The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-09
UNDER THE DUST OFF POLITICS.

I were OLS 10 Accept Tie daily press 4S
the mirror rejecting all the daily life
of the people of this over poIiticked
country, to coin term he would con-
c1ude that all the ordinary vocations
of men had been temporarily suspended,
and that they talked, ate, drank and
slept silver. But when one turns from
papers to streets and country one sees
the people going about their ordinary
affairs, only pausing to discuss ratios
now and then, in the Intervals of leis.
ure, when the tongue must wag to
maintain mans standing as a social
animal. Buying and selling and max
ing go on about as usual, and men find
in these things their real and absorbing
interest. The chemist in his laboratory
and the inventor in his workshop
keep on charging the command of man
of the resources of nature just as if no
president was to be elected, and the
crops grow and mature, and the har-
vesting machinery sings it's busy song
all the day long needless of the battle
of the standards.
Industrial items get second place
now among the news columns, but they
come to tell how the world is moving
under the cloud of dust politics kicked
up. There was little note about the
clearance of the steamer Queen City
from Chicago for Buffalo with cargo
of 900 bushels of corn to emphasize
how far commerce had Travelled since
the day when the clearing Of the Dean
Richmond, with about 10000 bushels of
wheat, was deemed the attainment of
high water mark in lake vessel build
ing. Ten times the load, less than halt
the labor and less than a fifth of the
freight charges. The Queen City takes
the entire contents Of an elevator that
would fill ten Richmonds, lessening
again the cost of handling. Loading
back with COAL the same cheapening
process occurs. That means cheaper
fuel, barring the intervention of the
coal combine and trust
Then there comes from Niagara Falls
the announcement that the company
that has harnessed the falls to the dy-
namo is contracting to deliver 20, 900
horse power in Buffalo to the factories
and mills and all users of power, at a
price half that resulting from the use
of coal and steam. Tesla has made this
possible. He has solved the problem of
the long-distance transmission of the
electric current with the minimum
percentage of loss in transit He sim
ply passes the current through a trans
former, giving it increased voltage,
changing again to a direct current at
the terminal His was the discovery,
and it's utilization, that increase Of
voltage meant decrease Of loss. What
that means in the economy of electric
ity is shown by the statement that the
loss is 400 times greater in the trans
mission of 500 volts than in that of 49,
600. Meanwhile Prof. Jacques is so busy
in his laboratory, devising methods to
render commercial his discovery of con-
verting the energy In coal directly into
electrical energy, that he has no time
to think Of politics or candidates or
standards. And it is well for mankind
that this Is so. What If the wheat
fields should stop in their heading and
filing until it was decided whether Nc
Kfn1ey or Bryan were elected and
whether we were to have gold or a
silver standard?