The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-10-30

1
Of the necessary externals which e
with steam engines We are rapid.
approaching Jne UIme'o1 the steam en-
gi1e's end. The large Atlantic liners
are slowly reducing their time on theil
| trips, but that must soon stop. Then
we shall have TO wait until coal 1:
turned directly into electricity. be.
lieve it will come, and then we will
cross the Atlantic in four days or less
We can get ninety per cent. OF the ef.
fciency of dynamo against six e
ten per cent. of an engine. The differ
ence will be as great or greater in re-
suits under the looked for regime.
We get ifteen-thousand-h power,
or Whereabouts, from the liners engine
now. When we get eighty-thousand-
horse power, as we will. perhaps. we
! viii be nearer what look for.
/ 1T was the one thing to solve. Let
! some fellow follow out this line Of re-
search and get the right reaction and
] we shall have a wonderful revolution
ia many things. 1t will lead to treating
metals by electrical reduction, and an
enormous number OF accomplishments
We now go to the melting point o.
nickel, for instance, but under the new
regime we will get all reactions now
obtainable and go TO the melting point
Of anything on earth"
How about the present agitation
over flying machines? Do you think
we are about to accomplish the long
desired feat?"
Il think that eventually we viii ff.
But | don't think il viii be by the aid
of electricity in the present state of the
science. It is all a question of power,
whether from electricity or some other
force. We want great horse power and
small weight, of course. l tried expert
ments with combustion engine in
which strips of gun cotton cloth held
between copper rollers were exploded
by small electrical spark.
at was very powerful but it did not
work. When l seek to accomplish any
thing / always try tp determine which
Is the best method. Then try to over
come the obstacles. In order to con-
struct flying machine I thought we
needed to get the greatest rising pow
er per horse power. In order to find
what this was, if possible, attached
revolving fan to the top of a motor and
placed it on large scales Loose wires
from a dynamo ran to the motor which
was started. The fan whirled around
and the tendency was to lift ND. 1t
did so and raised and lowered accord
ingly as the fan ran fast or slow. OF
course ] could then weigh the lifting
power exactly. Then / found that diff
ferent fans had greater or lesser power.
Two f1ukes were different from three
fukes and three from four and SO on.
i made ali sorts of experiments and
then concluded that electricity was not
the right thing.
''As to the various methods that have
been tried, / am very glad they were
tried, for while they are failures every
failure is step forward. It is the
things that l know won't work that
are the most valuable to me. Some of |
these methods have aimed to initiate |
the birds of the air. But the birds are !
adapted to fly. Their bones |
are hollow, for instance, and in other |
ways they are suited to the air. The |
birds utilize the wind, too. The wind !
really does the flying for them, and |
they manipulate the body so as to best |
take advantage of it. In short, they |
soar. With insects IL is different. !
Take the bee. 1t is purely flyer. Its
wings are small in proportion, but it
makes up for that by their very rapid |
vibration.
At this juncture Mr.. Edison took oc-
casion to add something more concern
ing the value of failures. He said |
ambiguously that he was
years old. Now as all the
world knows he is but forty-seven, it
odd to say the least. Then he
Judging by the standard of the ordi-
nary mans working day." he said. II
am much older than look. The av-
erage working day is eight hours long.
For twenty-one years l have averaged
nineteen hours per day. 1t makes me
sighty-tvo years old. Most of that time
has been taken up in trying things that
would not work You see my hair is
gray. / will soon be a hundred years
DID"
Mr.. Edison does not think that any
new fuel will be made to take the
place of coal Neither does he think
we viii be able to telephone across the
ocean Regarding the first he says:
Coal and wood. the latter to include
rowing things, of course, are the only
lnoxidized substances IN earth. Every
hing else has been burnt. They can
lot be burnt again. We might utilize
he sun. wind and the air, but not in a !
cry radical manner. There is a sun
ngine. Mouchet built one and so did
ericsson. Air could be utilized, l
hould think. The windmill is very
Id.
Il don't think we will be able to tele-
Re impossible because of the electrifi-
alton OF the gutta percha cover
ng of the able. Every sub
lance Will electrify somewhat. SO the
is not to be overcome By dis
arding what is now used. Between
'alencia and Hearts Content, for in
lance, the tons Of gutta percha on the
able play large part in its opera
ions. Every bit OF it has to be electro
ed before a single signal can be sent
md when the current is cut OF at Va
encia after being operated, il still con-
inues to flow into Hearts Content for
comparatively long time afterward-
his all interferes with the sound !
-aves. Even IN telegraphing there IS .
o real break between the flashes. and