The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-05-07
CLASS OF 81, THE lola HIGH SCHOOL.
5, Clara A. COIgin,

guish this period from all others. as an era of
progress.
When Cyrus H. Mccormick brought out his
first reaper. he might have been said to take by
the corner the leaf of progress, and when in
1916 Elias Howe invented the sewing machine
and in lSi7 Mccormick improved his reaper and
obtained patent upon it the leaf was raised a
little
Soon after came petroleum, forming basis
for thousands of patents, and when Cyrus w.
Field in 1853 succeeded in laying the great At
lantic Cable, which became crnwning success
eight years later, the leaf was raised still
farther.
These inventions and discoveries were not
alone at this time, for we find the lightning
steam printing press invented by Richard NJ
Hoe in lS47 the manufacture of paper in large
quantities from wood pulp by Watt and Bur-
CESS in 1854, and the Bessemer steel process
perfected by Bessemer in 1856. All have
done their part in opening this leaf of progress
The last of these alone would have marked
this an epoch of invention. for it expanded
branches of manufacture already in existence
and formed basis for many more which fol-
lowed. 1t might be said of it, that it reyolu-
tionized industry, for the steel plates. rails,
beams bars and rods have taken the place Of
iron and wood in great many places, making
it possible to construct implements that would
stand more hard usage and wear. than was pos
sible with wood and iron.
The first railroad, in the modern acceptation
of the term. was laid in 1925 and the first pas
senger locomotive completed in 1880. yet they
were not brought into any sense of perfection
until Tnuoh LOT dol m 1valI no olo
ed among the inventions revealed upon this
leaf as it is turned.
Beginning at the upper. right hand corner to
turn leaf we note that as we raise it the view
of the under side broadens; so it has been with
the leaf of progress. Beginning, as it were
with a few simple patents, inventive genius
has turned upon many lines the principal of
which is electricity. Though it had been in
use for some time and had reached some sense
of perfection it seemed to give the leaf vigor-
Gus push and came forth with bold front in
, the qusdruplex telegraph invented in 1874,
which allows four messages to be sent at the
same time in different or in the same directions
over the same wire.
The leaf only need be raised little farther
and we have that wonderful instrument, the
telephone, which has been spoken of as the
snnihilatOr of space. Though it was known as
early as 1881 yet it was not brought into public
use until 1876 by Alexander G. Bell
As light is necessary in almost all branches of
science and art, man naturally gave some at
tentiOn to that energy which produces it
When Franklin first experimental with cleo
tricity and Volta aided in simplifying and
bringing it into practical use the first step was
taken in the direction of producing intense
light When Sir Humphrey Davy invented the
arc light little did he realize that the time
would come when almost every city. town and
hamlet in the civilized world could have con-
tinusl day by the use of his invention with its
many Improvements
But the arc light is not alone revealed upon
this page, for many elements have been dis
covered which will give light as intense as that
of the arc, though not so well adapted to ordi-
nary purposes. Yet we find another, the In
candescent Light invented by Thomas Edison
IN 1850, which is even more practical than the
arc light and as extensively used.
Electricity has been brought into use in many
ways aside from The furnishing of light and the
sending OF messages 1t has been harnessed,
as it were, TO do the bidding of man, aud o-dey
hundreds of miles OF electric railway wind in
and out eur large cities. Locomotives have
been constructed which are capable of pulling
hundreds of tons, besides many smaller inven-
tons which are useful in their places.
Near the corner of this page we see an odd
looking machine which we are told is a locomo-
tive invented in 1880 and which had a speei of
Is miles an hour. CHANGING along dewn the