New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-11-16
FoIR SYSTEMS BEING TRIED.

-FOUR SYSTEMS BEING TRIED.
The statement made by Mr.. Edison six
weeks ago. which startled companies OF London
70 strangely was that with Is or 20 Wallace electric
machines and 50O-horse power steam engine he eould
light the whole part OF the city Of New1 orK WIN
electricity Up 10 the date OF this announcement the
electric light had been utilized only In the oazEhhg
lampe of the class employed mt Coney Island
and IN the de rOpera at Paris this past summer
for flooding large spaces with the torrent OF ght Wnlch
the voaic arc pours forth The power OF these lamps
ranged all the way from GOO 10 1000 candles al is to
say they gave light equal to the illumination produced
by from 30 10 200 gas burners These great lights which
would illuminate street in manner very closely re-
sembng the way which the would do It, were ohvi
osy unfit for the general illumination o. dwelling houses
They well adapted Tor open air employ ana or
use in workshops factories and lighthouses In spite OF
the Pickering character OF the vOlTaic But they
ud not be introduced private houses because Of the
lack OF proper mechanism for subdvding their power
and distributing IT. SO To produce with one current
large number small soft, and steady lights, each OF
which could turned of and on Mt pleasure, without
exncuisbing the What Mr.. Edison claimed, last
enterber was that he had found the way subdlyde
the electric light OOO 10000. yes, infinite number
of times using any number Of small and steady lights on
one circuit and that he could illuminate the whole lower
part Of the City Of New-YOrk with 10 or 20
Wallace machines, worked by 5OO-horse power steam
engine al an enormous reduction the cost Of lighting
with gas Mr. Edison kept details Of ms Invention
10 himself Scientific left without the means
Of Judging for themselves whether the problem
Of general electric lighting had been really solved.
The clam rested upon the statement Of Mr..
Edison alone II was noticed however that the inventor
appeared In have entire confidence in the merit OF his
discovery whatever IL might be- He taking extra
ordinary pains secure the benefit of il himself by
keeping details secret until he had covered them with
patents every part of the world where the lighting of
dwellings is being carried on by organized capt.
tai panic IN gas stocks ensued in Lon
don, which Is without a precedent. The prices
of stocks we're affected mthe United States though,
for reason, not TO the same extent as IN England
The gas companies here do not believe that the problem
az infinite subdivision Of the electric light solved In
London, however, the panic serious Edson's an
everywhere one Of the most prominent
topics OF discussion. The extraordinary concern that
was felt may be from the way in which the light
talked or the following brief extract from The Lon
don standard, of October 49, being fair sample Of the
current remarks on the subject;
The extent 10 which the Introduction OF the electric
ngnt generally practicable torn Is likoly to affect
the gas companies, is matter OF interest beyond the
limits Of those who hold shares and stock IN those com
pauios. Perhaps there IS fair approximation TO the
truth IN calculation already made that me total
ing IN the United Kingdom is as much as
&lOOOOO,OOO . suppose the dividends or the
gas compaois TO approach extinction the loss
10 the spending power of the community would be
10 be destroyed the disappearance Of millions Of capital
would be tioual misfortune; Neither is the question
limited the British Isles The whole civilized world
makes OF gas for Illuminating purposes, and tue total
tce in varions parts Of the globe must be immense That
all these riches should now be trembling IN the balance
awaiting the result Of certain Investigations conducted
IN American laboratory. Is state OF things which
has seldom If presented Itself before.
may be that the possibilities OF the electric light
better understood England than In the United States
and this may account for the excessive alarm engcn
Orrcd there 10y the bolduess OF Mr. EdsOn's claim With
out attempting this point TO question the probability
Of Mr. Edison having discovered the path
out OF the woods in which the seekers for
subdivision the electric light have been wandering
for thirty years il may said nevertheless that ii is
Just possible that there has been extravaganza in the
way Of stating the discovery, and that the com
paucs have been unduly frightened 1t is certain that
the future OF gas does not 10 be menaced
seriously as at first supposed and the alarm somewhat
sUbsding.
The situation IN regard to the electric light at this time
resembles marked manner the state OF things when
engineers trying 20 make ship 20 by steam power
For forty years after the close of the Revolutionary War
in America, hundreds of ingenious minds busly at
work trying to solve the problem Of the application of
steam power 10 propulsion The United States
England and France foremost in the STUDY of
the matter they at present III the field Of electric
lighting 1t is not extravagant to say that thousand
forms OF banks Of oars, paddewhecs screw prOpeeTs
power pumps aud other devices for making boat co.
invented, east aside taken up again and again,
invented 10y who not aware Of what had been
already thought Of and pOndered over during that period
OffOrty years uut out of the whole vast thrOng Of
crude notions the world finally decided upon two forms
OF prOpeng apparatus practical. and put them into
general thrOu ghOu the field OF marine engineering
Exactly the thing is going with
reference 10 electric lighting. Since 1915, when
the vOtaIc emerged from the laboratory thing
which could possibly be put to practical use, the prob
lcm Of the electric light has enlisted the attention Of
large number of able men in Europe and America Ex
perments have been making in hundreds of laboratO
uCs. Valuable ideas have been occasionally bit upon
and patented and every ten years so the announce
ment has been made that the means for subd
yidmg the electric light has been found, and
the attention Of the world has been nvetcd
for a while upOn lamp which has a brief
course popularity, then dropped out Of sight
never be heard OF again, until inventor has
come upon idea and brought 1t afresh be-
Neving 1t to be No doubt, Of this busy nvest
cation will come eventually practicable method Of
subdiyidiDg the electric light for domestic uses
ts as success attended the study paddle wheel and
propulsion Practical modes Of electric lighting
large scale have already been found. In that direction
further time to be necessary only for portectDg
the details. Lighting small scale is yet thing Of
the future unless Edison and fow others, who will be
spoken of presently, have attained TO it, but it
hardly be doubted that success will eventually be
reached.
EDIsoN's EXPERIMENTS.
As far as can be ascerained from the guarded state
nents made by Mr. Edison, his line OF experiment is in
The direction Of lighting By ncandescence
This notion IS as old as 1si5. An electric lamp was
invented this principle that year by American
by the name of King who took out patent for light
based on the use Of burner OF the most infusbe met
ais OF continuous carbon heated brilliant white
by the passage Of the electric current
The light was produced in a glass tube in which a
vacuum had previously been created the object OF tbs
being 10 prevent the combustion the carbon or metal
by the oxygen Of the air King his Idea to England
a - tY,o II -