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Show j TINY BATTERY. Will Propel a Vehicle Across the Con-j Con-j tinsnt, Says Inventor Edison. I (New York Times.) j Thomas A. Edison, when questioned j yesterday about the new storage battery .which the public has been expecting for , over a year, said: 1 "The popular impression seems to be that my new storage battery was more or less a possibility, but that it began aud ended thre. That is not so one of them h-s been in operation for the lust three weeks in one of the Altman's delivery de-livery wagons, and is doing al! that 1 ex-: ex-: pected and claimed for it. 'There is a great deal to be satd for the new battery, and all in its favor. It , will average more than a third greater I mileage for half the weight thdn will the old lead battery. It has an additional ' advantage, inasmuch as it can be re-i re-i churged at a much faster rate than the i old battery. As much electricity as will send the motor forty miles can be put in it. in less than an hour. "Ever since I took up ibis problem of the greater capacity battery 1 hv: worked with Cue idea of using it for street locomotion in automobiles and trolleys. And now the auto battery is finished. Last Monday three frienfls and myself took a trial run to Atlantic City in a car consisting of a Mors frame and I one of my batteries. We wished to attain great velocities over rough surfaces, and I we succeeded beyond any of our expectations. expec-tations. The idea was to find any defects de-fects in either the frame of the car or the battery and motor. The datter two were entirely successful, but there are a few things which can be bettered in the car. My .experience shows me that we have miich to learn from the French makers they have been at it longer than we have, and are still several years ahead. Several Sev-eral of the auto makers in this country have sent fwrny battery specifications and are beginning to make types of their machine in which it is to be used. "I have been experimenting with a.n electric coach today and it is surprising how well it showed up. We climbed Uagle Itock. where the hill-climbing contests arc held, with the greatest ease, and we really did not dare to attain our maximum maxi-mum speed. ! "We cannot put the new battery on the j market in any quantity as yet. The best ' we can do now is to make one a day. T5y October we will make at least six dally, and about Christmas we will be in shape to meet any demand. The trouble has been that special machines bad to be built, but the last of these will be completed com-pleted next week. Another disadvantage disadvant-age I have to contend with is paying -to per cent duty on a certain sheet steel that must be imported from England or Germany, Ger-many, and then the present high price for the batteries will be reduced. "This batterv will drive all other methods meth-ods of locomotion out of business, and in iess than ten years the horrible odor of gasoline on the public highways will he unknown. As for a lack of recharging recharg-ing stations, that is nonsense. In the last month forty-five new ones have been Installed in the New Kngland states ajone, and this Is going on all over the country. "Next year I will wager that I can take a ear of my own design, fitted with my motor and battery, and go to Chicago and return in less time and with more pleasure pleas-ure than any other machine in rcistence. There will be no break-down, no explosions explo-sions of gas or gasoline, and the trip will be made at an even twenty-five miles an hour." |