The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-07-19
ELECTRICITY.
Wonderful Progress In the Use
Of the Great Mysterious
Power.
The Strange Uses to Which 1t is
Being Put-What Will the
Future Unfold.

Electricity seems destined to supersed,
gas and steam.
The City Gas Light company, of Nor
folk, Va, has decided to add Thomson
Houston electric light plant to its present
outfit, equal to the supplying of $50 com
mercial lights.
The Delaware Edison Illuminating com
pany, of Delaware, o., has organized with
a capital stock of $4,000.
The Euos Electric System company has
been organized at Portland, Me-; capital
stock, $1,000,OOO.
The corporation of St. Louis, Mo-, is
agitating the subject of the city's taxing
a hand in, or assuming entire control of,
the manufacture and supply of artificial
light, both gas ard electric.
The Andover Electric com pany, of Ard
over Mass, has been organized with a
capital storck of $4,000.
The Easthampton Electric company, of
Easthampton, Mass has been incor-
porated. Capital stock, $4,000.
An incandescent plant has been installed
in the Baylor Female college at Waco,
Tex. An Edison dynamo and Westing-
house engine are used.
The cars on the Naumkeag street rail-
way, which extends from Washington
street, Salem, Mass, to the Salem Willows,
will be operated by Sprague electric
motors.
In telegraphy an instrument has been
invented and is now in use by which COM
munications are written with pen and
ink in the handwriting of the person writ
ing the message. The pen in the Office
of the subscriber receiving a message
makes facsimile of every letter as fast
as it is made with the pen in the Office of
the person writing it.
All instruments are under the control Of
the central office, and messages are re-
corded on the instrument of a subscriber,
whether he is present or absent.
In the last few weeks car equipped
with electric motors and storage-batterie
has been running in Baltimore, with q
success that promises at least systematic
experiment to determine the expense and
the value of the system. The condition
of the street reilway tracks in Baltimore
the heavy grades and sharp curves
is such that the demand on the secondary
battery is very trying; there is also a
heavy demand on the motors-which must
develop as much us 2O-horse power for
considerable distances.
Mr.. Edison's improved phonograph is
coming into use and among other things
it is capable of the following:
T,attar xuritinor ord oil kinJ- Of dioIc
tionss without the aid of a stenographer
2. Photographic booke, which would
speak to blind people without effort or
their part 3. The teaching of e!ocation
4. Reproduction of music. s. The
Family Record "a registry of sayings
"reminiscences, etc, by members of a
family, III their own voices, and of the
last words of dying persons. s. Music
boxes aud toys. 7. Clocks that will an
nou, &c in articua:e speech the time for
gOlrg home, going to meals, etc. 8. The
preservation OF languages by exact re-
production of the manner of prCnounc-
ing. Q. Educational purposes, such as
preserving the explanations made by a
teacher, 80 that the pupil can refer to
them at any moment and spelling CI
| other lessons placed upon the phoncgraph
for convenience in committing TO mem
| DRY. 10. Connection with the telephone,
so as to make that invention an auxiliary
in the transmission of permanent and in
valuable records, instead of being the
rec pient of mOmentery and fleeting
communications.
| At the Otis iron ard steel works, Cleve-
land, 0, electricity is called upon to take
the pace of hand labor in lifting stee.
| biliets, irgots and other heavy pieces oil
iron. For the construction of the electro
magnet to be used for this purpose two
bars of soft iron were taken, each beiI g
II inches long and inches in diameter
They were wrapped with multitude Ci
strands of No. IA and S gauge covered
wire. To combine the two seperate mag
nets thus formed into one they were
linked together on the top by third soft
bar, square in the cross section. For trial
of the msgret at pOrtative work it was sus
pended by rope from pneumatic crane.
| Rope was used, as it was seen that chain
became magnetized, and did not act very
we'll. The current power sent through
the wire to induce the magnetism was
| that of five and half to six amperes. 1t
was found that weight of 800 pounds
could be lifted up handiIy, and by shut.
ting off the current and lowering the mag
net deposited anywhere very easily.