Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-08-31
ELECTRICITY,
NEW MODE or LIGHTING STREETS,

Looking at q printing press of the
most modern construction, AZ observer
made the Just remark that the eonlrly'
anee of such o piece Of mechanism, cap
able Of printing on both sides and fold
ing IL, 900 copies 81 q large newspaper
Ia ono hour, II beyond tho capacity of
any single human brain, No II II with
all thu great concrete results 0l human
ingenuity, The machines which DO the
work Of hundreds Of human hands and
exert the force Of scores Or hundreds Oi
horses, are analogous 10 the largest
buildings Of many stories, OF 10 tho pyra'
mils, which have required the CO.opefa'
tlon Of innumCmble tOilers, designers,
architects, quanymcn on brlek'mahera,
lOrcmen masOns, bearers Oi burlORa-a
host Of different craftsmen, hbonng
together and In succession, sometimes
generation after generation supplement-
Ing each others work, until tbs whole
result shows tho power Of combined
effort stretching upward, step by step
to tho perfect end, Tho very tools
which arc indispensable TO the conduct
Ing Of many operations, which arc them
selves part Of process, mechanical or
chemical, arc frequently the result OF
Of maliy successive Inventions The Clec'
tric machines are employed In lighting
tho streets OF Cleveland, the home city
Of invention, by means Ol u system ol
"masts," five Of which are expected to
bC sufficient, and will bc ready by the
lst OF October, They will ho OF iron
aud steel boiler plates, and between 200
and 800 feet in hight, aud three or -four
feet IN diameter at the base Placed ut
distance Of 1900 iO 1000 feet apart,
and provided with four or five electric
lamps, each mast will have an illnminat.
ing power of 10000 candles, and IN eS'
pcctcd to give light equal to clear
moonlight,
This method has been tried success
fully Mt Wabash, Ind, and Akron, Ohio,
Those cities have been visitcdby delega.
tions from all parts OF tho country, and
the observations made are 40 decidedly
in favor OF tho new invention that Now
York, Chicago, Cincinnati and Boston
with many smaller cities, are expected
soon to avail themselves OF 1t, The
works Of the electric company are to be
increased, so as to employ 1900 men,
and the Cleveland paper above quoted Is
sanguine that the next five years will
see the universal adoption Of the system
All alleys and back yards will be in
cluded in the benefit Of the light, while
the cost, il is believed, will he kept be.
low that OF the present system OF gas
lighting, inefficient as the latter is in
comparison with thencw method. There
is an alternative to the mast system in
the erection of low lights, but while the
low lights are in use to some extent, the
favorite plan is to have them as an
adjunct to the mast system, Northwest
ern cities of minor importance have
been the first to introduce the new light,
but il is likely to be received with equal
favor in Europe. The London papers
mention tho conclusion OF contracts by
which large portions of Edinburgh and
Dublin will be lighted by n combination
of the masts and the low-light system.
II really appears, from all that has been
learned of the operation OF the electric
light in this form, that for street-light-
ing purposes it will take the place OF gas
as naturally as gas took the place of oil
lamps. The application of the principle
has required much ingenuity in detail,
and will doubtless elicit still more.
Such ingenuity is always forthcoming.
Thousands of engineers are wrestling
with the problem of the utilization of
the great material force, and there can
be no doubt that they are very near
success, or indedd that they have passed
its Threshold The rest is question of
closer economy. The principle of the
new method has been tested, and the
public have ceased to be incredulous as
to the issue of so many worthily direct
ed labors.