Evening star., 1902-01-25
A NEW INVEN
Wonders of the Hewitt Tube Electric
Light.
MOST EFFECTIVE AND POWERFUL
Its Cheapness, Too. Should Make
1t Universal.
NJ MILLIONAIRE INVENTOR
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
Once in a while 1t Is given to the sons of
| the rich to ride out of the ranks and to
distinguish themselves in the field of might.
Quite recently 1t was young Vanderbilt in
venting a locomotive. Just now 1t is Cooper
Hewitt, giving the world a new light. His
case is even more spectacular than that of
Vanderbilt, for the effects OF his invention
| viii be more far-reaching
The interest invoked by such a man can
| not be less than that inspired by the far
reaching effects of his work. And to gauge
the latter let it be said that he has succeed
| ed in field in which our best scientists
have as yet produced nothing.
1t is now more than four years since
Peter Cooper Hewitt began his experiments
in Madison Square Garden. He opened his
laboratory in the tower of the garden, just
one floor under the gilded statue of Diana.
The very prominence of the situation lent it
| certain obscurity. He wished not to be
disturbed, and no one would think of look
ing for the workshop of a scientist in the
same building that harbored horse shows.
cycle meets and spectacle plays. He labored
with that chimera which sooner or later
claims the attention of all scientific men
| the production of light without heat. He
studied the work of Tesla, of Edison, of
Crookes. He followed their lead, and hav
| ing tested their experiments, he soon made
up his mind that they had not reached the
uttermost limits of this department of cleo
| trical research He was young, and time
| was no object. He had abundant means, so
money did not count. Occasionally the
cieties heard of him when he told of certain
progress he had made. To his friends he
was promising young scientist, who might
do something some day. Generally speak
ing, however, the public heard little of the
young inventor in the tower.
It's First Appearance.
The "some day. came with the new year.
On the evening Of Friday, the Sd Of jan
uary. passersby in front of the meeting
hall of the New York Society of Mechan-
ical Engineers saw what appeared to be a
column Of light extending up and down
| the house front. The light came from a
glass tube, and it made the street nearly
as light as day for a hundred feet in every
direction 1t was the invention of young
Peter Cooper Hewitt. The meeting hall of
the building was lighted by four other
tubes similar to the one In front, and the
inventor was even then within explaining
to the society members the nature of his
discovery. The four tubes which hung in
the hall Illuminated it with brilliancy
equal to 5OO-candle power, and photo
graphs Of the assembled members were
taken with the new light.
The Hewitt lamp, however, is so thor
OuSNiy adapted 10 present DAY c0nQltlOnS
that no special wiring is required. no spe-
cial dynamo is necessary to operate 1t. 1t
may be attached to any incandescent light
circuit now in use, and it will glow
readily as an Edison lamp, only with many
times the brilliancy. And yet the perfected
lamp is such a simple affair that one won
ders some Of the brainy men of the scien-
tific world have not hit upon the idea long
ago. 1t is actually a fact that many of
them not only experimental with this style
of lamp. but even tried lamps of the very
size, shape and contents of those used by
Mr.. Hewitt, and, failing to produce the
desired effect, discarded the idea as i'm
possible. The lamps used by Mr.. Hewitt
are in the shape of glass tubes from one
to ten feet long and from one to four inches
thick. There is a small amount of mercury
in each tube, and the current acting on the
mercury generates a gas which yields an
intense white light. 1t is only necessary to
lamp circuit and it will light up. Mr..
Hewitt encountered the same difficulties as
the other scientists. The tubes would not
light up at first. But he thought there
must be some underlying principle which
could he but discover 1t would solve the
difficulty. He finally put it to the test of
mathematics. and worked it out algebrai-
cally. just as Prof. Pupin worked out the
principle or ocean telephony. 1t took him
four years, but the result was triumph, for
the tube lighted up In the end.
A Reticent Genius.
A first visitor to the tower is surprised
by two things-the intense scientific order
that prevails and the brilliancy Of the il
Elimination. One OF the tubes projects out
ward from the wall and you notice that it
has a green tint. Looking from the win
dows far over toward Broadway, the
houses and the streets and the atmosphere
appear reddish in hue. That is due to the
color OF the particular lamp which is
lighted. Some one turns it Off and you
begin to see things from your accustomed
viewpoint or rather huepoint- Mr.. Hewitt
comes forward. He Is well favored phys
ically and one would say about thirty-five
years of age. In reply to your questions
he plunges at once into the subject of
vacuum lamps, but his attitude is more reti-
cent than enthusiastic.
This lamp" said the inventor, pointing
to a U-shaped tube. which hung by a string
from the ceiling, sis not vacuum lamp
The air has been almost exhausted, but
there is. as You may see, some mercury in
the lower end Of the tube. 1t would not be
possible to send a current Of electricity
through complete vacuum. Something
must be left to conduct the current. In
this case 1t is mercury vapor. All sub
stances may be rendered into a gaseous
state il brought under the influence of
more or less heat, and when we try to pass
current through that tube enough heat is
generated to create vapor or gas of
mercury which fills the tube. The current
passing through that vapor produces the
illumination you now see.''
Mr.. Hewitt snapped a switch under an
other lamp which was attached to the wall
Immediately this tube lighted up with a
glare equal, as it seemed, to the light of an
arc lamp.
Eight Times More Powerful.
THAT lamp he continued, "is operated
on the incandescent lighting circuit Of this
building. the same circuit employed to
light the ordinary sixteen-candle power bulb
lamps, such as are everywhere in use. But
the Illuminating power IL eight times that
of the ordinary lamp. I have made lamps
with diameter Of bore less than one-eighth
Of an inch and as large as three inches,