The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-16

battling among themselves, leaving the
important votce-carTying current to pass
on its way unmolested.
1t is but a step now to visual telephony
and ardent eXperimenterS are working
in this field with great eXpectat ons.
Perhaps I should say here also taat
scheme to secure electricity direct from
coal. The problem seems long way
from solution. A modern beautiful APP
plicatiOn of electricity IS to be seen at
the Pan-American exposition. Electricity
is the keynote of this exposition, and
never before in the history OF the art has
decorative electric lighting been carried
to such a point or handled with such ar
tistie felicity. In magnitude and beauty
these strange stationary fireworks sur
pass all others.
All food is either animal or vegetable
and as the animals live on the vegetables
or on other animals who, in turn live on
vegetables, everything comes back to-the
vegetable as the source of our SuStenance.
For vegetables to grow they require to
find in the soil elements which enter into
their structure, and among these ele-
mentS the most important is nitrogen.
While the air we breathe is more than
four-ffths nitrogen, yet this substance
is so curiously inert in its chemical be-
havior that plants cannot derive their
supply of it from natures storehouse IN
the atmosphere. They can get it only
from nitrogen combined with other
things, such as potash, to form what we
call nitrates and these are the basis Of
the most important and valuable fertil-
izers.
A MIGHTY FORCE.
Now the air is a mixture of two gases
which if they should combine together
chemically. would form nitric acid, which
is the basis of all nitrates It has been
found thai through the agency Of eIsc-
tricity these two elements can be caused
to combine, and Sir William CrOOkeS haS
pointed out that here nature has provided
an ineXh&ustible storehouse of food in
the air. Even deserts may be made 10
bloom If fortified with chemical sub
stances easily manufactured from the
elements of the universal atmosphere.
Summing it all up this new agency has
taken the place at a leap, as one of the
mightiest forces and influences of civ1li-
cation. It's applications surround us on
every side. We may breakfast on food
cooked by electricity; We ride IN the morn
ing to our offices (Which are cooled and
ventilated by electric FANS in a car
warmed, lighted and propelled by cleo
tricity, reading a newspaper printed by
electric power, and from type set up by
machine driven by an electric motor;
the white paper itself is made from wood
by electrically manufactured soda; its
news received by electric telegraph, and
some of it during the South African war
flashed by electric Searchlights from a
town 1900 miles away, sent by electric
cables to US, coming SO fast that it out
stripped the sun in his daily progress and
arrived here several hours before it
started.
Is there any story of Aladdin's lamp
that can parallel such a marvel? Was
there any genius it could summon for it's
master as powerful as the electrician
the man who has annihiliated time and
space, mastered heat and cold, and
chained the lightning as bond slave to
labor for all eternity?
Here's to the eIectrican-the magician
A true lord of creation
Over earth, air and sea he's achieved
domination.
His triumphs we greet with profound ben
ediCtion;
Hurrah for this toiIer with works of
fruition,
Your friend and my friend-the bold elec-
triciani