Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-16


than diminish confidence. On the other
hand, the talk on General Electric was
moro stimulating. The latest Is from Bos-
ton, as follows:
"Tho electric patents of Thomas A. Edison
have filled two large volumes, each of more
than l000 prin ted pages, but nothing i'll them
is more important than the iour or i've lines
contained in the following claim which the
Supreme Court affirmed in its entirety last
week In the famous incandescent lamp de-
cision. Patent No. %, ,S9S, L. A. Edison,
January p, 1889. Claim .. The combination
OF carbon filaments with receiver maze
entirely of glass and conductors passing,
through the glass, and from which receiver
the air is exhausted, for the purpose set
forth
"This is what all electric interests would
like to walk around; in TACT the Thomson
Houston Company spent thousands OF dollars
IN eXperlmentlng to overcome II. ana nnallg
than further experiment. No known SUD-
stance will take tine place of carbon in the
incandescent lamp, and no practical supstl-
tute for glass Is known. Mr.. EdlsonS nrst
lamp had platinum filament. which is too
expensive for use, but platinum is the only
substance to which glass can bo annealed
and expanded or contracted by varying de-
grees of heat without separation: therefore,
platinum is the only substance used
to penetrate the glass globes In the sea- OF
the lamp to carry the current to the car Don
filament This use of a few inches OF platl-
mum wire has raised the price OF the metal
to nearly three times the former price. IL
may be doubted ii any companies OUTSIDE
the General Electric COMPANY are solvent
enough to nav millions of damages for the
infringement OF this patent for some years
past, although the General Electro Com
pany will endeavor to collect all pronts enae
have been made out OF the manufacture und
sale of incandescant lamps. Certain 1t Is
that all incandescent electric lamps nave
infringed the Edison patents, and any SUBS
titute may be regarded as praceicaliy im-
possible.
ION the same day the ABOVE decision was
handed down the General Electric Company
secured two more important patents IN maj
award. Its Brush Company secured the
storage battery patents on final award,
which makes any system of storage battery
at the present time impossible except as
subsidiary TO the General Electric company.
The company also secured third decision
which has less public interest, but which
secured the field for it on the arc lighting
business as against the Westinghouse inter-
est. The Brush Company originally made
contract with the BruSn-Swan Com
pany giving the latter the right to
use the double carbon arc lamp in
the territory of New England, New York
and PENNSYLVANIA. The Brusn-Swan COM
pany went to pieces and the Westinghouse
interests secured control and sued to enforce
the contract with the Brush Company and
the lower courts upheld the Westinghouse
claim, giving its Brush-Swan Company this
territory for the most modern system OF arc
lighting. But the decision of last week on
this territory back to the Brush Company,
which is now controlled by the General
Electric. 1t was certainly great day for
the latter when iJ won three such sweeping
decisions in the three important electric
fields.
THE General Electric interests say that
they will reinforce their victories on the
storage battery patent, which may be i'm
portant in the future of the electric sti eet
railway. by other suits, which they believe
should be given them the control OF the
electric trolly system. The Thomson
Houston Company had about a dozen suits
on the street railway system concentrated
against the Edison Company as infringer,
when the consolidation took place, and now
the legal battles must be readJuSted and the
suits begun against the Westinghouse
interest, and counsel tor the General Elec-
tric feel confident OF their ultimate success.
"Mr. Westinghouse is entitled to great
credit for inv ention i'll the field OF the alter
mating current, but in this field lie ex-
changed patent licenses with the Thomson
Houston Company"
From a Brokers Standpoint.
A. J. Lawrence, of A. j. Lawrence & Co.,
writes of local securities to the customers OF
the house as follows:
When a train becomes stalled on a grade,
the engineer backs a few feet to get all tho
slack possible, and then pulls ahead. Very
,ften this is all that is necessary to move
The train forward; but sometimes he must
reverse until he reaches an easier grade,
when he turns on iull head of steam and
attains momentum that carries him over
the sticking point with ease. In some such /
manner our local stock market has been
moving Tor q month, and having stalled
several times in an attempt to reach a
higher level, it is apparently moving back
to u point where it Will get better start.
Ira ders who are on board should not DE-
come discouraged, because the forward
movement is almost certain to speedily re-
cover the lost ground, once it is under full
There were practically but two promi.
nent features in the narket-Philadelphia
and birmingham Traction. The
course of the former which was downward,
had little or no influence on the other stocks
belonging to its group. On the contrary
there were more gains than losses. The de-
cline in Philadelphia Company amounted to
per cent, and we believe very little long
stock came out. 1t is held remarkably well,
and unless a sudden cold snap should de-
velop shortage in the supply of gas, it will
not go much lower. Its inherent strength
is due more to the know ledge OF the greatly
improved financial condition of the COM
pany than to u belief in the largely increa sed
supply of gas. In TACT we know of stock
holders who do not put much faith IN the
reports about recent gas DEVELOPMENTS, but
who have confidence in the value OF plant
of its magnitude, free of debt, and of its
present and prospective Inoney-earning
powers.
The Birmingham Traction Company's
ating to its affairs which have been con-
strued bearishly. This Is mainly on the
ground of the large aggregate capitalization
Of the various properties forming its system.
1t is made up thus:
(StOck