New-York tribune., 1901-01-06

tiiS cofsondatlon VIII enormously increase
use of the telephone, and enable the system of
the transmission of speech TO be greatly per-
feeted, for only large capital can solve the
problems Of the transmission of speech over
great distances. Among these problems is that of
such transmission under the ocean. The work
of the college professor and investigator indeed
it not to be underrated in showing the road and
the probable methods which should be followed,
but capital must be used to reach a practical
conclusion. That shall speak under the
ocean seems probable, but there is no doubt
that the citizen of San Francisco, before many
years. will converse with the same facility with
the citizen of New-York the residents of New
York and Boston enjoy when carrying on
conversat ations with one another oyer the wires
Before passing TO other possibilities of cleo
tricity, must express my conviction that Gov
ernment ownership of the telephone would
greatly restrict its development, for this devel-
opment needs the energy of private enterprise
and the initiative of business men. When the
apparatus has been smplfed and there is no
longer any need of experiment and research.
then the advocates of Government ownership
might have for their arguments hut
not before. We must remember how long il
took Congress 10 make small appropriation to
Morse for a trial OF the telegraph
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY COMING.
Shall we not. however, in the next hundred
speak boldly through space reaching some ex-
pectant human ear hundreds of miles away with
the same ease that we now converse in a room?
1t is already possible TO send messages by dots
and dashes sixty to seventy miles without the
use OF wires. In the early days of the telephone
this was the practical limit of that instrument.
and we are all familiar with the immense exten-
sion which has taken place. Shall we not see
similar extension in the field of wireless teleg-
raphy? Some late experiments which L have
made lead me to be optimistic in regard to
possible great extension of the methods of wire
less telegraphy
In the first place. believe that these expert
ments prove that wireless telegraphy is not
necessarily or merely accomplished through the
air. but. on the contrary. that the earth plays
the controlling part and that the message flows.
SO to speak. through the earth it's
face rather than through the air The most
striking experiment follows:
The poles Of storage battery OF twenty thou
sand cells were connected with the ground at
the Jefferson Laboratory and was enabled 10
receive the message in a room three quarters
of a mile from the laboratory without the use of
nasts wires Of any sort. The earth was the
medium of communication. and It seems possi-
bic, by arranging the sending and receiving
apparatus suitably in connection with the cleo
trical capacity Of the earth. that may dis
pense with lofty masts and overcome in this
way the curvature of the earth.
CHANGING MINING METHODS
There is hardly field of human endeavor in
which electricity does not play an important
part. science of physical chemistry has
arisen, having for its cornerstone electrical
phenomena It promises TO revolutionize our
conceptions Of chemical actions and greatly TO
modify the chemical processes of manufacture.
Electricity now produces aluminium in large
increasing in metallurgical processes. In many
OF our Western copper mines the ore is ground
and then cast into pigs two three feet square
and two or three inches thick. These slabs con-
sttute the anode or terminal, by which
rent Of electricity enters a bath. and the
cathode, or terminal by which it leaves this
bath, consists of a thin sheet OF copper The
electrical current deposits the copper Of the
slab upon this sheet of copper, and the lead
silver and gold and silver fall to the bottom of
the bath. and this residue is said to pay for the
electrolytic process.
Electricity is revealing the skeleton of the
human body. Can hope that IL will reveal
treasures in the mass of the earth? There
those who believe that metallic veins can be
traced and explored by its means. One OF the
methods proposed is to measure the electrical
resistance in several directions across a tract
Of country, and TO select the direction in which
ity Of the metallic vein; for the metals offer less
resistance TO the passage of the electric current
than non-metallferous earth. II this method
were practicable it might facilitate the explora-
tions Of mines; but IL is not a practical one,
and we must wait for the workers in the pres
ent century TO devise a method which will be
analogous to that of the X rays in revealing the
members OF a mass impenetrable TO human
sight.
WONDERS OF THE RAY
What does electricity promise in medicine and
surgery? In this connection we Immediately
think of a possible improvement in the use of
the X rays. At present all Of the great hos
pitfalls OF the world examine injuries of the ex-
tremities Of the human body by means of these
rays. In some cases the thicker portions of the
body can be studied by their means There u.s.
however, much TO be desired In the method for
in general the rays exhibit only the shadows of
the bones of the extremities, reveal at most
the regions OF greatest density In the body. If
the muscles and tendons or the veins and ar
teries could be studied by means of these rays
an immense aid to surgery would result
Some experiments L have conducted with cur
rents of great strength lead to believe that
much can be done in this direction, for have IN
certain cases obtained unmistakable traces of
muscles and tendons, and the direction in which
TO advance is becoming clearer. The use of the
x rays is not confined TO the examination of the
body. Together with the ultra violet rays, the
x ravs are used TO cutaneous disorders
We are realizing that electricity is important
factor In health and disease. The Investigations
which have resulted from the discovery Of these
rays have opened wide vistas in the molecular
world.
one of such Investigations is very suggestive
in regard TO the mechanism of nervous action.
When the RAYS fall two terminals of a bat
sola q 3ir