The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-08-12
r,ectro-mo,ors Of ,he Future.

When the real electro-motor comes along
| il will not be described in the papers before
il is invented. People who have valuable
Inventions in their workshops or In their
brains do not rush into print with them be-
| fore their ideas are matured and their III
! trinsic value proved. The history OF electro
motors 30 far is one OF claims, not OF accom-
plishments. Halt dozen persons in differ
ent parts OF the world professed to have bar
messed up electricity TO do the present
work of horsepower or steam. we are
| told that they have applied IL 10 railways
successfully. and that we may soon expect
| 10 see trains of cars propelled Without sic am
or any visible agency, electricity doing the
work, being supplied Tor that purpose by
stationary engines, which send currents
through the rails, communicating Win Inc
trains and moving them.
As to all this, il must be said that man.
kind are credulous. They are ready to be-
| lieye almost anything claimedfor electricity,
| an agent whose possibilities are fond'y sup.
posed TO be boundless. But We warn IN
yentors and claimants that there Is limit
| 10 human eredulity even on this subject,
| and it is nearly reached in the case OF the
electro motor. concerning which so mucn
| has been promised and so little done. The
| faith or skepticism of the public has little 10
do. however, with the ultimate triumph or
electricity in this new and vast department
of useful work. Men OF genius will still
| toll at the problem till they have solved 1t,
one way or the other. We may hope that
some day-perhaps a distant One-eleclrl-
city wilreplace steam as motive power on
railways, where the advantages OF its intro
ducticn are so obvious, putting an end TO
the nuisances of steam, smoke, cinders,
and sulphurous stenches which make the
most serious objections against the iocomo-
| tives OF to-day.
The difficulty in the way OF the electro
motor at present is rather one OF expense
| than OF mechanics. The machine has doubt
| less been Invented and tried on small scale
with certain degree OF success, but costs
| too much in working. Whether the cleo
| tricty is developed directly from galyanlc.
! batteries or from magneto-electrlc eng~N
driven by steam, the expense IN either case
| is greater than that incurred In obtaining
an equivalent Of power with the common
steam. engine. This has been proved over
| and over again, and constitutes the great
stumbIing-Glock OF inventors, though they
NAV refuse to admit it. Must the attempts
to produce a practicable electro-m0tor be
| abandoned therefore? Not at all. The de-
sideratum now is to find some means OF
greatly cheapening the producfiol Of The
electric current. Tina @sbou' oeVeBsbrS
and probably will be found, L. 90 = az
| universally distributed forces OF H.. " Z =.
uuuilzed by man or employed by hSr so
spariDgly. The doctrine OF the correlation
or ntercOnvertibilty OF forces is now set
tied beyond dispute, and ii only remain. for
| the electricians 10 use 1t and call INTO being
the most brilliant inventions Of the future.
The sunlight, as Ericsson has proved, is
convertible into horsepower by radiation
and concentration. The wind has a capa-
CITY for work which man has but partially
tested with his primitive mills. The tides,
with their daily rise and fall, are sources OF
| incalculable power now wasted all over the
world. Every one OF these tremendous nat
ura forces awaits the coming man, who Will
seize upon and utilize its strength, store 1t
lup as in reservoirs for use as required,
turn 1t into electricity and conduct The re-
sultiDg electric current by sufficient wires
to points where work is TO be done. Zinc
ana coal or other substances by whose de-
composition or combustion electricity is
now produced are expensive. The sun
light, the wind, and the tides cost nothing.
| They are free to all men, and only the COM
petent Inventor Is wanting TO make them
| do much OF the work OF the world. includ-
| ing that OF steam locomotiyes-as substi.
tute for which the electro-motor cannot too
quickly come TO our relief.