The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-02-11
An ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANT.

4
An EI.rcrutc LIGHT PLANT.
we ask all who advocate the city
building an electric light plant to read
the following highly inle'eS.i"s article
from the Springfield Repuo''0"" about
the new era in electricity
II "a not an extravagant statement TO
cav that never before in the history of
the world has there besn 80. ''l'c
discovery about which centereu such mag
nincent dreams as are pel"- @,, w Oh
certain recently discovered tiec'fical
principles. Among these me io'ehost
Mace must be given 10 the ASTOUNDING dis
coveries OF the young Sei '' Illus
Nikola Tesla, which are 50 s'.'. 90
extraordinary that the most 49, '''l I'VE
OF inventors are unable 10 -, "i'l
form their DEVELOPMENT VIII '"nr' Just
as experimenters were beginning ~ u'ihk
they knew all that could De letine" ""out
electricity, and that furin'I 'i,o'e-
ment must be in the line OF ~ -,
mechanical application, UT 80 49,
us the electrical fluid unntl ~. o,o...,
I'm which II differs from oiu'D' -, -.
city as much as light diner -, - ~
a current or 2,O0D volts VIII ~ -
twinklng OF an eye, pll 80 49,, 49,
wizard lets currents pour ~ 40, -.
hands with a potential Oh 49, ~,
vibrating a million times Il seVo'u' anu
sho,yer,ne- from hin, in dazzling streams
OF light For some time after 'ie oNP0'
ment ceases his body and clothlhS emit
streams and halos Of sphntereu rs.'.,
The widest dream Of the inventor
could not have foreseen that WINE cur
rents Of low frequency are deauly :, 49, 49,
are harmless. Mr. Tesla says ne VIZ Soo''
be able TO wrap himself III 0Vi"ple'e
sheet OF electric fire that VIII Mp
man warm at the North foic N',,io'1
harming him. Neither Merlin hoi 1ii0,',
ael Scott nor any OF the wizards OF oia
ever wrought a more potent mir o's'
i'm fancy. The meaning NJ this Is 100 lar
beyond us TO be realized az present we
can no more grasp is significance 'hp'
Franklin could discern The electric ilotoI
I'm his captured thunderh0li
Equally astounding and with more Nisi-
bile usefulness IS Mr.. Tesla : discovery
that currents Of such enormous poiohtlai
and frequency can be transmitted without
the use OF wires \ room can be niled
with electricity from copper Plates III
ceiling and floor. so that electric lamps
will burn without any connecting wire
as soon as they are brought IN. In the
same way intelligence and power may be
transmitted without II circuit. doing away
with the necessity for trolleys, storage
batteries, and subways. When IL is con-
sidercd that such startling changes as
this are already theoretically possible. it
Will be seen that i'm the inventions upon
which We so complacently congratulate
ourselves we have only timdly padded
along the shore of the great sea yet to be
explored. No one can read the account
Of 'Thc Researches and Writings OF
Nikola Tesla by Thomas Commerford
Martin. just published by the Electrical
Engineer. of New York. without feeling
that a new era is dawning in electrical
science.
This sudden enlargement Of the ideas
Of scientific men in regard 10 the nature
and the possibilities Of electricity has led
the New York Mail and Express to bring
together IN "A symposium the opinions of
electricians as To the future
developments of electrical science. Mr..
Edison thinks We shall yet be able to get
electricity direct from coal, a discovery
compared with which the philosophers
stone is mere bauble. Then our steam
ships will need only "a snug little bin
'or 80 tons Of coal instead OF one for
''J AFins ul dtIldl IlkHI. tltt-
ric cookery, a transatlantic telephone, a
cal telescope with which one can see
around the world by the medium Of a
wire, the formation Of wholesome food
products under the potency Of electrical
are some OF the things
which imaginative inventors foresee.
Most startling Of all, though Il was sug-
rested nearly ten years ago by an under
graduate in western college, IS Mr.
,disons idea that unspoken thought may
'e recorded by electrical apparatus APP
,lied 70 the Uranium, and either repro
iuced az pleasure or transmitted to an
)ther person.
When one contemplates such possibili-
les the prospect Of leaving this sphere
induces regret not unlike that Of the
french nobleman during the Reign OF
Terror Il don't mind dying" he said
ranquilly. as he took his last pinch OF
nun at the guillOtine, but, hang il all.
wanted to see how it all comes out"
Who, after this. favors the city spending
1000 TO create an electric plant, which
one or two years may be obsolete? The
cience or art Of controlling electricity is
n its infancy. Methods now deemed the
est may, within year. be wholly dis
arded. How absurd II would be i'm this
ity to establish a plant based upon pres
mt methods, which may be discarded be-
ore the plant is finished. But. even II
lectricity and its various uses were now
ully known, we would still oppose having
hat done by government which can be
one by individuals.