The daily gazette., 1879-12-30


ILIERs AND CRITICS ANSWERED.
MENLo PARK, N. j., Dec. 2s.
"WondeIful!" When you hear this
word rolled out once in while with the
proper intensity Of accent, as in the grand
chorus of the "Messiah," it has lifting
effect upon the emotions. When you
hear 1t three or four hundred times in q
day 1t begins to lose force and you search
about for synonymes. Out here at the
homo of the wizard in these times you
listen to it from the lips of battalions OF
visitors, and you sympathize with the
men OF Athens who grow weary Of hear
ing great citizen called "Aristides the
just" All this while you are unde- the
influence Of the wonderful yourself. 1t
is not only the little glowing globes hung
here and there, but thousand and one
things appeal to your sense of admira-
tiOl besides, above all of which towers,
as the Creator does above his creature,
the man himself.
'sIt is not much of place." said q
Philadelphia millionaire to New York
capitalist, yesterday, as they looked
around at the dozen or SO of houses that
dot the otherwise bare hillside that is
called Menlo Park. But few thought
about such things, though the view
across the pleasant, undulating country,
now wrapped in light garment Of snow,
with the brown skeletons of the woods
breaking the sky line, is soothing and
charming. All came with one passion
the electric light and its maker. They
are of all classes, these visitors, of differ
ent degrees Of wealth and importance in
the community, and varying degrees of
scientific ignorance. Few, indeed, are
they who can approximately measure
what has been done in this matter, and
still fewer those who, knowing its worth,
admit it. But the homage OF the mass
to genius which they cannot comprehend
makes up in quantity at any rate for any
shortcomings in quality. 1t is time Of
Lapid conversions. The little horseshoe
holds Its own.
THE CLEAN OF THE LIGHTS.
Outside the building called the office,
on two ordinary lampposts, cleaned,
last evening, two little electric lamps.
Afar off they seemed two large globes of
fire. It was not till you came close by
that you saw the little incandescent
hoop of carbon held up by It's delicate
platinum clamps inside the small globe
| exhausted Of air. In the Office the
lights were all electric. In the library
up stairs it was the same. Over in the
laboratory, up stairs and down stairs, it
was the same. Such volleys of questions
as were pouring out! Every assistant
and even every boy was examined. All
who came were satisfied. The visitors
learned-for it was easy as Hamlet said
| Law hn rhn
hoops Alight by laying them down be-
tween the two wires on the main table.
And Edison was there-a study to all,
but OWNED by none. By and by the Wis.
tors moved off, now stopping to look at
the chalk telephone that speaks aloud.
You hear of ohms and circuits, gener-
ators and so forth. They have beer
round the strange, complicated looking
vacuum pumps, made out of glass tub
ing twisted up and twisted down. They
have been down where the beardless boy
with all the enthusiasm of an artist
blows the lamps, seals in the thin wires
and inserts the carbon hoop and leave!
it already to be exhausted of air.
There is a faeaination about glas
blowing, and this young Mr.. Bohm
while a man in his business, is a chilt
I Q
over the delight of the onlookers as eve
was boy in a baseball field. He is
blue blood glass blower, and tells yo'
his titles to skill with the consciou
pride of a university graduate-fOr is b.
not pupil of the late DIR. Geissler
whose fame is world wide, but who's
blowpipe is now laid away forever. Tn
visitors have been around to see the en-
gine, the generators, the regulators, til
: dynanometer. Satisfied about the elec
trio light they have asked about the tas
imeter the microphone, the pbonograp
and a dozen other things, as though the
) wanted to improve every instant befOr
the train starts. At last they GO in two
and threes down the hill to the railro a
track, and they gather at Deacon Davi
hotel and eat a cracker or drink glas
, of lager beer, and it is all "wonderful!
"marvellOusl" wonderful, wonderful
among them till the train takes thel
away and MenlO Park is left to itself.
THE WIZARD TALKS.
Leaning back in chair, with his so
felt hat on the back of his head, whit
silk handkerchief carelessly knotte
around his throat instead of collar {
necktle, his vest buttoned here and theI
he is perfectly at ease.
: "How many lights did you say, BACH
lor, were lit tonight 2"
'E 'ElICy-tnEoc.
f In electricity we began with gre,
!. lights, and now the talk Is all about tn
loss In small ones. 'See,' they say, ED
, son only gets. 100 candle power for ever
horse power, while we, the vOItaic al
men, get 900 candles per horse power
Very WE'LL but we have cOmpensatiI
gains Who wants 1000 candles in b
house? 1t is no more the popular wal
than 800 candle gas jets. Now, as to tt
voltaic arc. 1t il generally admitted vii
that light that the cost of the carbon "a
dies is three times the cost of the hort
. power. They first of all lose half by the
concentrated lght-that takes 800 car
J, dies of. They have to pay the price
four horse power for their remaining b
candles, which brings their candle pow
advantage down to a fraction"
SIMPLICITY OF ELECTRICITY.
D az give you my word that electricity
hundred times simpler than gas. Ju
read a good work on gas AMI see f
yourself. Electricity is cheap, simple al
. enduring. 1t cannot be said that OIL
4 city will have purer, clearer or smoky,
or worse colored electricity than anOthe
1t is con -tant, unvarying as the supply
conditional. There Is no business that
so subject to criticism as gas maxim
The co mplaints about bad gas are innl
=, merable. Do you know, by the wa
that some stOkers can get thousan
more cubic feet out OF a ton Of coal thu