Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1880-01-21
EDISON'S ELECTRIC LIGHT.

The New York Engineering and
Mining Journal of the 10th instant
contains an article on the Edison
Electric Light which agrees so well
with our ideas on the subject that
we reproduceit. 1t will be found to
agree substantially with an editorial
on the same subject which appeared
in the TIMES of the Sd inst. The
Journal says:
We have been taken to task by
several esteemed correspondents for
our too sanguine view of Mr.. Edison's
achievements in perfecting the cleo
trio light. We then qualified our
statement of "apparent success" by
the reported value of Edison's Elec-
trio Light stock. This week, we
hear the stock quoted at $500 a
share, and so rapid decline would
appear to indicate collapse of some
Of the claims put forth for the " in
.Eention." In order to give our read
ers and the public some reliable in
formation on the subject, we applied
to Mr.. Edison himself for some data
in support of his assertion that his
electric light is cheaper than gas il
Elimination, and we record the fol.
lowing reply from Mr.. Edison: "
wanted to publish the data you re-
fer to, but the Electric Light Com
pany object to it. l may say that
can deliver lights net in a house
for each indicated horsepower of
engine" Since the stock of the COM
pany is being bought and sold by the
public, We greatly regret the action
of the company in Withholding in
formation which every stakeholder is
entitled to, and without which no
prudent man should invest in it..
Moreover, the objection to giving
figures of cost strengthens the pc,
sition of those WHO insinuate, if they
do not openly assert, that the whole
excitement about Mr.. Edison's in
vention was merely for stock, job
bling purposes, partly to bull electric
light stock and partly to bear gas
stocks. This would indicate very
unfortunate outcome after so great a
labor, and for Mr.. Edison's reputa-
ton, as well as for the good Of the
cause of electric lighting, We trust it
is unfounded. Mr.. Edison is GER
tainly a very ingenious gentleman,
and while we are not able in the alb
sence of any useful data to say that
he has solved any of the great we'll
known difficulties which have hith-
erto prevented the realization ofcheap
electric lighting in small lamps, he
has, probably. made some important
Improvements in the details Of the
plant used for this purpose.
The statement that each horse
power will give s lights, each equal,
according to appearance of the lights
now at Menlo Park. to four-foot
gas Jet, is not definite enough to an
alyze and not favorable enough to be
absolutely impossible. The Difficult.
ties in the way of subd!viding the
light, and the great loss of power in
volved in this, do not yet appear to
be solved. When they are, we be-
lieve that the secret of cheap cleo
trio lighting will be found in the use
of cheap water-gas burned in small
gas-engines in each house, and gen.
erating the electricity by means of
dynamo-electric machines, for the H.
Elimination of one or two houses only.
In this way, the loss occasioned by
the transmission of electricity to great
distances will be avoided, and the
little gas-engines can be used for
variety of useful purposes, as we'll as
for electric lighting. 1t seems also
probable that the Sawyer-Mann car
bon candle, inclosed in an atmosphere
of nitrogen, will be less liable to ac-
cident and interruption than the
Edison "carbon horseshoe" In
vacuum.
= Till it may please the Electric
Light Company to furnish trust
worthy, disinterested expert report
upon the efficiency and economy of
the Edison light. we would give the
same advice that we have SO often
offered in the case of mining proper
ty offered here without the reports
of experts as to lite value: await till
the data is furnished, and keep your
money till you know what you are
getting for it." At the same time,
we have firm faith in the ultimate
economic success Of the electric light
for general use, and we have also a
very high opinion of Mr.. Edison's in
'genuity.