The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-04
4 NIGHTLY GENIE.

was only condensing, as we might ex- press 1t. something that had been dim- iy existing in the minds of wise men for many ages. More than twenty five centuries ago the old Greek phi- losopher, Thales. rubbing a piece of amber on his sleeve. saw a faint glim- mer of electric action. but he knew little more than the fact that amber rubbed on a rough cloth would pro- duce a peculiar effect. The Greek word for amber was "Electron' and from that we have electricity as the mod ern name for the subtle fluid.
 We have often wondered. when read ing the story of Aladdin and his won- derful lamp. whether the author had not some idea of electricity. When Aladdin rubbed his lamp the genie ap- peared and was ready to give him anything he wanted When Thales rubbed his piece of amber he almost touched the genie, but did not quite bring him to view. Did the author or the Arabian Nights have electricity in his mind when he made the rubbing or tae lamp produce such wonderful re- sults9
 But it remained for the old philoso- pher of the New World, Franklin. to actually realize what was apparently hinted at by the Arabian writers. He sent his kite up Into thunder-cloud. attached to a silken cord on which was hung a key. When he touched that key with his knuckles and felt the shock and saw the spark he real ly called up and made visible the ge- nie which was afterwards to become one of the wonders of the world. Franklin with his kite and key de- monstrated that the lightning is dis charge of electricity.
 And yet. such was the apathy, in- difference or want of progressiveness of the world that in spite of the ex- periments of Franklin and other phi losophers of both the Old and New Worlds almost a century passed after the kite incident before the discovery was put to any real use. 1t was in 1s44, If we remember correctly. that Morse put in operation the first cleo tric telegraph line in this country Ana even after 1t was thus demonstrated that the subtle fluid could be controH- ed and made useful the progress was slow. It doesn't require very aged person to remember the first electric lights and the first application of cleo tricity as a power producer.
 The Boston Globe thus refers to what we may look on as one single days results of electrical develop ment:
 A lawyer. for instance. boards trolley car driven by electric motors, in dark weather electrically iHuInl- tric heaters The morning paper. almost certainly printed by electrieal!y driven presses, contains news collect ed from all parts of the world by teie- graphic messages, flashed over stni iand; across space by systems of wireless telegrapny. In this paper the lawyer in the car reads of electric achieve ments in arts and sciences. He con suits the news of the market as re- ported by the electric stock ticker. He can obtain a forecast or the weather from the reports of the various cleo tric devices in use in weather bureaus. In the police and court records he reads the proceedings of the trials Of criminals in all parts of the world, many of whom were detected and ar rested through the electric purg- lar alarm and electric light. and the final punishment of some by the electric chair. He is lifted to his office by an elevator ope- rated by electricity, He telephones by electricity and makes aG appoint as he does so he is cooled by an elec- trtc fan.
 And yet even that Is but a small part of what Is going on in this busy age. On the docks of the large cities immense electric engines are operat- ing cranes and other apparatus for hoisting freight from the holds of the great ships. On the streets of towns and cities are loaded passenger cars driven by electricity. and all over the land thousands of machines in the mills and factories, driven by the same power, attest by their constant whir and busS the mighty energy of that genie which was first introduced to the world as a legendary fiction in the tales of the Arabian Nights. and later appealed to the ear of Thales."
 Anu tue SHh 10 HUI SCtS II bAASAS AS an end, for no one may yet predict the ultimate availability of this mighty force. Inventions and discoveries fol- low each other in such rapid succession that we are sOmetimes inclined to think that we are but on the threshold of electric development. It may be possible that some new power will be discovered in the future which will supersede this, as this has largely talk en the place of animal and steam power. but even if that the possibilities--or certainties-of cleo tricity are not yet exhausted History tells us how steam power was develop ed. what a struggle 1t had. and how 1t has advanced from the crude ma chimes of Watt and Fulton and steph- enson to the mighty engines of the present, and the newer power is follow ing the game road. What has been done is wonderful, but what is yet un- accomplished is beyond prediction or imagination. Great and powerful Is the mighty genie, Electron.
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