The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-02-05

Franklin was probably the first to
institute our present methods of trac-
Ing and recording storms from point
to point, and his investigation sof the
Gulf Stream, for the first time using
thermometric means of verification,
were of great value to navigators. No
strange occurrence or natural phe-
nomenon was allowed to pass with
out investigation by the best means
at his command. Thus his friend
Priestley, in making public the ac-
count of his discovery of oxygen, at
the same time published letter from
FRANKLIN telling of an inflammable
gas found In certain American rivers,
known to-day as marsh gas.
Franklin's studies in electricity
were, however, carried out farther and
more thoroughly than his various ac-
tivities permitted him to do with other
branches of knowledge, and upon his
electrical Investigations rest his great
claims to fame as a scientist. His in
PRODUCTION to this branch of science.
then beginning actively to engage the
attention of men of learning in Eu-
rope, was through DR.. Spence of
Boston, who possessed some crude ap-
paratus and was acquainted with the
work that had been done abroad.
Franklinss interest was at once
aroused, and his natural inclination
to philosophic study of this charac-
ter soon induced him to make cleo
trical research one of the prime OBJ
jects of his life, and hobby which
ne did not relinquish until his death.
Collinson, the English agent of the
Library of Philadelphia, and the per-
sonal friend of Franklin, supplied him
with existing English literature on the
subject, and soon sent him DIR. Wat
sons book, as we'll as one of the tubes
used in the experiments. Franklin
eagerly took up the closer study of
electrical phenomena. and in 1747,
with three others. Kinnersley, Hop
kinson, and Sing. conducted the ia
nous Philadelphia experiments"
showing the effect of pointed bodies
both in drawing off and throwing off
electrical fire." 1t is almost certain
that In these investigations Frank
lin copied very little from the Euro
pean Investigators; In fact, his scien-
tifict surroundings in America almost
precluded this possibility. In all
probability, he at this time renvented
the static electrical machine for his
own use. His splendid fertility of re-
tsource and unf1agging energy are
demonstrated in no better way than
In these experiments, crude, hamper
ed by insufficient apparatus and ig-
norance of what had already been
} done, but even so, outstripping the
work of the best continental scien-
lists.
Franklin evolved the electric fluid
theory acceptable to the non-mathe-
NAUTICAL mind almost to our day. His
work with the Leyden jar was classic,
and wit hhis experiments begins the
forging of the link between this and
the voltaic cells.
In 174S he decided to retire from
public life and business, to devote his
entire time to electrical study and
research. With this purpose in view
he sold his newspaper, almanac, and
printing house, and the result of this
sale, with the fortune he had previ-
ously amassed, enabled him to settle
down to conduct his experiments I'M
hampered by lack of time, until again
called into public activity a few years
later. The work on the Leyden jar
was continued with marked success,
and at this time Franklin was I'M
doubtedly in advance of most foreign
electricians. He conceived and used
the arrangement of electrical sources
in series, a method hitherto unknown.
Further, he made the important dis
covery, and proved it, that the charge
of the jar lies near the surface of the
glass itself and not in the metal as
had been believed.
Unquestionably, his greatest success
was in proving that lightning is an
electrical phenomenon. AS early as
1746. John Freke, Scotchman, fol-
lowed by other scientists, formulated
this hypothesis. and unsuccessfully
attempted it's proof In all probable
ity, Franklin did not know much about
these other theories, and his concep-
ton of the identity appears to have
come to him early in his investiga-
tons. during certain of which he
painstakingly observed and noted all
the characteristics apparently COM
mon to a flash of lightning and an
electric spark. In 174S he sent to
Collinson his two famous communica-
tons, making known his belief in this
identity. Outlined in these letters
was thory OF the causes of atmos-
pheric electricity, ingenious though
incorrect, which he soon abandoned.
He continued his experiments through
the summer. and in July of the fol-
lowing year he again sent long COM
munication to Collinson, giving an ac-
count of the experiments in which the
invention of the lightning rod is set
forth, and outlining a plan for prov
ing that lightning and electricity are
of the same character. Collinson rec
ognized the value of the account, and
attempted to secure its publication in
the Journal of the Royal Society.
The society was not we'll disposed to-
ward Franklin, and refused to enter
tain the idea. Cave, the great Lon
dom publisher, denied the letter space
in his Gentleman's Magazine, but con-
sented to print it in book form. This
was done, and the publication in 1851
was soon followed by French trans
lation. The importance of the expert
ments was recognized in France; and
while Franklin, continuing his inves-
LEGATIONS, was pondering on how to
conduct his projected lightning-rod
test himself, he learned that it had
been successfully carried out by
French savants. How this had been
done he did not know. He was only
ACQUAINTED with the hare fact of the