New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-10
ELECTRICITY AT PARIS.
RECENT PROGRESS REVEALED BY THE
EXPOSITION.
AMERICAN EXHIBITS AND SERVICE TO THE
woRLD-YANKEES HAVE NO OCCASION
FOR SHAME.

Paris May 30
Within six weeks from the official opening of the
Exposition of 1900 95 90 per cent Of the
hibits are in place. The situation is rather more
backward in the building devoted to electricity
than in any other perhaps, but another fortnight
will doubtless show everything in place in this I'M
portant department.
The American who has been taught-and cor
rectly too-that the United States leads the world
In electrical science to-day experiences little dis
appointment when he first carefully inspects his
.country's representation here. On the main floor.
which is devoted almost exclusively to the gener-
alton of current alternating and direct. and where
from 5000 10000 horsepower is, or will be, de-
veloped the visitor discovers score of dynamos.
each of which has a capacity of from 1000 to $500
horsepower. But the monster generators. like the
engines that drive them, all bear foreign names
One is English three are German. one is italian,
one is Austrian one Is Hungarian three are BEL
gian and eight French.
Whatever be the true explanation of this fact, 1t
IS certainly not due to the inability OF the United
States to make an even better show than
here For instance, America originated the troll
SEW system eleven years ago. Since then she has
taught the world method OF progression.
She has practically displaced the horse from
streetcar service at home and is busiy
gagged in supplying foreign cities, notably London.
with equipment for electric roads like her
In what happens for the moment to be the biggest
and latest station for the generation of electricity
for traction purposes-that of the Metropolitan
Street Railway company IN Newly OTk-tnere are
half dozen engines and dynamos, each having
a capacity of $500 horsepower, and only half the
plant is yet installed. And it may be noted that
before the furnaces OF that power house
10 piles Of coal he does in front of the boilers
Of the Exposition. Automatic stocking has made
that impossible
But right here the Exposition the United
States makes far better showing than might
imagine In the first place there is electric
road, two miles long, which encircles the huge
between NJ
interest, the Esplanade des Invalides and the
Champ de Mars. This road is operated by Amer
and with American machinery. A sub
station takes from of power out in
the city mile away nearly quite 1000 horse
power. in the form of alternating current. and
converts it into direct current. Westinghouse
apparatus is used for this purpose, and Westing
house motors are used the cars Incidentally. it
may be remarked that the third rail system is
Iloyed There three train, being
equipped with a motor, ard the other two being
-traers'' The cars provided with air brakes
of the latest American design. Some Of the grades
on the line remind of a Coney Island roller
toboggan but no accidents have happened. And
the way that the trains travel up hill and down
IS marvel TO those who patronize the road for
the first time.
THE MOVING SIDEWALK.
Parallel with the electric road. but running in the
opposite direction, is the moving sidewalk This
IS twofold one part moving two and a half miles
hour and the other half five miles an hour
This institution is also American. 1t was seen at
Chicago seven years ago a small scale. Each
sidewalk is composed OF an endless chain of light
cartrucks planked top and running
regular railway underneath These walks are kept
In operation by electric motors. two hundred
and fifty in number, and mounted. the
moving trucks. but the framework that sup
ports the whole affair. The motors are American
and the current comes from the sub-station
which operates the electric road Both sidewalks
and railroad under management.
hen iS he
Palace. which. while not representing any ad-
in electrical science. is likely prove the
most striking feature Of the Exposition in purely
spectacular sense. when will probably be the
by the middle of June, II is in operation AS
one stands near the Eiffel Tower, with his back
the Seine, and faces down the Champ de Mars he
his right the line of magnificent buildings
consecrated to liberal arts transportation and
chemical industry. his left are those devoted
10 mines and metallurgy, textile fabrics and
chinery. Across the gap between the two the
further end Of the park, stretches the electricity
building With its back TO the latter and fronting
the observer, is a pulptiike structure that reminds
of the stage and proscenium Of a theatre
From lofty source in this edifce will issue flood
Of water, falling in widening cascades. A series of
low dams concentric with the footghts, affords
nearly dozen changes of level before the principal
basin is reached These basins represent a fall
OF about hundred feet The larger and lower
basins are provided with scores of water jets
the majority Of them vertical but not few hor-
zontal When the preliminary arrangements are
complete these fountains Will be illuminated from
below and from the sides with powerful electric
lights. various and ever changing IN color.
Here again is American idea. 1t tried
at the Worlds Fair in 1893. And since that time
Brooklyn and two other American cities
have had similar fountains. After all. the United
States is helping her sister republic this year in
shabby fashion.
1t is in other directions. however that one must
look for indications of electrical progress during
the last few years Take telegraphy. to begin
with. and observe il you please, that the land Of
Henry and Morse is still contributing to the SER
vice Of mankind. Professor Rowland's "octuplex"
which will probably be here in the near
future, and which described in The Tribune
a year or so ago. is rather costly device but
precticabilty to have been established 1t
is capable Of sending eight messages 800 words
each minute a single wire and printing
them in form that is suited TO immediate use IN
the editorial 1t calls for no chemical
process like the development of Polak and Viras's
Photographic strip, and it is more rapid than Ed-
sons quad" which be manipulated by hand
Crehore and Squier. two other Americans have
also been identified with a system of rand teIep-
raphy within the last five years. but thus far
only in an experimental way. One naturally looks
here for Marconis apparatus AS vet I, is no,
visible. but there is chance of It's appearing in
some OF the vacant space reserved for England in
the Electricity Building. The Pollak- virag svstem
viii be shown in the Austrian section.
TELEPHONE DEVICES.
number OF countries show telephone apparatus
The Western Electric Company of the r-r,,od
states Is preparing to equip small exchange
and have the usual pretty girl to answer calls
improvements In telephony OF late years have been
mostly confined to the switchboard The trars
mitter and receiver are practically perfect The
form of transmtter here in Paris IS Of Swed
ish design 1t is hidden away IN a box under q
thin slice Of white wood, that when one uses