Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-10-24

Electrical Engineering - . Profession.


When BENJAMIN Franklin experimental
in electricity and determined the nature OF
lightning. be little dreamed Of the many
developments that we're to be made in
electricity. partly as the outcome OF his
work. He little dreamed. too, that what
was in his day matter of simple scientif-
ic experiment, would become the basis of
gigantic industries, and that the practical
application Of his first principles would
help to open up innumerable profitable
careers for young Americans.
At the present time. electricity is the
science which more than any other invites
the attention of Investigators. whether
they seek knowledge or wealth but. there
is, after all. very little definite informa-
ton available to the public concerning its
possibilities.
Telegraphy was once, and not long ago.
the only electrical field in which employ
ment could be found. Even now it keeps
busy thousands of brains and hands, but
it has become overcrowded. The best op-
orators are not paid the salaries they de-
serve. and promotion tor them in tie di-
rect line of their work is very slow
When there is competition in telegraphy.
the rival companies are enabled to cut
rates BY cutting down the salaries of the
operators; when there is no competition,
the operator has to sell his labor to some
monopoly that pays the barest pittance
possible. Hence telegraphy has been the
Old World of electricity from which. of
late years. hundreds of ambitious young
men have emigrated in order to make
their fortunes in the New World-that
comprising telephony, electric lighting,
the electrical transmission of power. the
supplying of stock quotations, the opera
ton of burglar alarm and protective sys-
TENS, and a variety Of other recent appli
cations.
Let US look minute at the two depart
nts-telephony first. There are to-day
nearly thousand telephone exchanges in
this country. The telephone must eventu-
ally come into far wider use than it now
has. in intercourse between individuals in
the same city or at places widely apart.
Beyond that lies the problem of ocean
telephony. Who is to earn wealth and
fame by enabling us to talk across the
broad Atlanticp Where are the men who
shall superintend the vast telephone bust
ness OF the future in every city and town
of the country?
The other promising field is electric
lightning. The large arc lamp and the
modest incandescent lamp have come to
stay. Every night over 100. 900 arc lights
burn in American streets, and at least halt
a million OF the cheerful little incandes-
cent globes brighten stores. offices and
homes all over the country. Every year
sees the electric light cheapened. and the
means of furnishing it improved. Already
there are over 600 electric lighting com.
panies in existence in the United States,
and the number increases daily. 1t does
not require any great insight to see that
the foundations of a vast industry have
been broadly laid. and that the upgrowth
of the structure will be repaid and splen-
did. In this branch of electricity for an
indefinite time to come, there will be am
pie employment for inventive genius. ex-
ecutive ability. and patient perseverance.
A third great new field might be men,
toned. that of the electrical transmission
of power. At this hour there are at least
a dozen electrical railroads of tramways
in operation in Europe, and several have
been successfully started here. In several
American cities, elevators, printing press
es. ventilating fans, sewing machines, and
the like are being run by electricity sent
by wire from distant dynamo-electric
machines, and this system of renting out
power so subdivided and cheaply that
every man afford to have it brought into
his house. is destined to grow and to re-
volutionize whole departments of manu-
facture. In this field perhaps more than
any other the inventor has grand chance.
That was when the study of electricity
was neglected, but it is now popular, and
the universities and each other seats of
learning have begun to teach the science
with the help of the best men and the fin
est apparatus they can get. If the be-
gnner is not able to Ego to college," the
workshops of the great electrical COM
panies are open to him for practical in
structon, and he has also in this age of
cheap, good literature the means of teach
ing himself, as Edison and many another
distinguished American inventor has
done.-,)OhnstOn' Journal