The Phonogram, Vol. 1:10 (1891-10)

THE PHONOGRAM. 213 ELECTRIC NAVIGATION. One of the most striking facts of the Universal Exposition held at Edinburgh in 181K), was the trial of electric navigation, due to the action of the General Electric Power and Traction Company, which had established on the canal of the Union a passenger service carried on by a flotilla of electric boats. It was the first practical applica tion of this kind in Scotland, and we learned with pleasure that the public received it with favor. Despite the unfavorable conditions—terminus at Edinburgh situated in a secondary street, of un- pleasant appearance, rainy season, etc.—the elec- tric boats constituted one of the principal attrac- tions of the Exposition. The number of travelers transported from the 31st day of May to the 11th of October amounted to seventy-one thousand and seventy-five, not comprising those furnished with season tickets and such as journeyed gratuitously. This first appearance of electric navigation in Scotland permits us to hope that we shall soon sec boats of the same sort circulating on our rivers and estuaries. Allow us to indicate to you rapidly the advan- tages resulting from the substitution of electricity for steam in navigation. Instead of cumbrous ma- chines, there are accumulators concealed under the seats, and leaving at the disposition of the travelers that space occupied by machinery on steamboats. For the same number of passengers the steamer should be at least twenty-five percent, larger than the electric boat. There is, therefore, economy in favor of the latter, and not only in expense of establishing, but also in currying, since there is less tlead weight to carry. On the electric boat there are no odors, no smoke, no noise, which are the inseparable accompaniments of the l>est steam machinery. The tremulous motion due to the movement of the shaft of the propeller is modified, the electric motor giving a gentle and continuous impulse, in- stead of a series of jerks, as in the case of a steam cylinder piston. In fine, although steam is a faithful servant, it is often dangerous, and we know what terrible catastrophes have occurred by a slight negligence in handling this force. With electricity danger disappears, and the only harm it can do is to cause the boat sometimes to stop. There is absolutely no danger in the electric apparatus used to trans- port passengers; and upon this point we insist, as we have heard many jKTsons declare they were afraid of a shock or of a watch being deranged by electricity. The electric boat has, licsides, many other advantages: one man can manage the motor; there is no boiler to be warranted and periodically inspected; the lx>at creates its own power, instead of having to effect this by burning coal, and this energy can be regulated by simply turning an accumulator. The use of these l»oats is not limited to the con- ve\*ancc of passengers or the demands of pleasure. The company has already equipped one for the Spanish Navy, and w hen one thinks of the serv- ices that can be rendered by this species of l>oat to a man of-war, one is astonished that the British Admiralty would allow itself to be forestalled in this way by the navy of Spain. Mr. T. R. Lombard, Vice-President of the North American Phonograph Company, has just returned from a successful tour through the South-western States, where he had gone for the purpose of opening up new agencies. He has reorganized the Tennessee Phonograph Company, which has begun business under auspicious cir- cumstances. This movement gives an impetus to the phono- graph business here and sypaks well for the per- spicacity and enterprise of the people of the South-west; for wherever the phonograph is used, the throb of higher civilization will be felt. THE COMING STORAGE BATTERY. An invention caHed to play an important rule in the industrr-tvf accumulators, not only on ac- count of its adaptability^o*he needs of the marine service, but to wll purj>oscs for which this appa- ratus was designed, is the Reynier Elastic Ac- cumulator. We wish to impress upon the public that, for the reasons hereto stated, this battery will supersede all others in its special sphere. In the list of its merits are included: 1. Its capacity for lighting houses without^ canalization . 2. Its ccMivenient sizj^and weight, which render it easily transportable. 3. Its form, which permits it to be huns up. 4. The arrangement of the springs gives to tl^ activefolid matters an artificial elasticity by which the liattery attains greater activitj' and great specific power. In the next issue of The Piionogkam wc will give cuts and detailed description of this storage batten'.