Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-10-25
ELECTRICITY.
More Marvellous Than steam in the indus
trial World.

| More Marvellous Than Steam In the INDUS
trial World.
Large results are produced by the
employment Of great forces, In early
days as in Egypt and in Rome, the
only great force at command was
large number Of men working as
slaves. Our modern civilization may
he said to be based upon steam, but
Is not steam soon to be displaced by
the new force, electricity? While
little more than a portent now, IL
will condition the progress Of civili-,
cation during the new century so
near at hand 1t is more in the ma
ture OF logical deduction than Of q.
| prophecy that we outline the posi-
| bilities and probabilities Of this mys-
FERROUS force within the coming dec
ade. The human family are soon to
come Into possession Of conveniences
OF which they have scarcely dreamed.
The present trolley system for oper-
atng street cars is certain to give
way to some conduit plan or to i'm
proved storage batteries, thus re-
moving unsghtly poles and wires
from streets, All telephone and tele.
graph wires within city limits, If
wires are needed at ALL will be laid
under ground, lncandescent lamps
now in use will be laid aside for
greatly improved ones having no fila
ments, but which will glow by means
of high frequency currents, or Tor de-
vices placed in walls and ceilings,
which will be made to dilIuse plenti-
full light throughout our rooms.
| Small boats on lakes, in parks, and
on rivers and canals, will be moved
by electricity, Typewriter copy is
now successfully transmitted to q
distance by wire, and an entire page
Of newspaper may soon be printed
simultaneously In hundred differ
ent cities, and slips so printed which
describe the progress Of battle In
Corea may be delivered to us hourly.
The electrical transmission Of
power will be rapidly extended, and
for this purpose distant mountain
streams and water falls will be util-
lied. Coal, too, will be burned at
the coal mines, thus saving the cost
of transporting that bulky fuel, and
its energy will appear in heat and pow
err in homes hundreds Of miles distant
by the year 1900 electric street and
suburban railway traction will have
taken the place of all other forms Of
traction. Telephoning around the
world will soon be an easy matter.
Already our long distance telephones
have brought half Of our country's
population within speaking distance.
Any man in St. Paul can now hold a
conversation with any man in BOs.
ton, The writer has talked over
wire In which the resistance was
such that to overcome II would be
equivalent to talking by telephone
with n friend in Constantinople, and
the voices could be distinctly heard.
Not only will such conversations be
easy but, In all probability, distant
conditions will be accurately repro
duced, and we shall lie able to see
our friends face to face while con-
verslng with them. We will be able
soon to inspect goods in New York,
examine a farm In the State of
Washing ton, read a book in Boston,
listen to a sermon in New Orleans,
seeing the clergyman and the congre-
CATION, hear an opera in Baltimore;
and all this "whlle you walt" and
are comfortably seated in room In
Chicago.
Electric heating, though costly
now, will soon be so cheapened as to
be brought into quite general use.
The convenience Of such heat for
homes and for cars Is at once appar-
ent. From any desired point, us his
sleeping room, man, by proper di-
rectiOn to his wife about buttons and
switches, can turn such heat upon
any portion Of his house, light fire
in his kitchen range, or have all this
attended to by clockwork. He can
be awakened at any hour by a shock,
and can have his house Lighting 80
arranged that he can illumine any
room In it from his bed or, on com
ing home from the theater, he can
| llbUU UIlG luluJ'b DClult tuutlllR UuC
house. Electric motors will come in
to general use, and in place of our
present costly shafting, pulleys and
betting, wires will connect our 1,040
machines with dynamos, and in or
der to use any machine the operative
will simply have to turn a switch or
press a button, thus using only the
power his work calls for Should a
method be devised Of getting cleo
trlcity directly from heat, possible
ity, no doubt a revolution in me-
chanical industry will be inaugu-
rated whose benefits to the human
race would be beyond calculation.
We may also be able to transmit our
thoughts and feelings to distant
friends. We are only at the dawn OF
the age Of electricity and its mar
vels are to come. Pullman journal.
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