
Is under the seat, and it dserecharg-
ell by connection with an ordinary
feed wire. He referred to the street
car now being operated at Concord,
NC :, saying that the people there
were laughing at the rest of the
country for using trolley cars.
This implied promise of Mr. Edi-
son to give the world street-car ser
vice at lower operating costs, and
without the disadvantage and dis
figurement of trolley wires and their
accompanying overhead structure is
most encouraging when read in con-
nection with the reports OF success
attending the operation Of storage
battery-cars on cross-town lines IN
New York, where they have proved
so satisfactory that the Third ave-
me railroad has ordered IS more or
them, which, with 80 now in service
will give it good supply of the new
vehicles that are to take the place
of horse cars on short routes across
the city between the Hudson and the
East Rivers.
The battery equipment will be fur
nished by the Electric Storage Bat
terry Company, of Philadelphia. 1t
appearsi that the railroad has now
little less than 10 miles of line
operated with storage battery cars,
the rest of its lines being equipped
with electric cars of the usual type
and a few horse cars. The storage
battery vehicles are reported to have
worked we'll in all kinds of weather,
and the operating expense was low
while the life of the batteries IS
greater than anticipated. The cars
have also gathered more business for
company, as many people would not
use the horse cars. So much has al
ready been accomplished by storage
battery cars that the efforts of Mr..
Edison and others to extend their
field of usefulness will be observed
with deed interest, and reports OF
greater achievements are anticipated.