Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-02
TRIUMPHS OF NlNETY-SIX
The Years Developments in the Realms Of
Science and Invention
SOME WONDERFUL TALES ARE TOLD
Photography that Fnthcms Secrets OF
the Soul, Machines 60 Measure
Brain Power, and other Mar
Ncls of Human skill.

During 1896, new civilization has been
In process OF incubation. When fully de-
velopcd, as II probably viii be early in the
twentieth century, 1t will be as far ahead
OF the present as the present is in advance
OF the coach age.
We're al! the projects now perfected which
the brain OF man has conceived during the
past twelve months, says the Cincinnati
Enquirer, the unpaved air would be
our highways; phosphoresccnce would IL
luminato on homes with a mellow glow like
daylight all our heavy work would be done
by wind, tide and compressed air; we would
talk by wire with friends In the Antipodes
and Gee them face to face; would solve the
most intricate problems instantly by the
application of electricity to our brains, and
would photograph not only colors. but bas
relieis, voices, dreams and emotions. Such
ailments as pneumonia epilepsy, lockIaw
snake bite aud insanity would be as easily
cured as the most ordinary cold, and the
body itself would be made proof against
disease by the injection OF mCrobe killers
into the system. To sail to the North Pole
by balloon would be an ordinary Saturday
evening pleasure trip, and to communicate
with the inhabitants OF distant planets
would be an everyday occurrence.
No doubt, some of these projects are vis-
ionary, but most of them are In the range of
probability, for imperfect appliances already
exist to achieve such results. They will not
fnd their way into ordinary use, of course,
until they are so far improved that 1t will
be economy to discard present methods for
tnem
THE NEW LIGHT.
The greatest achievement of the year was
at its threshold. 1t was early in January
when Prof. Roentgen of Wurzburg uniyer-
sity astonished the world by showing that
such substances as wood leather, alumni
mum and human flesh are not Opaque, but
as transparent as glass and that there is
another and more powerful medium of Wis
ion than ordinary light--a mysterious me-
dunn which is itself invisible. This discCv-
cry was the more surprising because 1t was
never limited or guessed at before, but was
entirely new. 1t was found that few things
were absolutely Opaque when Roentgen or
'X' rays were turned upon them, and that
common glass Is harder for these beams
to penetrate than thick boards
No sooner was this discovery announced
than the whole civilized world became in
terestcd in It, our own country most of all.
There was scarcely an inventor or college
laboratory that did not begin experiment
fng, and almost daily fresh capabilities OF
the new rays revealed themselves At first
only shadowgraphs were taken by camera
and Crookes tubes. Later both these in
struments were dispensed with and, by
means OF the rays, the naked eye pierced
wood and tissue, even penetrating bones
TO the marrow. and gazed upon the inner
structure of steel plate.
Prof. Elmer Gates OF Washington has
utilized the rays in searching the heavens
for wonders in astronomy. DR.. Dawson
Tucker of England has taken shadowgraphs
by using a glow-worm's light. Prof Sal
vloni has invented the cryptoscope, which
enables one to see through Opaque objects
with the new rays. Both Edison and Tesla
have largely added TO our stock of knowl
edge In the same direction.
INVENTIONS OF THE YEAR.
II has long been the dream OF inventors
TO find some method Of navigating the air
as easily as we now navigate the sea- The
foremost Of them all, Prof. Lilienthal of
Germany, yielded up his life for the cause
and after his fatal fall, like the hero he
was, he only lamented that he had not other
lives to give to science. AS the majority of
airship inventors have done, he took the
soaring bird for his model. He has sailed
through the air for short distances, but his
performance could hardly be called flying.
1t was rather an easy method of falling,
for his plan was to leap from an eminence
and sustain gradual downward flight until
he reached the ground.
The other two best known eXperlmenters
are Maxim, the Amercan-bOrn Englishman,
with his motor airship. aud Prof. Langley,
of Washington with his aerodrome the Sc
cret of which he carefully guards. Besides
these three, there are imitators of less note.
Chanute and Paul, who made unsuccessful
trials OF winged boat near Chicago; Cow
den of Virginia, with paddle-wheel ma
chine modelled after a salmon; DR. Wolfert
of Berlin and Mr.. Bastard of England with
cone-shaped balloons.
The only really successful experiments in
air navigation during the year were made
on the old-fashoned kite principle by
Charles H. LamsOn OF Portland, Me-, and
William A. Eddy of Bayonne n. j., who
have constructed kites strong enough to
lift men into the air. with these the Gov
ernment Weather bureau is now exploring
the cloud regions In search of data for max
ing more perfect weather forecasts.
AMAZING DISCOVERIES.
Discoveries in photography during 1896
have been sufficient to stagger one who has
not thought of the collective result The
Roentgen discovery may be considered un-
der this head. Prof. Gates has photo
graphed in a dark room with invisible rays
of light. The phoochronograph made dur
ing the year for the use of the army, pic
lures the flight of projectiles. Photos in
bas-relief like canoes have been taken
Further advances in color photography
have been made. though the difficulty of
printing of the colors from the negttive
has not been removed. DR.. Packer of
England has caught the corona of the sun
through a metal film. The human voice
has been photographed in Columbia col
lege, NJ. Radel of France claims to have
taken Impressions of dreams each vision
OF the sleeper making different shadow on
lHt SthslllNt pldlt, anu even UBuEeS OIL per-
sons appear which the dreamer, when
awake, recognizes as the individuals he
saw In his sleep. Equally startling Is the
assertion OF M. Narkierrlco-J Jodko of Rus
STA that he has photographed true love; or
rather that he has caught the electric dis
charges exchanged when the lovers casp
hands, which discharges are not found In
the handclasp of mere friends.
or more practical benefit to mankind will
be the invention OF new motors to take the
place of steam. One substantial advance
has been the Harvesting of Niagara Falls
after years of toll on tunnels and masonry
This power is now turning the wheels OF
factories to Buffalo.
Two newly Invented motors have been
In operation on the street car systems OF
New York this year-compressed air and n
combination of storage and thlrd-rail sys-
tens.
new style of electric locomotive has
been produced jointly by the Baldwin Lo-
comotive works OF Philadelphia and the
Westinghouse Electrical works OF Pitts
burg
MEANS OF LOCOMOTIoN.
DR.. Jacques OF Boston has discovered a
method OF extracting electrical energy di-
rect from coal, without the aid of steam
engine. Petroleum motors for bicycles and
horseless mail wagons have been products
OF the year. Anticipating the time when
Wi ha a