Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-09-26
rplsoss LATEST lplAa
rxuerimsnu for Teiegraphing Between
Ships At Sea.

I,was rather weird experience,
maa,ing MIN there In the great gloomy
building, where there are pu. ~
men besides himself. At night, ne
was chiefly engaged with ms new lues
az telegraphing from railroad trains
in motion. This Is not 10 be done ~
! cable laid along the track. on the
Phelps plan. but by throwing the cleo.
tric current. BY induction, to one OF
the wires alongside the railroad. Ills
experiments have already shown that
Inc marks can be thrown LOO iecL
The regular Morse instrument. with
certain appliances will be used. The
battery is to be grounded 10 the wheeis
Of the ear, and on the top OF the car
there will be condensers OF TIN ION
spread upon long strips OF wood. AT
rangements are also progressing Tor
an experiment in telegraphlng by the
same method from one ship 70 another
ut sea.
.sBut is that possible" ! asked,
"How far do yon think you can throw
the current over the waterg
II am afraid to say how far. was
the answer. Prom the data already
obtained, the theoretical conelusi ON
4 that we can throw Il twenty-tour
miles. Possibly Wa can throw u more
than that.
Then Edison rapidly sketched on
paper map OF the two continents
and the Atlantic. and illustrated his
plan of telegraphing from ship 10
ship SO al 10 establish certain commn'
nication between the shore and any
part OF the freauented seas. Not con.
tent with this projected miracle, which
seems TO be near Its fulnllment, ne -
also busy upon Improvements Ia sno-
marine telegraphy. The method now
generally In vogue of reckoning words
through cable By the flicker Of flame
thrown upon mirror Is amazingly
insufficient. as - shown on Q diagram
which Edison displayed. Tho mum
Der OF dots indicating letters often has
10 be- Judged by operators from the
length Of tune that the tlame hesltatas.
Even the siphon receiver invented By
Sir William Thompson and used BY
one or two Of the new cables, . not
quite satisfactory, although IL marks
| the dots pretty nearly. Edison Il tryt
| ing to devise some means Oi attaining
/ higher or better regulated rate OF
speed 50 that the record may DO made
clearer. But Its tough job. hc
/ says.
Perhaps the most interesting thing
he had 10 say was respecting his cx-
ploration for .new force. AT pres.
ent he calls ID simply xyx- He does
not pretend 10 know what IL Is. But
be says that there arc many phrnom-
/ ena which are not explained b. any
force vet recognized. aud il IL these
/ which he is going 70 investigate,
| Vibrations Of matter ut the rate oi
! $4,000 second produce The highest
sound We can hear. Between these
and the vibrations which. at the rate
OF millions per second. cause the sen,
sation Of heat. there u large gap;
and between these and the vibrations
that give sensations OF color there IL
another gap. These gaps. Edison De-.
lieyes, are filled BY vibrations As yet
unmeasured. which constitute the new.
or unnamed. force he IL ia search 81.
He brought out from drawer sundry
loose sheets on which he had skstched
n number Of machines he had project.
ed, which respond TO some influence
still underlined. II iot these down ~
they occur 10 me" ne said. .and
when get enough Of them together
shall have the machines made ana
trf % generalize my observations
Think Of III A man Ia this skopti
cal century who dares believe in 4 al.
covery beyond all discoveries. Her,
Is student of nature VINO Il not afraie
70 have the spirit of Calico or Il hep
Ter or an Isaac Newton. Perhaps ",
shall learn from hin that Ia retnruius
TO faith and insight, aided by bold aas
patient experiment. we mat 20 for
ward By going backward What Il,
you think as TO the nature OF matter2t
Iasked. unscrupulously. The answer
was prompt. ~ do not believe tina
matter Is inert. acted upon b. Al ont
side force. To me Il seeps that ever,
atom Is possessed Of certain amoun
OF primitive Intelligence. Look a
the thousand ways In which atoms .
hydrogen combine with those Of othel
elements, forming the most diyers,
substances. Do sou mean 10 saw tha
they do this without Intelligence
When they get together In certat,
forms they make animals 81 the lowe,
orders. Finally. they combine ID man
who represents the total intelli0enc,
OF all the atoms.
But where does this intellioene,
come from originality
From some power greater tina,
ourselves"
do you then believe in an ,ntalli
gent Creator. a personal God?n ia
the next question.
Certainly said Mr.. Edison. "Tb.
existence Of such God. IN INV mini
can almost be proved from chemis
try ''''
Lucretius thought that ali atom,
were moved By feelings Of love .,
hate what we call attraction or -.
pulsion. Edison's idea i far NOR,
subtle, since he allows the atoms ont,
germ OF intelligence. Ii also sean,,
TO be quite In keeping with tho dnc
trlne Of evolution, while IL cont.ir,
nothing that is not In harmony viii
the idealism Of the Platonists. And -
we discover down on Ayenue "a T.
me prosaic city Of New YORK. !
Ia H..