The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-10-13
LAMP OF THE FUTURE.
The Vacuum Tube WIN Sapplant
the Incandescent Bulb.
i0uAc0ns Of the WSpAeIful Discovefieg
81 Edison and TeslA-Rrobable De-
vol0pnSnts Of the EIoc-
trIc CaxrsaL

The ''hght q the future, aecsrdingx
many electric prophets, viii b q still
another sort-ins+eaa Of the ooncen
trated intensity of the incandescent
carbon, the dikused glow of vacuum
tubes, e heatless fame. Geissler, OF
Bonn, who devised the first mercury air
pump, obtained from fuoresceat glass
tubes, in which By his air pump he had
rsre6sd the sir or had vaporixsd sslu'
tons, On passing through them an cleo.
trio spark. faint light Of lovely color.
varying with the kind of vapor now
known AZ "Geissler tube" effects.
Crookes, Of London, made tubes Of .
high vacuum-less than one millionth
of atmospheric atmosphere-and OBJ
tanned In these "Crookes tubes" such
remarkable phosphorescent effects a.
led him to believe that he had discov.
cred fourth state Of matter" more
rarefed than gas. Tesla, an inventor
Of daring imaginative genius, a gradu.
ate from Edison's Workshop, went
step further by obtaining from current
Of extremely high frequency or quick
oscillation and also of extremely high
tension, an intense electromagnetic
field-that il, by "electrifying" sur
faces or terminals from this current, 50
that In the space between there was
intense electric "strsss"-he was able,
by merely placing an exhausted lamp
bulb within this field, to produce
glow inside the bulb without use oi
conducting wires, and even to show
luminous discharges from his own per.
son at the fnger-tips, like the ''St. FL
mos fire" observed at the mast head OF
vessels during electric storms. These
experiments led him to the develop
ment of his mechanical oscillator-a
small piston vibrating with extreme
rapidity within q stroke of an inch,
which actuates at high frequency an
generator - and his
electric oscillator, not yet in CONNER.
cial application. but from which great |
results are hoped. Pupin, at Columbus |
university. has produced similar lu, |
minous effects, using his harmonic sys. |
tenn Of condensers. by help of which he |
expects TO render ocean telephony prac. |
ticable. Macfarlane Moore, while work |
ing upon an incandescent lamp in
which tn. light, as in the gas burner, /
may be turned low, with proportionats
saving Of current, found that the oscil.
lating device which he had invented toR /
the purpose, thin strip of steel max.
ing and breaking contact within .
bulb whea actuated by low.
tension current, produced like effect
in vacuum tubes, and he has been able
TO light room with pervading glow
SO that reading is possible in any part
Of it. Edison, by coating the inner s,.r-
face of a glass bulb with huorescent
material, has developed still stronger
light, with consumption Of current
less than one-third that of the incan.
descent lamp.
Tesla, the pioneer in this field, is ex.
eectiDg, in turn, to make his glow light
If brilliancy corresponding rather
with the arc than with the incandes.
cent lamp, and the present year is thua
a race between the greatest
among American inventors as to which
shall first reach the goal. Any of tlSese
ystems may, it is probable, in their
practical development. be adapted as
house devices, obtaining their actual
ng current from the present distribu-
ing and generating systems, and mak-
ng electricity at last a rival with gas
n cheapness as well as in comfort and
r. Bowker, in Har>
'er's Magazine.