The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-23
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

"A French paper gives the following
figures as those paid by Mr.. Grau to his
artists: NJ. Jean de Reszke, $3.50 night
for forty performances; Nine. Melba, ST.
200. and Nine. Termina, $1,000 nightly
Nine. Nordica, $4,000 for the season; Mr.
Van Dyck, $1,000 M. Edouard de
Reszke, 500, and Sig. Scotti $500 a night.
These figures astonish the London Daily
News, which admits that they could not
be paid in London 1t also intimates that
the figures are overstated. The truth is
that most of them are understated. Jean
de Reszke's salary is correctly given, for
example, but Mr.. Van Dyck is $3.50
short of the real figures.
"A correspondent of the New York
Times notes that only a few years ago
The New York Central Railroad Compa-
ny (of which Chauncey NJ. Depew was
n president and is now chairman OF
the Board of Directors) bsught 5000 to-
of Engl sh steel rails because the co
thereof. with 6utles added, was less than
the price demanded in tn s country.
How" asks the correspondent, ''would
the Honorable Senator have liked a law
prohibiting the running of tran in
United st ties teri tory on a-y but
rails made in the Unit States, which
law has been in force for a number of
years governing coastwize vessels? 1t
makes a great difference whose OK is be-
ing gored.
In brilliant paper on the anticipated
triumphs of electricity during the next
fifty years, T. C. Martin, in Success"
declares that the farmer the chemist, the
miner and the householder will be among
che chief beneficiaries, whihe railroads
will discard steam for the third electric
rail. He continues: OF course, we shall
see by electricity. The telescope is a
beautiful apparatus, but antiquated in
many respects. 1t is NOT unlikely that the
electric heater and electric fan viii be
rivaled by mechanism creating the sensa-
tons of GOODNESS and warmth more subtly.
Electricity, while abolishing many out
worn methods and predecessors, will.
meanwhile, be refining upon itself. ID will
obtain much of its supply of current di-
rectly from fuel without boiler, engine,
or dynamo. BY present methods, we get
only about } per cent from fuel, of the
possible energy in it; and our best house
lights have an efficiency of only about 3
per cent. There lie two great problems
for the twentieth century. Electricity
will, however, furnish economical cold
light lamps, in which no stick or filament
of carbon consumes. 1t will transmit
without tangible circuits. II will help to
make the balloon as feasible and COM
monp,ace as the automobile. But its ma
ture bids fair 10 rest in mystery. The
electrical successes of the next fifty years
will depend upon men who have been
trained to be electrical engineers and in
ventors The triumphs of the past fifty
years have been achieved entirely by men
who had no electrical education in their
youth and whose mastery of the five
"c's" OF electricity-copper. carbon, cast
ings coal and cascades--is due to their
own efforts. 1t Is not rash to assume
that the electrical inventions near at
hand will at least equal those in the past
of Morse. Edison, Bell Siemens, Kelvin,
Tesla. Sprague. and others of equal in
teliectual rank in their respective branch
es THE greater lies before"
According to a computation made by
the Electrical World and Engineer, only
50, 600 900 more letters would be written
each year by the people OF the United
States II the electric telegraph had never
been invented, and this, ii declares. lis
a terrible condemnation of the undevel-
oped state OF the telegraph" With sixty
years of growth, it thinks the telegraph
should now be handling messages not by
tens but by hundreds of millions, with
infinite gain over the mails in both
speed ana convenience, ana with the re-
suit OF close knitting together of the
whole social fabric, which is much to be
desired. As explanation of the slowness
with which telegraphy, as compared with
telephony, has improved, the expert says:
I'VE are unfortunately still in the prime
va; day of the Morse key. The telegraph
companies still must earn about 30 cents
message. An operator TO a circuit is
still the standard. There is no patronage
Of any general system that will transmit
message faster than the operator can
take II down. And the net result Is that
the telegraph Is virtually at a standstil
when 1t ought to be doing more business
in a year than it has hitherto done in
all its existence" After reference to
the Pupin and other inventions that all
ready permit The American people TO ex-
change 300,O0000O conversations year
cheaply ana conveniently the writer con.
tinues: why should not something anal
oSous bo done in the equally promising
Held Of telcgraphy? The neglect and CON
tumcly heapcd on fast machine telegraphv
H. one OF the deepest reproaches against
telegraph management ~ this country.
One of these days the companies NAV
wake up TO ind the government with
system Of its own chiefly Tor sending lot
ters.' only few weeks ago. SAYS the
New YORK 1imcs, we quoted Mr. Edison
is making similar complaints about ihc
conservatism OF the telegraph mag.
mates.