The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-11
VERGE OF
.lCTRIC EPOCH.
Will Soon See Direct Pro-
sss Of Power from Coal,
Says Edison.
Journal Special Service.

Journal Special Service. Is
New York, Dee. lin the opinion
Of Thomas A. Edison, wonders are yet
to be unfolded in the world of cleo
tricity. 9 .
g We are cropping on the verge Of
another great epoch in the worlds his
i tory he said in an interview at his
laboratory in West Orange, N. j. It
would not surprise me any morning to
wake up and learn that someone, some
group Of 100000 scientific men who are
investigating all over the group, has
seized upon the secret of electricity by
direct process and begun another prac-
tical revolution in human affairs.
SIT can be sdone; it will be done. |
expect to see it before die.
Abolish Coal Carrying.
The first great change in the pro-
duction of electricity will abolish car
rying; coal for 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 boiler and burn, and so get
4 power, we shall set up plants at the
mouths of mines, generate power there
and transmit it wherever it is needed
by copper wire. -
1t is preposterous to keep on put
ting coal mines on wheels. 1t is too
clumsy. It is too costly. There is no
molecular vibration by millions Of
waves a second than freight cars full
Of crude matter. We can ship 100000
horsepower over the wire quicker and
more economically than we can send
the equivalent in coal over railroad
track. e.
Eliminate the Railroad. 80
I'VE must eliminate the railroad al
together from this problem. What g
the use of it? We don't want coal
anyhow. It does US no good to look at
1t. What we want is the resultant of
the utmost energy that can be pro-
dueed. And there is no sense in car
rying around millions Of tons Of raw
material like coal when we can get
product delivered to us by wire.
Everything points to the fact that
in the near future electricity will be
produced for general consumption by
great powerhouses at the mouths of
coalpits. That is the logical and COM
nonsense outcome of present events.
Now, the truth is, that it will cost
third less to transport electrical power
by wire than to carry it in the form of
coal IN railroad cars. Assume the price
of coal to be 81 at the mouth Of the
mine and assume the freight to be
3 $I.90. Now. we can turn coal into cleo
tricity at the mine and convey it by
wire by less than half of the cost Of
the freightage of coal. p. t.
Away with Horses. !
ssElectricity will take the place of
horses. It will solve the vehicle and
traffic problem Of cities My new cleo
trio storage battery itself will make
electricity cheaper than horses In the
spring. we will be ready to furnish new
batteries. Not only will they take half
the space Of horse traffic, but they will
so twice as fast. They can be stored
on upper floors by means Of elevators.
The saving of stable space in New
York will cover at least. 5000, 900
worth of property. :> 50 -
Not only will electric power be de-
veloped and distributed from coal mines
In the future, but all the waterpower
In the world will be used for the pro-
duction 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 streetcars and
lighting cities by it. That is the sort
!. of spirit that will wake the world up
one Of these days. I wish that spirit
in California would spread every
where Ill.,.