The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-06-08
A GREAT INVENTION.
IT Is TO CARRY ELECTRICITY WITH
OUT LOSS OF POWER.

The Only Thing Needed Is vacuum-Ex-
hasst the Air From the Tube Which
Carries the Wire, and You Have It-That
Is. Until You Wake Up Again.
GIVE got the greatest thing in the
world, remarked a prosperous looking
individual who walked into the office of
one of the most prominent consulting
engineers and electricians in the coun-
try as an Express reporter was sitting
in the outer Office.
"What is it?' asked the engineer.
"I'll tell you, responded the pros
porous looking man. cts an inven-
tion"-here the engineer began to look
bored, but he smiled politely and his
visitor Continued invention that
will revolutionize the business of trans
uniting electric power -
Now if there is one thing that this
particular engineer is more interested
in or knows more about than anything
else, it is this same subject of the trans
mission of electric power. He began to
look little more interested and urged
his visitor to tell him what the scheme
was and also to inform him what he
could do for him.
''Well, before l describe the inven-
tion, said the prosperous man, "I'll
tell you what we've DONE We've dis
covered way to transmit power with
absolutely no loss in transmission-ab-
so-lute-ly no loss. Do you realize what
that means?"
1t means you'll own the earth if
you've got it, remarked the engineer.
''Correctr' exclaimed the prosperous
man. GAS you so aptly put it, we'll
own the earth. You will notice do not
admit that there is any doubt about the
proposition. We know what we have
got We have seen it work. There's
millions in itr'
"What tests have you made?''
Tests? Why, my dear sir, we have
made the most exhaustive tests. We
have built mile of conduit, sir, and
detect the slightest loss of power in
transmission. Oh, there is no question
that the process works to perfection |
Now, what want you to do is to give
us your opinion on it. Study the sub
ject, give your opinion in writing, and
we'll pay you handsomely.
''Well, tell me what your process is
and I'll see what think of it., said
the engineer. eff l think you have a
practicable thing. I'd like to see your
experimental line in operation
That's the way like to hear you
talk, sir; shows you are conservative
man, sir. l wouldn't give rap for the
opinion Of man who jumps at conclu-
sions, sir. Now, I'll tell you what this
great invention consists of. It's va
cuum-nothing but a vacuum You
know vacuum is the most perfect in
sulation, don't you? Put vacuum
around wire and the electricity can't
get away. Moisture can't get at the
wire. Air can't get at it. Vacuum IL
keep the current on the wire, won't it?"
The engineer allowed that vacuum,
If good one, might be of value for in
sulating purposes.
We'll, continued the prosperous
looking man, 1--WE just take this vaccu-
um idea and carry it to it's ultimate
conclusion, understanding its last anal
ysis, SO to speak. It's easy enough to
surround wire with a vacuum. All
you've got to do is to put the wire in a
tube and pump the air out of tube,
isn't it? Well, suppose you pump away
until you've got all the air out;
you've got your wire insulated, haven't
you? Can't lose any current, can You?
But that's all. You've got the resistance
of the wire to deal with, and that's
where you lose energy That is where
our discovery comes in. We know why
the resistance exists, and from that it's
easy to learn how to cure it.
Take copper wire. Copper's made
up of molecules, ism tit? Molecules keep
vibrating all the time, don't they
never stay still, never remain in con-
tact? You know all about that Well,
! there must be something between those
molecules, then, isn't there? There is,
and that something is air. That's what
the electricity don't like-can't pass
through the air. Now, suppose you take
the air from out between the molecules,
what happens? Molecules remain at rest
= stay in contact. Electricity goes
through without any obstruction, and
there you are-no loss of current at ali.
Logical, isn't it?''
The engineer was getting faint, but
he found voice enough to admit that the
theory was certainly ingenious.
tfT lyr1oxx1
thusiastic visitor. "Now, it only re-
mains to extract the air, and that's
what we've done-got an airpump
that'll pump all the air out from be-
tween the molecules of a copper wire.
We've done it-done it on mile of
wire, sir. Took mile and furlong to
cover mile, because the wire short
ened up when the molecules crowded
together. That's what we've done, sir,
and think you'll agree with me that
we've got the greatest invention of the
ages, won't you?''
The engineer gasped for breath and
then automatically told the stranger
that he would do little figuring in the
scheme to see how much money it would
save in year and send report in writ
ing on the merits of the project AS
the visitor bowed himself out the en-
gineer turned to The Express reporter
and remarked:
Ibid you get on to that? That's only
sample. If there's one crank comes to
my office in day, there are a Dozen
Every one is crazy ON electricity, and
they all think they have invented the
very thing that Edison and Tesla and
all the rest have failed to obtain. 1t
wouldn't do for me to tell man like
that there was nothing in his wild prof
ect of pumping air out of the interstices
between the molecules of copper WIRE
He simply wouldn't have believed me
and would have spent hours trying to
demonstrate that his invention was
practical. Buffalo Express.
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.