Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-25

The eve. accustomed to the subtle and
beautiful illumination achieved in the last
decade, finds tawdry the red and blue
| sparks that once delighted it.
Despite the retrogression from oil to gas,
from gas to arc, the instinct of the race,
urged by the tortured retina, was already
cropping it's way towards the glowing sur
face. Those who could AFFORD the most bril-
liant atrocities Of glare reverted again and
again to the candelabrum, an aged smoky,
smelly device that yet distributed thirty
candle-power over thirty points instead Of
gathering them into one. To distribute the
light and lessen the glare, gas flames and
arc lamps We're surrounded with ground
glass. The attempt was primitive; it soft
ened the light by weakening it, distributed
one-half and absorbed the other; but il
expressed the craving for glow years be-
fore the advent OF the man with whom this
craving became conscious.
| Edison and stierInger.
While Edison was perfectng the mean
| descent light he was doing a greater service
| for illumination in the training of Luther
Stieringer. Like his master, Stieringer was
a genius, full Of brilliant, daring concep-
! tons; unlike his master, a creative artist
| compelled by keen sense of beauty I'm
like his master, he could not follow out his
conceptions into all the details of applica-
ton, but depended for the execution of his
half-shaped schemes on the collaboration
of gifted young executive, Henry Rustin
Stieringer was called to light the Chicago
exposition. No one who saw the iIlumina-
/ ton Of the Court OF Honor will forget the
! impression it made. 1t was a totally new
I thing, an achievement OF startling progress
\ and promise. The light that the Centennial
| had concentrated into violet glares was
softly distributed in yellow incandescents.
From that time till his death Stieringer
! lighted all the American expositions. and
| lit each better than the last. At Atlanta
| he developed the idea of using water as a
reflector, which he had suggested in Chi
cago, till the lagoons of the exposition were
all aglow. And he continued his effort for
even. thorough distribution of light, cut
down the size of his incandescents and in
creased their number. At Nashville he
weakened them and multiplied them again.
Here he conceived the idea of light har-
mony He would not allow two kinds OF
light, of clashing color or discordant in
tensty. such as the arc and the incandes-
cent, in the same vista.
AT Omaha he refined on this idea to the
point Of refusing to admit two incandes-
cents of different voltage in one vista. And
at this point he turned from the method
OF lighting that had been In use since the
first ape-man kindled the first fire to a
totally new one. He began to show things,
not lights; to do, not lighting, but light
painting. He hid his lights and threw their
radiance on the buildings, bringing out
their architectural ornament in bold relief,
4or painting them LUMINOSITY in broad
washes OF white and black. At the Phila-
delphia Export exposition-in 1899. his next
effort he gave up lighting altogether and
did nothing but paint buildings with lights
Then he went to Paris, to see the most
artistic OF nations light its great exposi-
ton in 1900. He turned away I'm regret
Lighting was not one Of the things they
do better in France France, as we noted
was short OF kerosene. It's trades were
! still taught by apprenticeship. It's artists
were the foremost, its artisans the hind
, most of the world. It's exposition buildings
we're covered with exquisite mural paint
ings, and lit with primitive barbarism
Lights OF different colors and intensities
glared and fought in every vista. The
browning glory of the illumination. the
great Chateau Eau reverted 10 the print.
tive simplicity OF the magic lantern, Il
was a transparency, lit from within.
stieringer returned TO the Pan-AmericaT
exposition AT Buffalo 10 teacn the ROrlC
lesson in lighting. on the shifting foun,
tains he threw subtly blending lights that
? made the Chateau d Eau look like th'
colored bottles I'm tho chemists window
On the buildings he used lights Of fou
candle power, mere glow-worm sparks, b!
D thousands and thousands, all hidden. Thu
I buildings themselves lit tho exposition
3 They rose against the sky. great glowing
= masses OF chiaroscuro-luminous archi'ec
(: ture-music not quite frozen.
The Tower Of Light was his masterpiece
3 While It's lights were slowly turned on an,
? II became gradually visible In its soft radi
s ance, thousands every night stood rapt, o
! cheered themselves hoarse, in a spOntane
3 Gus enthusiasm. a vague delight, that the!
r could not explain. Unconsciously the!
, were expressing the triumph OF the nov
3 principle, the deliverance OF the eye iron
} the bondage Of glare.
e Then stieringer 3ed
Rustin's Iu-HeaIth.
Rustin, worn out by the Pan-Americal
! exposition. fed TO a milder climate will
( tuberculosis. and when the 81. Louis ex
!. position. with its vastly increased VISTA
e and perspectives, called into existence new
D problems in lighting, to which the oil
methods were inadequate, there was NJ
{ one to meet them. ST. Louis lapsed int
bright point lighting, aud Portland. thOugi
it's vistas were smaller and some Of IL