The Electric Light Again: A Wonderful Discovery.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3085, 7 January 1879, Page 2

The Electric Light Again: A Wonderful Discovery.

. ■•• Eureka! '] (L have found ; it)rieriei^ffrtr Eduon in America, and before the echoei I of his cablegram have died a#ay, Mr Wendermana repeats the exfll*BMUK>iQn this country. But, unlike Hoe trans-li-lantic professor^ who says, f Writ,; and you shall see," ou< home inventor on Saturday incited a large of represenU- 1^ tives of the press to inspect hi. mode of dividing the electric current, so a* too make it applicable to a number of lights. The experiments took place in the British Teiepraph manufactory in Euslon road. - and, as far as they could be tested by a general examination^ appeared,* perfectly successful. Hitherto the elpctrio light has been obtained by bringing two. carbon points of equal size together, in ■* which case the combustion proved to be rapid. Mr Wendermann explained All* f processes by which he had been ledto/ substitute carbon of different shes. The lower one he uses is now; a rod of tit* ■ ■ thickness of a piece of stout wire. Thft is fixed in an upright position,' and by' means of slight chains and 1 a'cddnter 1" weight is made to continually'^ press' against a flat piece of carbon some: tiro/ inches and a half across, or ,siityifdttT%, times the diameter of the lower one.'/J: A single wire conducts the, lelectriojty* but by an ingenious arrangement 0? a shifting collar, the upper portion < only of the vertical carbon is in thex circuit. When t!ie current ptlaef, thatr,.' portion of the carbon rod whioh it/abet* ,v the connecting collar becomes iooatide**^ cent, and a small electric arc if formed^t';T; the spot where the point touches -the flat' surfaoe above it.' By tbis means the>waste of the upper electrode is said to ba ' so slight that an inch of carbon will last a month', while tho lower point burns away at the rate of an inch an;hour. This combustion can b.e provided for by the rod being made several feet in length.Ten lights, each of the power of 40 candles, were produced by an engine of 2-hcrse power; and the result was won* « wonderfully ■■ effective.' \ The *ays Jfiwa ( the naked light were dazzling, but when shaded •• , v soft and steady brilliancy was attained that seems to promises complete success for working purposes. Any of the lights could be lit or extinguished at will, but .when, several.,. were put out the reft burnt more brf/tfitlV. J^ This, it was explained, will.not.be the case when the contrivance is completed. Mr Wendermann claims that with an engine of sufficient power he can convey the current for two or three ; and, though he disputes Mr Edison's assertion that it can be divided indefinitely, he has every confidence that his. discover/ hat solved the difficulty for all practical pur* ' poses. If the exhibition witnessed oa Saturday can be repeated on ft large and general scale, the eleetrio light may soon ■.-, be made available for every home. ' ' ELECTRIC LAMP.. . „ .

The Philadelphia correspondent of the Boston Journal of Commerce describee 1 -1 an electric lamp invented in (hat oitjr for . purposes domestic. The writer"siyi!:— f-!< It weighs fourteen ounces, and is one of the ingenious contrivances of the century. Not yet patented it has been kept away, - from the scent of the sleuth reporters/ so that it will come to the public pare • and " unadulterated." There is little or no mechanism. A. dock combination off wheels rotates a glass disc against a l surface of raw silk. Thi<t wheel combine^ - tion is moved by a spring wound as a time piece, which runs six hours.- About M the points of combustion there is, above,, y, a small * carbonate, the constituents of 1 which are secret with the inventor; below this carbonate is an electro galvanic < wire plated with nickel, except the point of impact; that is raw and bare. To start the light, a trigger, not unlike that of a : gun or rifle, only not so prominent, extending from the side of the lamp, if . pulled gently downward. This causes a current of electricity to emanate from the ' disc, run up the connecting wire to the platinum point, from which a spark flies. This spark is held by the' carbonate* > < ,lftanwhi!e. the clockwork ts.staKed by a - movement, and instantly the fight is in ' ' full feather. For six hours it is a;Uaran. ,- teed to give the light of nineteen *«n. '■ dred ca-idlet' power, at a oost of a half cent. ' an hour* .It can be carried about M any, , lamp for home use.. < It cannot expjpde;,. and will be on the market next svrinjtior 6dol. Sjuok 1 Tamp* if.plaofd, in ajbaU' unbrokett by arches', would light an eatiife.. > house. Edison utes a carbon point with, 1( his experiments. This gentleman' doee f ,~ not confine himself to -a carbon, but - rather to a carbonate. The latter im-

pingement will last a year, at least, while < that of jtbe young iage bf Menlo Park, incrtiatatei r ahd^eworifclJß^e'^C^f^i^ moiithfl' lisa. . ' .'■ Vi ■*'. •l"si- "'■'"■:V>-&h ■;••: