ELECTRIC RAILWAYS 



siderable time, and later, improved modifications of 

 these cars were operated in Philadelphia under the 

 direction of Mr. Anthony Rackenzaun, of Vienna. But 

 despite the apparent simplicity of the storage-battery 

 idea, innumerable difficulties were perpetually present- 

 ing themselves in its practical application. Despite 

 the disheartening results, however, storage-battery cars 

 were not entirely abandoned in practice until 1903, 

 New York city being the last to surrender, as it had been 

 about the last to adopt them. 



But in February, 19 10, the storage-battery street car 

 again made its appearance on trial in New York — not 

 the old heavy type of unsatisfactory car, but an entirely 

 new and fighter creation of Thomas A. Edison, who had 

 been striving for years to solve the storage-battery 

 problem. This car, which had been tested on the 

 Orange, New Jersey, street-car fine on January 20th, 

 19 10, maintained a speed of fifteen miles an hour in 

 actual practice, and ran a distance of about one hundred 

 and fifty miles without re-charging the batteries. 



There are some novel features about the car itself, but 

 the all-important one is the peculiar and novel storage 

 battery which it has taken Mr. Edison some nine years 

 to perfect. In an imperfect form this battery was given 

 a trial in 1903, and much was expected of it because it 

 was not only lighter than the usual form of storage 

 battery, but it promised more permanency because an 

 alkali was used in place of an acid as an electrolyte. 



In this battery the positive element, which consisted 

 of nickel oxide interspersed with layers of graphite, was 

 packed in perforated nickel tubes. The negative ele- 



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