The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-10

ruDtion of a current flowing peacefully
along a wire causes violent reactionary
movement from the point where il is bro
ken. which travels back IN the opposite
direction the current mas taken. This is
called the kick" and IS equivalent 10 an
increase in potential. MIR. Moore's method
of breaking and making the circuit is a
new one. He introduces his positive and
negative wires, connected with the street
mains, into a high vacuum within a glass
receptacle, and they are connected by
means Of a rotator, which is revolved by
a Gramme ring. surrounding il. The mo-
tor power for The Gramme ring is drunk
from the wires at a. point outside the glass
vessel.
The rotator has pieces of porcelain.
which is a non-conducUor, upon il. There
fore, as il is revolved the current is bro
ken and made at the rather rapid rate
of $4,000 a minute. That means that the
current is kicked" back from this whirl-
ing wheel by $1,000 separate impulses a
minute. which are strengthened by the
fact that the wire is coiled into a spiral
just before it reaches the wheel The
current thus impeled back Is drawn off
by separate wires, which lead to either
end of the vacuum tubes, in which the
light is generated. The high potential of
the current sets the few molecules within
into violent vibration, the sensible effect
of which is light. And strange to relate,
the amount of heat is practically MD.
OF course, if the vacuum In the tube
were perfect no light could be got. The
effect of the light can be greatly varied
by increasing or lessening the degree of
the vacuum. One can get an apple green
or crimson or purple light, in fact run
through the colors of the spectrum so
that a wonderful field for decoration is
open to this form of light. The rarefied
mixture Mr. Moore now uses in the tubes
is composed of nitrogen and oxygen. If
he hits upon a better combination he will
substitute IL for this one. The reason for
inclosing his circuit breaker IN a vacuum
is to prevent the transmission of the spark
from one wire to the other. That would
reduced the force of the ''lSick,"
Mr.. Moore left the Edison people in Oc-
tober, 1894 long before his apparatus was
in its present effective shape, ana has been
working out his ideas since. He has made
great quantity of different machines
each representing different stages of prog
ress, and considers his present system,
wonderful as its effects are, still a subject
for further mental application The quality
of the light was wen shown by an incident
in the visit of party of noted scientists
to his laboratory in Lawrence street. New
ark, ". j. He invited his callers into the
dark room where he had his tubes, and
as he closed the door, pressed the button
that turned on the current. Then, turn
ing to one visitor, he said: "Wil you kind
around to oblige him. and to his astonish-
ment found that the door was shut and
all outside light was excluded Neither he
nor any of his companions had noticed
the change from daylight to the light of
the tubes.
a somewhat similar incident happened
two years ago in a lecture room in the
Grand Central palace in New York, with
er Mr.. Moore had taken his apparatus and
| tubes with view to explaining them to an
| audience. About an hour before the lecture
time, while the setting sun was throwing
its rays into the room, he turned on the
current, and was nearly driven frantic to
see no light IN the tubes. Il took off my
| coat" said he afterwards "and wrapped
1t round my head and one of the tubes
thus making a miniature dark room. Then
came out smiling. The light was there
only l could not distinguish it In daylight
because it was just he same sort of a
| light"
Mr.. Moore Is wrapped up In his work, and
| has unbounded confidence In the Hght.r'I
! am firmly convinced" said he the other
! day, that 1t must ultimately supersede
all other forms of illumination, both in
| doors and outdoors. My main reason is that
the vacuum tubes are right When man
| has so far improved his methods of pro-
! ducing artificial light to initiate day
| light, the ultimatum, we may say, has been
reached. Not only by tube illumination
| SIdH we De able 10 brlnS into our homes
/ and Offices daylight by night. but also our
streets and thoroughfares can be charged
so that the difference between noon and
| daylight will not be very marked
| The earliest glimmerings of electricity
! were connected with vacuum tubes, but
two centuries of development drifted away
! from the tubes to various forms of electric
! lamps, which produced light merely as a
! biproduct of heat, and now there is every
/ indication that we VIII return at an early
day to the use of the tubes for outdoor and
/ indoor illumination. The saving of power
| by eliminating the heat element will ena-
! bic the light to enter even the homes of
the poor, something the present incandes-
cent lamp can never do. The lighting of our
roads win be effected by the running OF a
! series of tubes right down the center of
! street above the trolley wire, giving us a
broad path of illumination instead Of light
| in spots