Omaha daily bee., 1896-06-14
THE FIELD OF ELECTRICITY
Light Of the Future Already Tlluminos the
Shops Of the Wizards,
EDISON, TESLA AND MOORE AT WORK
close of the EicctricnT Exposition
Power without steam Measure
ing Candle powcr.-pthcr
Developments.

The master minds OF American electrical
development, McSNcs Edison and Tesla and
Mr.. y. MacFarlan Moore an inventor Of
great promise, agree III asserting that the
present incaudesccnt electric light must give
way TO the vacuum tube lighting. Each has
made experiments which seem to show that
the cost Of lighting can be greatly reduced,
aud each is now working to make his in
vention commercially practicable. MIR.
Moore and Mr.. Tesla appear to be following
the same general line; Mr.. Ellison coats his
bu,b with luorescent substance. The pur-
pose Of all three is to produce a "cod" light,
or one which does not waste energy in heat.
! Mr.. Moore has given public demonstration
| Of his ability to light public hall, and the
| indications are that a fair degree Of economy
was attained for a first experiment. Mr..
Moore uses glass tubes TX feet long and 12i
inches in diameter, which can be disposed
| along tho cOrniCe of room so as to give a
well dffused through not brilliant, light.
| The effect is rather that OF moonlight than
| of daylight. MIR. Tesla aims to make
| much brighter light, but has not shown his
invention; he has, however, exhibited proto-
! graphs taken with the light, which Judging
! by the time of exposure, closely resembles
sunlight in ito active properties. In
vacuum tube lighting there is no nament;
! the light is produced by rapid vibrations
| of the ether. The bulbs are, in fact, sub
stantially the same as CroOkes tubes. Mr..
| Tesla has been aiming to make exceedingly
! rapid vibrations but little is known of the
! devices he uses for this purpose Mr.. Moore
has invented a comparatively simple appar
atus, which is the key to his system; he
| has put an ordinary form of vibrator In
vacuum tube, where it is almost infinitely
more efficient than in air. Mr. Edisons
invention follows his investigation Of X rays.
| He appears to use the X rays themselves to
| render luminous the interior of a CroOkes
tube lined with fuoreecent substance more
| efficient than the tungstate of calcium.
| Edison has progressed so far that one day
| last week he gave a public exhibition of
| new lamp, the result Of his investigations of
! the Roentgen ray, which gives promise of
working a complete revolution in electric
lighting. The light was clear and white
and, though said to be Of less than four
| candle power. was ndiStinguishable in illu
mnating quality from a ten-candle power in
Candescent lamp, which was displayed alter
nately with it.
The new lamp is a Crookes tube of the
usual shape, about five inches long and two
| inches in diameter. Mr.. Edison explained
| that the difference between it and the or
binary Crookes tube is due to the interior
| being coated, in the making. with a film of
| crystals of a new substance, which he re-
| fused to name only saying that 1t Is a
natural mineral, very abundant and very
cheap, and possessing nearly three times the
luorescent properties of tungstate of calcium.
This inner coating arrests the rays and
permits none to escape, as proved by thor
ough tests.
The remarkable feature Of the new lamp
| ID its economy Of electrical energy. Mr. Edi-
son surprised at the results Of the tests
and dLstrustsd his instruments. After trying
several sets without finding a change in the
records, he realized what an enormous saving
Of energy had been effected. The lamp of
three and one-half four candle power con-
s&med only thirty-nine foot pounds of en-
,-biI ha
us ID requires about $50 pounds of energy per
candle power. Another important question
was solved in the discovery that the new
lamps work as well or better in multiple |
arc circuits than sirgly. There are some |
further steps to be taken before the CONNER |
s,al value Of the light can be determined. The |
;ost and permanency of the lamps have yet |
o be tested on a larger scale.
The electrical show in the Grand Central |
palace New York, closed on Saturday even |
ing after an exhibition of twenty four days |
during which about 250,000 person looked at !
the wonders of the mighty force which is |
Transforming industry and social life in many |
ways The show has been SO successful that |
it has been decided TO conduct a permanent |
exhibition in the same building.
There have been some curious gaps in |
the exhibition; but these are not without
their lesson as to the condition Of the art.
and the possibilities that stll exist in un-
cultivated domains of the science. For in
stance it is regarded by electricians them
selves as nothing less than phenomenal that
after half a century of effort not single
thermople was shown, although the fact that
current can be obtained from applying heat
to two diss!milar metals has been known
since the historical experiments of Seebeck, |
nearly sixty years ago. Mr.. Edison has
worked in this field and has pyromagnetic
motCrs and generators. Mr.. Tesla has not
disiained it, and there have been numerous
attempts to introduce thermopiies within the
last few years from which current in COM
mercial quantities is actually obtainable,
But at the present time one can obtain such
apparatus in old hardware shops or find 1t
in the laboratories of the schools and so
the electricians go on obtaining their cur
rent after it has already been converted
three times by boiler, engine and dynamo
with wastefu losses at each stage. Another
singular hiatus at the show the absence
of searchlights There IS not a ship in the
United States navy, and hardly steamehip
in the rivers and coast waters without a
searchli ght, but owing to the conformation
of the exhibition halls 1t was decided that
to put one on view there would have
blinded the public and have destroyed the
effect of the harmonious illumination due
to ordinary arcs and inCandescents.
Brief mention was made in these columns
a few weeks ago Of the invention Of DR.. w.
w jacques of Newton, Mass. who has re-
Gently patented a process by which he gener
ates electricity directly, dispensing entirely
with the use Of the steam engine The in
nOvation has attracted widespread interest,
and the Western Electrician prints in its last
issue additional interesting facts about the
process. The essential feature of the pro-
cess, says that journal, is thus described:
THE process conpsts OF converting the po-
tential energy Of carbon or carbOnaceous ma
terlal into electrical energy by chemically
combining oxygen with the carbon car
bonaceous material through an intervening
electrolyte" The problem which this in
yention claims to have solved Is one that
has occupied many brilliant minds. 1t has
hecn stated by Professor Ostwald that had
we cell in which electrical energy was pro- !
duced by the direct oxidation of carbon,
with an output approaching the theoretical
we should be on the brink CT an Industrial
revolution compared with which the inyen-
tlon of the steam engine sinks into insignia ,
canoe" This is what Dr. jacques claims to !
have accomplished, and he is supported in ,
this position by many eminent physicists
who have witnessed the results of his eX-
and examined his invention.
The idea Of the widespread interest that
has been awakened in this discovery may I
be gained from the fact that Immediately
following the publication Of the patent
which was issued on March 3. the patent
office was beaeiged with inquiries about the
invention and demands for copleS OF the