Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-12-28


appeal to men. Well. Henry Willard came
over to visit me and 1 showed him the
railway. explained its advantages over
every point Of view.
- offered to sell that electric railway
and all my patents and rights of every
Kind for exactly the amount of money 1t
had cost me to produce it--just $4,000
MIR. Willard got a lot OF capitalists to-
gethcr-some of the brainiest and most
experienced men in Wall street--and I ex-
planned the thing to them, and they
solemnly, and then, what do you think
they refused to touch it in any shape or
form, on the ground that there was moth
ing in the idea of an electric railway--ab.
solutcly no future for it,
The brows were raised; nostrils ex-
banded, and the wide shoulders trembled
with suppressed mirth. The gray eyes
blinkcd merrily.
well. that staggered me for . while.
| seemed to have lost every cent / had
spent In the experiment. could not
make any impression on those men.
NEW EDISON BATTERY.
"Yot, look around you today Look
all over the countryi Look all over the
world and find me . country In which
there are not electric railwaysi Electric
railways have been among the great de-
velopers OF modern civilization. They
have transformed the centers Of human
population. Hundreds Of millions of dol
lars have been invested in them and hun
dreds of thousands Of men are engaged
in operating them. And only twenty-fi five
years ago a body Of picked. bright Amer
lean capitalists could see nothing in the
idea. although it had been developed to
n practical. physical demonstration right
here in New Jersey.
ELECTRICITY will take epiace of horses
1t Will solve the vehicle traffic problem
in cities. My new electric storage battery
itself will make electricity cheaper than
horses. You see the new factory going
UP ont there? Well, in the spring we
will be ready to furnish the new bat
terics. Not only will they mean half the
space of horse traffic, but they will &c
twice as fast. They can be stored on
upper floors by means of elevators. Tho
saving of stable space in New York city
will cover at least 500. 900 900 of property
Another thing in the future: Wireless
telegraphy will enable us to reach any
ship in any sea. That is a certainty.
Not only will electric power be de-
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
overcome habit. they are transmitting
electric power 275 miles by wire and run
nicy 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 the spirit of California would spread
everywhere.
600 down South and you will find wa
ter power being turned into electricity
for mills in all directions.
"rherc are millions Of horse power to
be picked up in the waters Of the United
States for practically q song. It is on,
of the worlds greatest opportunities
this chance to convert water power into
electricity. and distribute it to the points
where it is needed.
when you come to think that one
horse power is equal to twenty-five men
and that water power changed into cleo.
trica energy in practically perpetual
the investment being simply for the
original pant-you get some idea of tho
Importance OF the changes that the
world is bound to see. changes that have
already begun and are we'll under way.
Mr.. Edison stood up and looked
through the mists of his laboratory at
the little tongues Of flame Pickering in
the wilderness of fantastic glass Jars
and tubes.
But even this is only the first step,
he said.
What do you see in the ultimate flu
ture, Mr. Edison?''
He shook his white head and sat down
That's big question. a mighty big
question"
SIS radum TO bring solution of TIL,
worlds physical problems"'
mo: | don't look for much from radiur
| in itself. | think it will prove to b,
| more Of an agent of investigation. 1t viii
! help us to understand tho nature of mat
| ter and energy. We are all at sea now
We have theories. hut there are tor
many exceptions to make the theorie,
absolutely reliable. We don't know
| actually what electricity is. There is tn,
| undulaton theory. We have plenty o
evidence to support each of these
theories bat then as / say, We have 81
many blamed exceptions that We can
not be sure. In working out the future
we must understand the nature of ou
subject and radium. I believe. will hell
us to do it.
| And there isn't much radium in th'
world, anyhow. You know ! am search
ing for it night and day. Well. out %
| $500 specimens Of ores we tested in Thu
| laboratory last week. only one contain
Cd radium. That shows hon scarce i
| is.
| From a practical stand point the mos
| tremendous thing in the problem of cleo
| tricity il the fact that We only gc
about L. per cent. of the energy of tn
coal We burn. Eiehty-fve per cent. goc
up the chimney.
| Now. if We could find n way to &c
| the energy out of the coal by som'
| direct process without wasting 81 pc
| cent of it, the result would be---
Mr.. EuisOn raised his hands. closed hi