The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-12
DIGGING FOR ELECTRICITY.
Find the Fluid In Wells
A Puzzler for Scientists.
From the San FraneIseo Examiner.

From the San Francisco Examiner.
They dig electricity out of the ground
nowadays in Oakland Wells containing
electricity of sufficient force to run an or
binary light works have been dug, and it
looks as though the prophecy of the
board of trade, that the soil of Oakland
is capable of wonders, has come to pass.
The electricity that they dig out of
Oaklands substrata has never been as
saved to see how much it is worth in
gallon lots or quarts, and nobody has yet
suggested putting 1t up in Theoretically
sealed bottles to feed the baby on, but the
supply is unlimited, and as soon as stor-
age-battery electric cars become popular
a new company may be formed to peddle
the output Of the city's electric wells in
five-gallon lots, with patent faucet can
thrown in.
Electricians are astonished. They have
seen two wires coming out of the ground
and have watched in amazement the man
ifestations that these two current con-
ductors produce. They have seen sparks
of electricity fly from these wires; have
seen buzz-saws cut wood when attached
to the supply in the wells, and have seen
whole house lighted with glow lamps
that were served with electricity out of
the bowels of Oakland.
Then they put their heads together ex-
amined the strata underlying the munich
pality, and have explained the strange oc-
currences that they witnessed by long,
scientific dissertations on how leaky sew
age and the extract of Oakland's dumps,
combining with the salt sea water, oozed
through the sandy strata of Oakland and
formed complicated corrosions with mag
netiC iron and carbon, which exist in
small deposits all over the city. These
explanations seemed satisfactory ana
so, everybody who has been accustomed
to denounce the West Oakland marsh has
now lost sight of its unhealthy condition
in their pleasure at the prospect of Oak
lands new enterprise.
The wells are located in Peralta street,
but like the artesian water enthusiasts,
there are hundreds of property owners
anxious TO tap the source of the city's un-
foreground electric supply. With a per-
manent supply of chemically pure cleo
tricity in their yards they see prospects
Of untold wealth They can peddle it out
for medical purposes, sell it for cooking
purposes, or furnish the state enough in
cast-iron tanks for the electrocution of
criminals These are possibilities of the
future, and the very thought of it has de-
veloped enough interest in electrical
science to create q general demand for
books that explain how electricity can be
harnessed and driven through tandem
dynamos.
With electricity bubbling out of the
ground in Oakland the Athens of the
Pacific will be able to give the natual gas
towns of the coast cards and spades and
then walk all the points In the game. AS
electricity will travel an unlimited dis
lance over wires Oakland may soon be-
come huge electric battery, from which
all the cities and towns of the state win
derive their sources of light, heat and
power All that will be necessary will
be TO plant two wires in the ground in
Oakland and the electricity will flow con
tinuously.
The process is the invention of Michael
Emme, a practical electrician living at
1923 Peralta street, and who has already
organized the "Emme GROUND Electric
Generator company
Emme is a wizard in his way, and his
bone looks like the abiding place Of some
strange genius rather than the home of a
human being He studies his electrical
books under an incandescent electrical
light. while in front of him on little ia
BILE is a miniature electric buzz saw,
steamship propellers, fans, and blowers,
all in motion and making such hum that
the apartment resembles a machine shop