302 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 307 



serious troubles encountered in switching and crossing where many 

 cars are used. 



The third-rail system has in many cases been discarded, on ac- 

 count of the danger of receiving shocks to which persons and ani- 

 mals are exposed in crossing the rails, and on account of the great 

 loss by leakage due to the extreme difficulty experienced in main- 

 taining proper insulation. 



The system using the rails as conductors has been discarded, be- 

 cause of the same objections that have just been urged against the 

 third-rail system. The objections to the underground conduit sys- 

 tem are the great first cost ; the necessity and the expense of tearing 

 up the streets, which in many cases prohibits its adoption ; and the 

 necessity of providing for its perfect drainage, which, in connection 

 with the serious troubles in maintaining insulation, greatly adds to 

 the cost of its maintenance and the running expenses. 



The storage-battery plan, at first thought, would seem to be the 

 ideal system. It dispenses with the necessity of a continuous con- 

 ductor, the electrical generator and motive power are all contained 

 within the car, and there is apparently an entire absence of any pos- 

 sibility of danger to passengers. These favorable anticipations would 

 be justified were it once demonstrated that a storage-battery had 

 been devised that was economical of power, of reasonable weight, 

 and durable in service. Thus far, however, the best storage-battery 

 that has been devised is very wasteful as a source of motive power, 

 yielding at most but forty per cent of the power applied, excessively 

 heavy and bulky, making it necessary to carry about three times 

 the load of an ordinary car, and requiring a special Car to be built 

 to provide the necessary space beneath the seats to receive the bat- 

 teries, — a matter of very notable importance, since it prohibits the 

 use of the rolling stock of the surface roads without considerable 

 cost for alterations. Furthermore, the storage- battery, as thus far 

 developed, has a life of only two years of constant service, and it is 

 subject to the danger of short-circuiting, which at once destroys its 

 usefulness. Whether any or all of these deficiencies, which at pres- 

 ent seriously interfere with its usefulness, may be remedied in the 

 future, is a question which time alone can determine. It is suffi- 

 cient for our present purpose to know that the storage-battery, in 

 the best forms of to-day, is seriously handicapped by reason of 

 these objectionable features. 



The construction and mode of operation of the Hauss system will 

 be understood from the following explanations : — 



In this system an insulated wire is used, covered with rubber and 

 other material known to be highly efficient in the case of under- 

 ground electric-light wires. This wire is placed in a groove in the 

 stringer underneath one of the rails, and is passed through metallic 

 pockets, which are also placed underneath the rail. In order to ob- 

 tain additional insulation, the stringer is coated with asphaltum. 

 The metallic pockets are placed beneath the rail having the grooved 

 stringer carrying the line-wire. The rails on this side are made in 

 sections, each twelve feet long, each section being insulated from ad- 

 jacent sections. When the car passes over the rail, contact is made 

 with the wire in the pocket, and the current is collected by means of 

 guard-brushes and the wheels. The entire length of the track is 

 dead, and the only portion which is charged is a space twelve feet 

 long directly under the car. When the car leaves one twelve-foot 

 section, this section immediately becomes dead, and the next sec- 

 tion over which the car is then passing becomes charged. There 

 is at no time any portion of the track charged except that portion 

 directly under the car, thus not only insuring against all danger to 

 persons or animals, but also insuring efficient insulation along the 

 entire route, and preventing a heavy leakage of current. The cur- 

 rent is conveyed from the guard-brushes and the wheels to the mo- 

 tor, and through the other rail to the ground. 



The speed or direction of the motor can be controlled from either 

 end of the car. The motor is built as light as is consistent with 

 the best electric results (a twenty-horse motor, weighing one thou- 

 sand pounds), and the armature is run at a very moderate speed. 

 The efficiency of the motor is affirmed to range, by actual test, at 

 about ninety-five to ninety-eight per cent. The power is applied 

 directly to the axles of the car by means of a worm and worm- 

 gear, the latter being placed on each of the axles, and the worm 

 connected directly to the armature shaft and provided with two 

 ball-and-socket joints, to compensate for any slight derangement in 



the relations between the motor and the shafts. The motor is 

 bolted to a frame hung on the axles of the car, and fastened rigidly 

 to the journal-boxes. The springs rest on the journal-boxes, and 

 support the body of the car. The motor and truck are entirely in- 

 dependent of the car-body, and have no connection therewith. The 

 motor can be geared so as to run the car ten or more miles an 

 hour, and, as we witnessed at the trial of the system, can be per- 

 fectly controlled from the slowest movement up to full speed, and 

 instantly stopped or reversed, if necessary, without injury to the 

 machinery. No hand-brakes are required with this system, as the 

 wheels are automatically locked when the armature ceases to re- 

 volve. In going down grade, there is no danger of the operator 

 losing control of the car, and no possibility of the car running away. 

 Another feature introduced on the car is a fifth wheel, shown sus- 

 pended at the front end, which can be let down, and by means of 

 which the front end of the car can be jacked up. When thus rest- 

 ing on three wheels, the car can be led around any obstruction and 

 brought back to the track, connection with the track-conductor be- 

 ing temporarily made with flexible conductors. By this system the 

 cars are able to leave the track, to go around a breakdown or an 

 obstruction, to go over fire-hose when stretched across the track, 

 or to cross over and take the back track. Finally, there is not an 

 inch of room required for passengers that is used, and not a sign 

 to denote the use of electricity in the propelling of the car to be 

 seen above the floor. By this system, it is claimed, the cost of 

 running is brought lower than has been possible with any other 

 thus far devised, and the claim appears to be based on reasonable 

 grounds. 



The simplicity of the motive mechanism is such as to insure the 

 minimum of trouble in operation ; and the entire system, in respect 

 of economy of construction, maintenance and running, and absolute 

 safety, appears to have eminent merits. 



THE CONDUIT SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. 



Among all the different types of motors which have been press- 

 ing their respective claims upon the attention of the public during 

 the last few years, there is none which can compare with the elec- 

 tric motor in its efficiency, its adaptability to all sorts of work, and 

 its practicability as a means for the distribution of power from a 



central station at a moderate expense. The number of electric 

 motors now in every-day operation, and the extended range of the 

 uses to which they are put, are matters furnishing constant sur- 

 prise to all who are unpossessed of the latest information on these 

 points. 



One of the most interesting of the applications of the electric 

 motor is found in the electrically propelled street-car of to-day 

 which has already created a revolution in the field of locomotion 

 and which promises in the near future to be as commonplace an 



