Omaha daily bee., 1900-02-02

- e. - - IAN. e" NsaN aAAA
ars'.y Of the Brooklyn bridge
lilo stated that the storage battery for
elcctromobiles had been reduced in weight
from 200 pounds TO 500 and IL would run
sixty miles low. as against thirty miles one
year ago.
In speaking OF wireless tcleeraphy tho
speaker stated that It was not vet "%sclec-
tive and therefore only one set Of appa-
iatus could be operated in the same locality
at the same time, the electric waves inter-
feriGg.
In reference to ocean telephony he said
that while the cost OF copper alone at pres
ont pri-Z and present calculations would
amount to over 1882, 600, 600 and while the
Insulation and armor would make tho cable
of the size of a -four barrel and that while
there was not enough guttapercha known to
exist on the globe to insulate it, yet there
did exist a strong belief. in which he
shared, that in the lifetime of his listeners
the ocean telephone would become a reality.
Electric engineering
The idea prevails that electrical engineer
ing is the paying profession CT the future,
TO which students will do we'll to direct
their attention. 1t is often said that :ho
art OF electricity is in it's infancy; that 81 is
destined to have a vast expansion. Elec-
tricians are to dominate the industry q the
coming century. There is accordingly an
ever increasing multiplication Of electrical
schools and electrical students in the
United states. Thousands Of young men
look forward to their gradual n as an in
production to a remunerative and resIonsi-
BILE career. But, in the opinion OF the Elec-
trical Review, the prospects Of electrical
engineers are not so bright as !hey are COM
monty thought to be. at is time" says
the Review, that the real truth as to the
position OF the electrical graduate should
be set forth and that those contemplating
entering the profession of electrical engi-
neering should know at least a few Of the
difficulties that they will encounter"
The Review proceeds to show what
changes have occurred in the production of
electrical goods in recent years. Fifteen
years ago the business was divided among
numerous concerns of moderate size. Each
employed designers, engineers and other
functionaries, to whom an education in
electrical engineering was an essential.
Electrical engineers were rare and their
services were in demand. But after a time
the small establishments were consolidated.
The big companies absorbed the little tnes,
with the result of lessening the number
of electrical engineers required. Then fol-
lUWtu u SlduuiIu lhdIlOh VI dplui oNuS' q
unifcation of design and the placing of the
manufacture of electrical apparatus on a
purely manufacturing basis. The great
corporations produced incomnarably fine
types of apparatus of almost every kind
and in great quantities. so that new de-
signs were in little request. 1nnumerab!e
contracts have been filled with devices OF
certain types and consulting engineers find
their practice limited largely to the choice
of standard types of apparatus. To pro-
pose an improvement on one o: these is to
propose a large additional cost CT manu-
facture and delay in delivery. This change
in conditions has made the electrical in
dustry prosperous and enlarged its field OF
operations. but 1t has narrowed tie oppor-
t~unities Of these who, as the Review puts
it. seek employment in 1.-The region inter-
vening between the constructing and con-
sulting engineer and the man who oils the
dynamo"
Ten years ago our contemporary adds,
the graduate from an approved school CT
engineering could command a large salary.
Today he is met with a situation similar
to that Of a young physician or a young
lawyer" He finds the field occupied with
many other and necessarily ADLER men
men of experience. He must gain what 1t
is impossible to gain at collegIabsolutely
practical experience. He must work in a
shop. or in a factory, or in a staten. he
must learn the commonest and hardest
work by doing it." Years of drudgery, with
small pay, may fall to those who are not
specially favored by circumstances. Net
withstanding this says the Review, our
schools and colleges are turning out thou
sands OF graduates annually, giving Them
engineering degrees and setting them adrt'
with a knowledge of the interesting and
valuable literature OF electricity, but fe"
Of them would be able to climb a pole OF
solder a joint The art Of electricity, it Is
argued, is no longer in its infancy. THAI
stage of growth was passed many years
ago. Consequently those who contemplate
electrical engineering as a profession mus
not be surprised If, after leaving school
they find themselves compelled to work fol-
awhile as linemen or wircncn, or perhaps
as dynamo tenders.
TcicErnphing Around Obstacles.
There hae been much loose talk about
the bending of the radiations, whatever ma
bv their nature. that are used in wireless
tele graphv, around obstacles and around the
curvature OF the earth's surface. over
the comparatively smooth and unobstructec
surface of the sen it Ia certain that signals
have been EXCHANGED over a distance imply
ing q bending Of the electrical impulses
about one and cne-half degrees from a rec
tilnoar course. From this premise. says the
Electrical Review. certain investigators haV'
iumped to tho conclusion that sufficiently
poworrul electrical disturbances emanatinf
from a wave radiating source would benz
around iro curvature of the earth between
this country and Europe. II this Is possible
T. implies diverting the electrical impulses
nv nearly a right angle from their initia
course. n they will turn through one RICH
prrIe II is perfectly reasonable to suppose
wat they MAJ be made TO turn through two
three or even four, which begins to look
little ike an absurditv. Just what is tn
? necessity for assuming that these influence
travel as electric waves, with a waye-fron
capable Of swerving when il meets an OBJ
stacle. Is difficult to see. In all the wireltS
telegraph work that has been done so ia
: the vertical clements OF tho sending and re
( %caiviug cir uits have been approximately "a
allel. or In the most favorable rosltIol
! for mutual electromagnetic induction. /
4 NOT a perfectly sufficient exclamation OF III
e actions noticed i-und in ordinary induction
When currents rush up and down in a vertl
cal wirc the whole surrounding neighbor
hood Is hllod with complex surges of mag
uNtic potential. A parallel wire r@eceivlni
tLo-r exhibits electro motive forces CORE
Spending exactly 10 their m-vement Wit