The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-06-26
DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICITY

DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICITY
To watch the whirriug wheels of the
mammoth generators, motors and
other electrical mechanism In the mod
ern power house makes it almost i'm.
possible to believe that the history of
modern electrical development is only
about 25 years old, although electric.
ity was known to the ancients many
thousands of years ago.
From authentic record it appears
that the loadstone was discovered by
the Chinese as long ago az 26OO B. c.,
although they made no practical use
of the discovery. The first electricity
intentionally generated was produced
by the Greeks about the year 800 B.
C. 10 polishing amber for ornamental
purposes. 1t was soon noticed that ii
q piece of amber vas rubbed with silk,
it became possessed of q peculiar
power which it did not have before. II
was not until some years later known
as electricity. At first, according to
the ancient superstition, the myster-
ious force was looked uponlas magic.
1t was long known that the loadstone
would attract pieces of iron, but it
was not until 1900 A. D. that man dis.
covered that it would point north and
south If suspended and allowed to
swing freely. Several nations dis.
covered this phenomena about the
same time, but the first practical use
of the compass was made in 1902, when
Columbus discovered America-the
home Of electricity. AS there was no
other method of obtaining magnets
other than rubbing the steel on the
loadstone, all the early Ocompasses
we're made in this way.
1t was in the year 1852 BenIFranklin
sent up his kite and told the world
that electricity generated by rubbing
amber, glass and sulphur "a the
same as the lightning in the sky. This
discovery inspired the n%scientists of
that day to give a great deallIof time
and attention to the study of electric
ity, and Franklin has since been
called the originator OF the science of
electricity.
A new method of generating electric.
ity by chemical action was discovered
by Volta in 1893. Tradition has it
that he one day hung some frog legs
on an iron hook in front of his house.
The acids in the flesh acted upon the
iron and, dripping upon a copper
railing just underneath, generated
chemical electricity which caused the
muscles in the legs to witch every
time they Strengthened out and touched
the copper. Studying this problem
he used copper and zinc plates sepa
rated by wet cloths for the first chemi
cal battery, and a few years later /
was discovered thai a steady curren
of electricity could be developed b!
submerging the zinc and copper plate.
in an acid bath. In 1900 Sir Humph
rey Davy made the largest battery il
the world, one Of 1000 cells, and OBJ
tanned a current of sufficient strength
TO make a strong arc when the wire
carrying the electricity were sepa
rated just a triQe. From this simple
experiment was born the arc light o
today. Soon after this it was foun,
that a number of turns of insulated
wire around u soft ron bar produced
a magnet when the current was !urne'
on, and thereafter it was no longe
necessary to utilize the old loadstones
In 1882 Faraday discovered that If
coil Of wire was brought near a mag
net a current of electricity was gener
ated. From this simple eXperimeu
the great dynamos and generators G
today were evolved. So in 600 B. {
electricity was generated by friction
in 1893 a. d. by chemical action, an
in 1882 a. d. from magnetism.
Thus in brief is the history of ele,
tricity. 1t was long in coming, bl
the progress in its development durin
the last few years by the Gener,
Electric company and other concern
seems little short Of the magic fir
associated with the hidden force
the ancient Greeks. Little did The
dream OF the force and power with
their grasp, and it is even hard for
today to associate the little loadsto'
with the mammoth 1900 horsepow
generators Of New York and ChicaI
power houses. or the 1000 horsepOw