Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-05-22

Inc nineteenth century was the cell
fury of steam: It saw the develop.
ment Of steam manufacturing and OF
steam transportation. The twentieth
century will see the end of both. The
title given 1t, which it was expected
would be worn by a long line of sue
cessors, will remain unique in history.
1t was said that the nineteenth cen
fury would rank with the fifteenth cen
fury as one Of those periods in which
human knowledge makes wonderful adj
vancement, followed by a period Of rest
and unconscious preparation for an
other bound forward. Instead, after
the wonderful nineteenth century comes
the more wonderful twentieth. There
are four rivals, Of which one may or
may not destroy the others, but which
all combined will surely destroy steam
as the worlds motive power. The RI
walls are gas, electricity directly trans
mitted by wire or pulsations of the
ether, stored electricity, and compress
ed air. The patentee Of the gasoline
automobile was derided twenty years
ago for his explosion buggy" but he
has had the satisfaction Of living to see
his invention used throughout the
world. One European power is expert
menting with gas engines to propel
battleships Economy of space, greater
radius of action, more powerful en-
gines are promised by the supporters
Of the gas engine. Gas motors have
been used in an experimental way on
railroad lines with success. The pow
ers Of nature are being harnessed to
create electricity. There are towns in
the United States which are lighted by
falling water many miles away, and
tunnels through which trains are pro-
PEELED by the power Of mountain tor
rents overhead Electricity Is made by
the use Of coal to heat water and make
steam, but scientists are believed to be
on the verge of the discovery of a way
to omit that step In the process and
make the electricity directly from the
coal. Electricity affords way to util-
lie the power Of the suns rays In the
unclouded southwest, the recurring
tides Of the Atlantic coast, and the
steady winds of the plains. The TWEEN
tieth century will probably see the per-
lection Of the process of transmitting
electric power through the air without
wires, and cheap, light, portable stor
age batteries are spoken Of by Thomas
Edison as about ready for the market.
Compressed air and liquid air have not
yet been used as much as they proba-
bly, will be in the near future, but al
ready they have proved effective IN va
rious ways. The twentieth century may
find some way to utilize the tremend-
Gus and apparently inexhaustlble ener-
gy Of radium, and may find a large
supply of that mysterious metal, or
may discover some new thing more
startling and more common. AS the
invention Of the automobile has re-
stored the old post roads to favor and
made serious inroads into the receipts
OF some railroads, so motor launches
are making deserted rivers highways
again, and increasing the demand for
inland waterways. Many of the barges
on the canalized Rhine have been
equipped with gas engines, and this is
found to be cheaper and better than
other means of propulsion. One hun
dred years ago the Clermont steamed
up the Hudson. The year 1907 will not
see the end Of the steamboat, but a flu
ture age will look back to the begin
ming Of the twentieth century as the
end Of the age Of steam.