San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-04-20
wuATRECTRICITY NAY DO.
s...t Social ssf EeoaomIe ohnases'f'ossible.
fronfhe Pan Mall Gsaeite.

~ so profou3dly influenees the life OF
,Se, nresent generation as the mechani-
VI VI aombination of type ia Guteabergs
whining press. The making 'ef gun
Poa,der- the Invention of the compass,
ppnJ tbe construction of che steam en-
a;ne are all familiar illustrations of the
erteat to which the inventor he's revo-
iutioned the world. Eyea in the pure
nolit;cal sense it may be asserted that
Watt was moro powerful than Pitt, and
,ha share of Arkwright in enabling
Enoland to rEesist, and ultimately to
overcome, the power of Napoleon was
hardly less important, although much
Lass oonspicuoCs, than that OF yelling
TON. The discovery OF the extent to
which two parallel railroads of iron
could expedite locomotion, in 9r. Ar
nold.c opinion, the death-stroke to
Vandalism; and no one can as yet com
mite the extent to which it has contrib
nted to remodel the social system. of the
ciyilis ed world. Not even Stephenson,
as he stood by the cradle of the loco
motive, fully realized the revolutionary
agent he was letting loose upon man
kind. end the most sanguine believers
in the future development of electricity
can hardly be expected to understand
the extent to which the utilization of
this force may affect the settled order
of the State. All great discoveries are
great revolutionists, or, rather, it gay
he said that all great discoveries con-
tain within themselves the germs of
many revolutions. AT present the ap.
plication of electricity is only in its in
fancy, but already any one who is ia
miliar with the dissolvent action OF the
steam engine on the old order which ex-
listed q century since can understand
that the dynamo machine and the stor-
age battery may yet effect a very un.
expected Transformation of the social
organization, and modify or even des-
troy the existing balance of political
forces. The political and social signifi-
canoe of recent discoveries in the APP
plication of electricity is increased by
Che disappearance of the old, unreason-
ing conservatism which Fifty years ago
formed so great an obstacle to the de-
velopment of the railway system. The
leader of the Conservative party is to-
day driving piles in the River Lea by
electricity generated by the water
wheel that tonight will light up the
electric lamps which illuminate Hatfield
Hall. Not only has the old prejudice
against newfangled inventions disap-
peared, but information is disseminated
with a rapidity before unknown. Elec.
tricity, therefore, has far fewer obstacles
to overcome than those which steam
has vanished; and if, as is most prob
able, it is destined to bring about great
changes, they will be brought about
with a rapidity partaking some what
of it's own character.
Last week NJ. Deprez succeeded in
transmitting power by means of cleo
tricity through resistance representing
fifty miles of ordinary telegraph wire.
Hitherto it has been impossible to trans
NIT six or eight horse power for plow-
ing or other heavy work more than
two or three miles. This is but an
illustration of the development of the
new force. It enables us to conceive
the impossibility-to take only one
illustration substituting a stout
cable for all the wagons and steamers
employed in carrying Goals from the
pits to the manufacturing centers where
it is required for working machinery.
But that is only detail, and compar-
atively small detail, of the change it
foreshadows. Together with the dis
covery of the practicability Of storing
electrical energy to any extent, 1t opens
up vista of industrial revolution be-
fore which the boldest may well hold
his breath. It renders possible the
storage for future use of the ttful but
tremendous forces of nature which at
present run to waste. The wind, the
waterfall among the mountains, and
the tide on the shore, by which the
simple agency Of the dynamo machine
and the storage battery may In few
years compete with the steam engine in
its own field. Sir William Armstrong
has long lit up his picture gallery at
Rothbury by the aid of little noun
tain rivulet, and Godalming has shown
that town may be lighted by the river
on which it stands. "a tenth part OF
the tidal energy in the valley of the
Severn, says prof. Sylvanus Thompson,
would light every city, and another
tenth would turn every loom, spindle,
and axle in Great Britain" In Ireland
and in Scotland, in Wales and in some
of the billy districts in England, noun.
tain torrents generate force which, II
stored and used, would enable us to
dispense with coal for all purposes ex-
cept for heat, and even heat may yet
be laid into our houses by wire as well
as light and force. If such prospect
is realized the whole distribution OF
population in Great Britain and Ire
land may be altered, and electricity may
far Guido the exploits of the railway
IN Setting towns a-dancing" all over
Britain.