The San Francisco call., 1896-08-02
LIGHT FOR Il CENT Il YEHR.
The NEW NEqNEToELECJRIG ILLUMINATION WILL BE ALMOST
AS CHEAP AS DAYLIGHT AFTER JHE PLANT
HAS BEEN PAID FOR

. It is less than twenty years ago since the
= introduction of the electric light, and
while inventive genius has been busy de-
q. vising. many Improvements in the neces-
sary mechanism OF electric production and
application yet such improvements have
not given to the public cheap light.
When, in 1877, the newspapers published
tire statement OF Mr.. Edison, that "he
would be bic to produce within year
electric illumination for domestic use at
lesser cost than that of gas, many of the
small holders of gas stocks sold their
holdings at very low price, because they
thought that gas was to be supplanted by
the new light. Alas for our hopes! The
beautiful and brilliant electric light is not
cheap illuminant.
There has now been discovered a princi-
pie in magneto-electrics that upsets all
previous theories and bids fair to solve
the problem of cheap lighting by render
ing it possible to produce the electric light
Gas well as electric power) at ridiculously
low cost.
Recent investigations and experime ents
show it to be practical to apply the newly
discovered principle to present systems
and reduce the cost of the light to less
than per cent of what it now costs.
If we wrap some insulated wire around
fhe ends or poles OF a magnet, then any
change which may take place in the
strength or intensity of the magnet will
produce current of electricity on the in
.sulateG wire, and this current may be con-
4eyed to distance by the use of conduct
ing wires.
If at any place or places in the conduct
: ing wire We insert substance which offers
greater resistance to the flow of the cur
rent than does the wire, the substance will
get hot, owing to the energy Of the current
being expended at that place in overcom-
ing the resistance, and SO producing heat.
Now, the electric lamps which we use at
the present time consist of resistances,
which are extremely great as compared
with the resistance of the conducting wire.
In the incandescent lamp a filament of
carbon is used, while in the arc lamp the
carbon pencils are kept separated, and the
air between the points of the carbons is
employed as the resistance. The current
of electricity when it arrives at one of these
points of resistance converts its energy
into heat of sufficient intensity to render
the resisting substance luminous.
The elect trio current is produced by rap
idly revolving the armature of the dynamo
in close contact with the poles of the dy-
namo magnet, which are wrapped with in
suiated wire. Each revolution of the ar
mature weakens and strengthens alter
nately the intensity of the magnet, and SO
produces current of electricity on the in
suIated wire.
N1u q Nf rnfoffr0 fha a4,,ro
calls for the expenditure of power, and
here is where the cost comes in. The cost
OF the'electric light must always depend
upon the cost of the power employed.
Where coal is used as a power producer,
the. cost must necessarily be high. Again,
the present crude and faulty construction
Of the resistance points, j. e., the lamps,
renders it impossible to convert into light
all the electrical energy developed; by far
the larger portion is always non-luminous
heat With an ideal lamp, ten times the
number OF lights could be lit by the same
amount of electrical energy that is now re-
ouired to maintain one lamp.
!. The law Of magnetic attraction, as laid
down in the textbooks, is that Like
poles repel; unlike poles attract" That
is. the north pole of one magnet will at
tract the south pole and repel the north
pole of another magnet.
The discoverer of the curious phenom-
enon I am about to describe was expert
menting with couple of ordinary steel
magnets placed with opposite poles in po-
sition, and consequently exercising an at
traction for each other, when it was found
that the introduction of thin silver of
soft iron between the poles OF the two
magnets completely changed the nature
of their power; the like poles attracted and
the unlike ones repelled.
Diagram A will help to explain the phe-
nomenon. The magnet "a" is rigidly fixed
and magnet B'' is pivoted upon horizon
tai axis, so that itmay oscillate. A piece of