The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-06-04
saltwater, Mimi. Thursday, June 4, 1891
The Youngest of the Sciences.

The Youngest of the Sciences.
To know is to be able. to ken is to can:
philology proclaims it, and experience con.
firms it. Centuries ago the commoner
phenomena of electricity and magnetism
had attracted attention, but no one suspected
that they meant anything in particular, or
that they afforded indications of a power
everywhere present, and only waiting a
summons to enter into the service of man.
Yet, let us not too severely blame our an
cestOrs for lack of attention or intelligence.
The doors of knowledge have had to be
opened one by one, and in early times.
when so many doors still remained closed,
and others were at best but slightly ajar, it
is not to be wondered at that the somewhat
recondite and elusive laws of electricity
should have remained unexplOred. Even
in our century, what long gap there was
between the first production of the electric
light and its application to practical pur-
poses! 1t all seems very plain now, but
two generations had to elapse before the
electric light. as produced by Sir Humphry
Davy in 1908, became available for general
use. But if the progress made by electrical
science was slow in its earlier stages,
amends are truly being made now in the
rapidity with which new views and appli-
cations of electricity are crowding upon the
world. The alleged miracles of Olden time
seem poor and commonplace in comparison
with the miracles wrought by a little accu-
rate knowledge. Here we have a power
that has been in the world from the begin
ming, but from which, down to the present
century, not one single valuable result was
drawn. for the simple reason that we, or
our predecessors, did not know how to use
it, did not even know enough to recognize
it in some of its manifestations. To- day,
mankind has no more Obedient, or. it may
be added, capable servant. The early stu
dents of electricity had task that closely
resembled putting together complicated
puzzle of which there was no plan: but, as
piece was joined to piece, the plan began to
reveal itself, and subsequent progress was
rapid. To-day, if the puzzle is not COM
plete, at least we have. as far as it goes, a
very symmetrical and Ineligible pattern
before our eyes.
1t would be vain to attempt to give even
catalogue of the various applications of
electricity now in daily use. Like chemiS-
try electricity has undergone process of
subdivision, no one man can pretend to
keep abreast of the latest developments in
all it's branches. The year 1887 saw the
first telegraph for practical business pur-
poses, and from that time to this there has
been constant stream OF improvements in
the methods and appliances of the tele-
grapic art. The whole world is girdled
round and round with lines quivering with
the impulses that translate the thoughts of
ho0,, kko oso
of telegraph lines, well-nigh million miles
being now in use in this country alone, they
would be utterly inadequate to the needs of
the community but for the improvements
that have been made in the way Of duplex
and multipleX telegraphy. The whole bus
mess of the world has adapted itself to the
changed conditions which the telegraph has
introduced. Without the telegraph the rail-
way would be shOrn of far more than half
its efficiency. and the press of even metro
pOlitan cities would shrink to provincial
dimensions. 1t is becoming difficult to con-
ceive what the state of business would be
without even the telephone, which, in every
large city. does the work of whole army
of messenger boys. How little we think of
electricity when we press the button that
closes an electric circuit and rings bell!
Yet the electric bell is certainly one of the
most convenient of sO-called modern i'm
provements. Without it our great hotels,
our public offices, our monster steamships
would be much more difficult of manage
ment. Our signal service depends upon
electricity to Outrun the swiftest blasts of
storm and herald their approach. The OBJ
servations of the astronomer would lose
much in precision were not for the simple
yet admirable instrument known as the
chronograph. For all purposes OF instan-
taneous registration. there Is nothing equal
to the action of electricity. the velocity OF
which is equivalent to that of light itself,
and its applications for this purpose must
go on increasing in number from year to
year. Even as it is they are legion.-Pop-
ular Science Monthly.