The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-10-06 00:00:00

THE SPREAD OF DISCOVERY,

At the last meeting of the British Association
emphasis was laid upon a fact, which, as a type
of the speed with which modern discoveries
spread, can scarcely be exagerated in its im-
portance up ea the customary concerns of daily
life. It was stated that it was only six years
ago that at another meeting of the same insti-
tution the telephone was first introduced to
English lips and English ears, and set against
this assevion was arrayed a number of figures
showing into how extensive a use this particular
development of electricity has now come. In
these days it is somewhat a matter of which we
are proud that we are so accustomed to marvel-
lous discot'eries that we are surprised at nothing
and although thishabit of mind sometimes causes
us to give credit to that which subsNuent ex-
anainatien proves to be impossible, yet on the
whole it is justified by the enormous number of
inventions which have been added to the pro-
peey of the universe in the days of onrselves and
our Where, which were little better than scien.
Cfic toys when first put forth but which are now
the n-icessitiee of our every hour. It is a thrice
old tale this story of the rapid development of
modern invention and yet it is one which always
interests in the telling. No one can effect to
pass it unh6cqufl by ; there is no such thing as
ignoring it ; it is one of :hose facts which sand
out sg,in,it the mental horizon like a mountain
rising from a tableland ; and it is one which, in
its bearing upon comfort, upon convenience,
upon the various cnncerns of life, deserves i's
erninedace. Within the last sixty years the world
lute advanced in the region of mechanical appli-
ances in greater proportion than in the previous
six bundled. The invention of printing and the
manufacture of gunpowder are tho great inven-
tive landmarks of the middle ages, but after
these are reckoned there is no great discovery
to be noted, none, that is, of the kind that re-
volutionises the world—until the application of
steam as a locomotive force. Since the date of
the latter proof of the varied depths of the human
intellect, it would be necessary that a volume
should be written, and not a few lines, to tell
what has since been done in a similar direction.
But to take only that branch which appears
to-day more than ever to be the one that will
rule the immediate future, and to consider
electrieal inventions .alone, we shall see what
progress has been made. It is not more than
shirty years since the word "telegram" was first
heard, and now it is one of the most frequently
used in our vocabulary. It had not been heard
up to the time mentioned because it was not
urgently tequired ; immediately the science of
telegraphy became so developed as to be a pop.
ular institution, that instant a short word to de-
scribe its manifestation was necbssary. This
in itself shows the exceedingly modern character
of the electrical development which is now one
of our most striking facts. But in these days,
near as they are to those in which messages
were first flashed over a wire, development is
more speedy than it was then. Although it
was in 1837 that Cooke and Wheatstone proved
by their experiments at Camden Town that it
was possible to telegraph, it was not until 1845
that their invention was first put to a practical
use in the way of capturing an offender. In
1877 Professor Graham Bell made known his
telephonic discoveries to an English audience,
but it did not take eight years for it to be availed
of even tentatively. Only six years have elapsed
and yet the telephone is now in our great cities
and in many our smaller towns, one of the most
striking conveniences of business life. The
electric light at the same time is spreading in
streets and in theatres, at the railway stations
and in factories, and, in short, at all places where
a great body of illumination is required. Con
temporary on sly with this we read of an electric
railway being opened in Ireland, and this may
only serve as the prelude to others of the kind
which may assist to revolutioniee our carrying
trAffie. The question naturally arises "Where
will all this e.neand the answer can be given in
the form of another question, "Wno can tell."
Rapidly the old conveniences, disappear, being
thrust out of place by inventions which butt's
yesterday ,would have been looked upon as
incredible ; the only hope is that as the multi-
plication of facilities for business increases, so
will a sense of the responsibility laid upon us by
such comforts be ever added Ito and strength-
ened.