Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-12-11
EDISON PEEPS AT FUTURE.
Sees Imminent Revolution in World of
Activity.

| ACIivlSys
| New York, Dec. lin the opinion
| of Thomas A. Edison, wonders are yet
to be unfolded in the world Of electric
| ity.
I'VE are cropping on the verge of an
other great epoch in the worlds his
tory" he said in an interview today
at his laboratory in West Orange. 1T
would not surprise me any morning TO
wake up and learn that some one, some
group of the 100000 scientific men who
are Investigating all over the earth. has
seized upon the secret of electricity by
direct process, and begun another prac-
teal revolution in human affairs
"It can be done 1t will be done. l
expect to see it before I die"
",rhe first great change in the pro-
duction of electricity will abolish car
rying coal fer that purpose" he said.
! Instead of digging gross material out
of the earth, loading it on cars, and
! CARRYING it, say 500 miles, there to put
it under a boiler and burn, and so get
power, we shall set up plants at the
mouths of mines, generate power there.
and transmit it wherever 1T is needed
by copper wire.
IL Is pTePOSleIOuS w hSSP vi ~
ting coal mines on wheels. 1t is too
clumsy. 1t is too costly. There is no
necessity for it.
cit is easier to carry molecular VI
bration by millions of waves a second
than freight cars full of crude matter.
We can ship 100000 horse power over
the wire quicker and more economic
ally than we can send the equivalent
in coal over railroad track.
eve must eliminate the railroad alto
geti1er from this problem. What's the
use of it? We don't want coal any
how. It does us no good to look at It.
What we want is the resultant OF the
utmost energy that can be produced.
And there is no sense in carrying
around millions Of tons Of raw mater
ials like coal when we can get pro-
duct delivered to us by Wire
Everything points to the fact tnat
in the near future electricity will be
produced for general consumption Dy
great power houses at the mouths OF
coal pits. That is the logical and COM
mon sense outcome Of present events
Nov, the truth Is that 1t will COST
third less to transport electrical
power by wire than to carry 1t in the
form Of coal in railroad cars. Assume
the price of coal to be 81 at the mouth
of a mine, and assume the freight to
be s1.9O. Now, we can turn coal into
electricity at the mine and convey It
by wire by less than half OF the cost
of the freightage Of coal.
electricity will take the place OF
horses. 1t will solve the vehicle and
traffic problem Of cities. Ny new cleo
trio storage battery itself will make
electricity cheaper than horses. In the
spring we will ne ready to furnish new
batteries Not only will they take
half the space of horse traffic but they
will go twice as fast. They can be
stored on upper floors by means of ele-.
vators The saving of stable space In
New York will cover at least 100000
900 worth of property.
mot only will electric power be de-
veloped and distributed from coal
mines in the future but all the water
power In the world will be used for
the production Of electricity. That
movement has begun and is advancing
rapidly. In California, where men have
nerve enough to overcome habit, they
are transmitting electric power 275
miles by wire and running street cars
and lighting cities by it. That is the sort
of spirit that will wake the world up
one Of these days. wish that spirit
in California would spread every
where"