The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-22

ELECTRICAL DISCOVERIES
That Will
Help Rey0luti0nize the Worlds
Industries.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

| Hewftts electrical discoveries. winch Loru
Kelvin and Doctor Pupin pronounce won
| derful and experts say Will help reVoiu-
| tionize the industries Of the world, readers
| are asking for further particulars
| OF his hundred inventions Mr. cooper
| Hewitt regards his static transformer. his
mercury vapor interrupter and the Cooper
| Hewitt electric lamp as the most impor-
tant. 1t was while perfecting his electric
| vapor lamp that he discovered the secret SO
| vital to wireless telegraphy-the controlling
OF alternating currents and then transfer
| nation Into economic direct electric cur
| rents Of commerce
The claim for Mr.. Hewitts lamp invention
| is the production OF a pure STEADY hBht
seven times brighter and cheaper than the
incandescent lamp now in use. although in
| Its light colored objects undergo remark
| able changes In appearance.
TO make it clear Just how the interrupter
| came to grow out of his electric light re-
| search few facts should be stated. Elec-
| tricity, the greatest force in nature, moves
at almost uncomfortable speed-the velocity
| Of light. An electric current would make
| the entire circuit Of the globe about eight
| times In a second. Because of its great en-
| ergy bolt from the sky bursts into flame
| from the resistance and friction OF the at
! moSphere.
| OBSTACLE ENCOUNTERED.
In experimenting with this form Of light
|
| surmountable obstacle encountered by other
| inyentors-the lack of an apparatus to con-
| troll the current and make the flame abso-
| lutely steady. by some automatic method,
| simple and economical Mr.. Hewitt finally
| overcame the difficulty by his invention,
\ and out of 1t have grown other inventions
He changes the electricity into many
| forms to be used in many ways for hundreds
| of purposes. among them sending messages
without wires. ard producing light seven
or eight times brighter than the ordinary
incandescent lamp ard at no greater cost.
So perfect is his device that it tends to cor
rect itself. Is self-governing, and makes
the light a steady glow.
MIR. Hewitt's "interrupter" stops and
starts tho powerful electric current moving
millions of times a second. Each stopping
and starting means an explosion. but the
discharges are so inconceivably rapid that
they blend into one continuous note, just
as rapid vibrations of sound make strain
Of music on an organ. He sets up vibra-
tons Of electric wave currents of 50 vast
and far-reaching energy as to be caught by
wireless telegraph machines on the other
side Of the globe. And not one Of hun
dred other machines could steal the mes
sage without knowing the secret code big
nal sent to the particular station await
ing the message. Because OF this achiever
ment, scientists say that long-distance wire
less telegraphy may be considered an as
sured success.
MIR. Hewitt was found in one of his labo-
ratories in the tall tower Of the Madison
Square Garden, where he has made his
wonderful discoveries. Among other things
he said:
DESCRIPTION OF HIS INVENTIONS.
For number Of years he had devoted the
larger portion Of his time to the study of
electrical discharges through gases 1t will
be understood. he said, that in order to get
a discharge through n
chamber 1t IL necessary to have two con-
ductors leading into the gas. the inlet and
the obtlet for the current. and to control
the gas 1t Is necessary to conflne 1t In q con-
tainer, 80 that the particular gas desired
may be separated from the surrounding at
mosphere, and that it may be presented to
the electric current at q definite pressure or
density. and that when the gas forms part
OF the electric circuit the container fixes the |
size and shape Of the gas through which |
the current can pass.
Recently he showed. by means Of expert |
ments at Columbia College, how the con- |
ductivity Of the vapor varied. by reason |
Of It's length. diameter. temperature. the |
amount Of current that was passing and the |
effect Of density on the resistance Of the |
gas. At that time he showed that there were \
extraordinary phenomena manifest at the |
electrodes one tho difficulty in starting tho |
lamps, another small leak to an auxiliary /
electrode. although there was ample current /
present, showing Q very high resistance at /
the electrode.
Subsequent study of this resistance has
brought out the static converter and the |
current interrupted" This negative cleo
trode resistance first exists as very high
resistance which requires a definite voltage |
electric pressure) to overcome It. When
once overcome it practically disappears I'M |
til the currents strength has fallen below a
certain value, when it instantly reappears.
THE MAGIC CONDENSER.
This Is a very remarkable phenomenon.
In considering the resistance with reference
to the discharge of a condenser. the device
the condenser in the place Of the spark gap.
Tho condenser will charge with constant
rising voltage. ana this pressure Is brought
to bear on the negative resistance.
When the condenser has received a press
ure Of say 1900 volts the negative electrode
resistance Is overcome, and 1t disappears, |
allowing the condenser to discharge freely |
and with rapidity. The resistance of this |
device during the period Of discharge can
be mado not to exceed fourteen VOLTS so |
that out Of the 1900 voltage which Is dis
charged from the condenser. fourteen volts
are used up In the apparatus. making loss
OF lilo Of one per cent for current passing |
through the device.
ABOUT THE MERCURY LAMP.
VI ms lamp MT. cooper f1eWltt says tH0 /
chief difference between It and others of its
character is that he succeeds in getting the
major portion Of the electrical resistance in
the vapor column-the true light giving me
that he was the first to perfect
a vapor lamp that would run on any COM
mercial electric circuit.
Because Of the presence Of mercury in the
lamp. It is necessary to keep the tube at
definite temperature. as any variation in
causes q variation in the dem |
sity of the mercurial vapor. which in turn
causes &. variation in the conductivity of the
vsHsr
Tie "interrupter' in wireless telegraphy
VIII take the place Of the spark gap, which
has always been the source OF greatest ar
noyance. In order to have perfectly tuned
between two wireless telegraph
stations It is necessary that the waves pro-
duced by the electrical discharge should al
ways he IDENTICAL which means that the
discharge must be made under identical
conditions.
WHERE INTERRUPTER COMES IN.
The ordinary method of discharging the
current. besides producing an uncomfort-
able noise and fash. requires constant atten-
ton to the condition Of the discharging sur
faces and the maintenance Of an equal tenn
perature at all times With perfect spark
gap much better results can be produced.
Some experiments have been made in the
stimulation Of plant growth by means Of the
light. Plants that were started under ex-
actly similar conditions grew much more
rapidly under the influence of the light than
those which were grown in simple daylight.
These experiments were conducted In Mr..