Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-01-25
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
Fin de Steele Contr;vancss Used Every DAY
Everywhere by everybody.

PITTsDURG, Jan. 24.-"Not DAY pasees,
SAID an ingenious inventor Of these times
to me today, that you and / and almost
every one in all thisns do not make use
of one or more of thS-ontrivances that by
reason of their recent invention and ingen-
ious nature may be appropriately termed
fin de steele devices. The telephone and
the monograph, electric cars and cable
cars and a host of other things that will
occur to your mind come naturally under
this heading, but they are not nearly so in
terestng to me as are, in their way, the in
genious inventions that for some reason
have never been put into general use.
ut is said that Edison made half o dozen
inventions i'll telegraphy, which were bought
up by the Western Union and buried, and
that in that way the Wizard got much of
the money that enabled him to go ahead
and perfect his electric light and the other
things that have made him famous and
very rich and have practically changed
methods Of life and of doing business the
world over. His telephone was in many re-
spects n better one than Bells, and if it
had not been iudicially decided that it was
an infringement on the latter's patent
would perhaps have been the more success
full of the two. Its speaking qualities were
wonderful, and 10 or IL years ago there
were Edison exchanges in many cities all
over the country.
MANY newspaper readers have recently
read of the Louisville man who discovered
a chemical compound that would remove
every trace of ink from paper without in
any way discoloring the surface of the pa
per and have approved of his course in
withdrawing it from the market because
he found that INSCRIPTIONS persons had
made use of it to alter checks and legal
documents Not every inventor would be
broad minded enough to do this, but every
one must admire the motive that prompted
so unsel1sh an action.
every little while we read of some new
contrivance that seems bound to revolu-
tioniZe some feature of business or render
possible some attainment that has long
been sought in vain. For instance much
has been said about possibilities in the way
of electrical cooking, and it was predicted
two or three years ago that in a short time
food could be prepared more cheaply and
better by the agency of the subtle, mysteri-
Gus fluid that has had such u great influence
for modern life than in any other way
well, it is possible to cook by e.ectrici-
ty, but the process is so costly that it's gen
eral adoption seems as far of now as it did
when it was first talked of. A friend of
mine, who is .,nown to have money which
he wishes to invest in something of the sort,
was approached not long ago by an invent
Or of an apparatus which, he said, would
overcome every difficulty. Set one up in
my Kitchen said the capitalist. and if it
works satisfactorily l will put up the
money to float company for its manufac-
ture'
"An electrical cooker was put up as re-
quested, and it did its work perfectly, but
at the end of three days trial it had burned
out and was useless. 1t was renewed again
and again, but it could not be made to last.
and so the company was never formed, and
the invention is not used. My capitalistic
friend had a similar experience with a new
smoke consumer. The man who success
fully solves the problem of the consump-
tion of soft coal in such a way as to do
away with the black sooty smoke now pro-
duced will speedily become multimillion-
aire, and my friend was very glad to have
an opportunity to test continuance for
that purpose which was brought to him. |
Put it on the furnaces under the boilers in |
my factory he said to the inventor, and If |
it stands the test viii back you.'
$50 the apparatus WIS tried, as the cleo |
trical cooker had been, and it consumed |
the smoke successfully and to the great !
delight of all concerned. By the end of a |
week, however, a fatal defect manifested /
itself The intense heat of the smoke COM |
bustion destroyed the iron of the apparatus,
and it has not yet been found possible to I
change the device so as to overcome the |
difficulty. The smoke consumer has there
fore been relegated to the scrap heap of I'M
available inventions. have no doubt that
both electrical cooking and the consump-
ton OF the smoke of soft coal will be prac-
tically accomplished by and by, but good
deal Of patient study and long and careful
experiments must be gone through with
first.
Notwithstanding the many dishearten-
ing difficulties that inventors are constant
ly encountering, several great discoveries
b electricity and chemistry are likely soon
TO be made public, and among them will
undoubtedly lie that of sending telegraphic
and telephone communications without
wires. Already under favorable conditions
his has been done. There really seems no
good reason to the scientific mind why the
electrical current should not be projected
without metal conductors, and when this
s done the seemingly impossible problem
$ solved" NJ. /. DEXTER
THE DRUGGIST,