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SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



electric cars ; but the first practical electric locomotive was 

 made by Doctor Siemens. This was exhibited at the In- 

 dustrial Exposition in Berlin in 1879. It attracted a great 

 deal of attention, and inventors from various parts of the 

 world began to devote more time to perfecting an electric 

 car ; so that from this may be said to date the development 



Courtesy of Harper 6* Brothers 

 FIG. 96. The first electric railway. 



of the modern electric car. Improvements in the dynamo 

 and motor have made the perfection of the practical trolley 

 car possible. 



First electric car. Shortly after this Exposition, the first 

 commercial electric railway in the world was constructed in 

 Germany between Berlin and Lichterfelde, a distance of 

 about a mile and a half. For this purpose an old horse car 

 was used and converted into an electric car by mounting a 

 motor between the axles. 



Electric cars in America. In this country special atten- 

 tion was given to electric cars by Stephen Field and Thomas 

 Edison. In 1881 each constructed a short electric railway, 



