Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-19

phone belonging to the man he wants to
talk to rings and summons the latter to
action. After the conversation is over both
gentlemen hang up their receivers, the con-
nectfon Is broken, and somebody else can
use the wire. 1t Is impossible for stupid
people to understand how It is done, but
anybody can do 1t II he has sense enough
to punch the dial.
Prof. Grey's Telautograph.
The telautograph of the late Professor
Elisha Grey of Chicago which was exhib-
tied at the Columbian exposition, may be
found in the government building here,
with several important improvements, al
though it has not yet become commercial
success By this means autographs may be
transmitted by wire-that is, If a gentleman
sits down in his office with stylus in his
hand and writes message upon an electric
cylinder at one end of a wire, a pen at
the other end will record a fac-simile of the
MESA ge-every letter autocratic dupl1-
cate of the original.
A similar machine called the Poulsen
telegraphone will record automatically on a
moving steel wire message sent through
telephone, and at any time afterward that
message be repeated in the voice OF
the sender if the wire is connected with a
telephone This invention has not yet re-
ceived commercial recognition, but its in
ventors are very Sangune that when 1t is
better known 1t will be accepted as public
necessity and FILL long-felt want. Its
sent over a telephone during ones absence
The inventor however, sees in 1t great util-
ty for news service, because single oper-
ator, at a central point like Washington.
may send the same message to dozen or
forty different editorial rooms, where 1t
may be taken off the wire afterward and
recorded at leisure. He thinks 1t will be
quite as useful in that way as the phono-
graph in debating letters.
An Electrical Restaurant.
Over in the New York state building is
an electrical restaurant. All the food Is
cooked by electricity. There is no fire or
steam, but bread and cake are baked,
steaks are broiled, coffee is cooked and
joints are roasted by heat that comes over
a wire from the main electricity building.
The manager explains that this method of
cooking is considerably more expensive
than by the old-fashioned way of using
wood or coal, but it is very much neater
and superior in other respects. he says
that it will broil quicker and more evenly
and will bake and roast in half the time
of an ordinary range. He recommends II
to families that live in apartment houses
and are struggling with the servant girl
problem. The cost of installation Is con-
siderably greater than that of an ordinary
range and the cost of maintenance Is con-
siderably more than wood or coal, but IN
manufacturing towns where there Is plenty
of water power and electricity is cheap II
may be more economical.
Professional electricians take great inter-
est in comparing the European exhibits
with those of the United States, and while
there is difference Of opinion as to the
comparative Importance and novelty of sew
eral, every one is forced to admit that for
practical utilities we are far in advance OF
every other nation although Germany may
have gone further in experimental work
and England and Austria in high-speed cleo
tri ctransportat ton. l understand the street
railway system of Budapest. Hungary, is
%l,,%
lines in England, lately built are in ad-
vance of anything in the United States.
This is, however. very recent, and the re-
ports concerning them are yet a little vague
and uncertain.
Development in England.
England has been far behind all other
nations in electric transportation until
within the last two or three years, and 1t
Is possible that her street car men have
made a squirt and run ahead Of both Ger
man and American enterprise. At least
that claim is made by her exhibitors in the
electrical department at this exposition,
and they insist that the exhibit of a model
of mono-rail system, now being built be-
tween Liverpool and Manchester, represents
the greatest triumph ever won In that d.
rection.
1t is proposed to run trains between those
two cities-a distance of thirty-four miles
Al twenty VI Twenty-Five minutes, that is,
at the rate of about 100 miles an hour
There will be no way stations and no stops.
Inc car has ordinary trucks and wheels and
runs upon ordinary rails, but so lightly that
there Is very little friction or resistance
The wheels and rails are intended only to
steady 1t and prevent vibration. The power
is transmitted through a third rail sup
ported by framework of steel which en-
circles the car. The car hangs from this
third rail by a series of wheels which do
the business.
In their experimental tests the Germans
have attained a much higher rate of speed
than any of our American car builders but
have not utilized it for practical purposes
upon the testing tracks their electric trains
make ninety, hundred and even 125 miles
an hour, but the regular trains that carry
passengers throughout the German empire
seldom make more than ten miles an hour
ana IN the streets OF the cities they are lin
tied to four and five miles