The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-09-14
AIR TO ENRICH EARTH.

BALTIMORE, MD.
AIR TO ENRICH EARTH.
Thomas Edison gave to the New
York Ame,i6an recently the first in.
terview since his announcement or
his sixtieth birthday last February
that he had quit the career of a money
making inventor for that of scientist
For the rest of his life, he says, he
intends to devote allshis attention tc
scientific problems without thought
of whether or not their solution would
bring financial gain. The wizard dis.
cussed many of the mysteries into
which he was delving and prophesied
that, even though he might fail of a
solution, he firmly believed others
would triumph where he failed. Mr..
Edison, for example, made the pre-
diction that before long science would
enable the farmer to enrich his lands
by means of nitrogen from the air.
"The element necessary for making
land fertile" (" he said, is nitrogen,
which exists in almost inexhaustible
quantities in the atmosphere. Until
recently, however, the utilization ol
atmospheric nitrogen was regarded as
merely a laboratory demonstration.
Business men said it could never be
obtained cheap enough to sell to the
farmer as fertilizer.
''But the day is just about to dawn
when the air will be made to give its
nitrogen to the earth and to make il
yield more abundant harvests and fat
ter herds of cattle. In Norway a
plant has been established which has
been conducted with such good re-
es.its ti,at I IsAvrect RI cee atmospheric
fertilizer on the market in this country
within the next ten years.
"That such a product will soon be
imperatively necessary there is nc
doubt. Every shipload of wheat and
corn which goes abroad leaves the
United States so mitch poorer, not In
gold, but in nitrogen.
''Sir William Crookes, when he
was president of the British Associa'
ton for the advancement of science
prophesied that in another quarter ol
century the earth would be drained
of nitrogen to such a degree that there
would be. famine in many regions o.
the world. He may have taken toe
discouraging view of the subject, but
nevertheless his statement had true
basis of fact. At the present time the
bulk of the worlds supply of nitro
gen comes from the saltpeter beds o
South America, but these are being
dug up so fast it will not be very long
before they will be exhausted.
"Another scientific discovery which
1 expect to see before I die is the di
rect generation of electricity from
coal. Imagine what will be the con
sequences. Then locomotives will b.
thrown into the scrap heaps. Al
trains will be run by electricity. NJ
longer will coal be laboricusly trans
ported to the cities, but there will b.
great power plants established at tn,
mouths of the mines, from which th
electricity will be sent out over tn
country by wire.
"Tbere will be no horses in tn
streets, no stables, no flies. Wagon
will be propelled by electricity
Houses will be lighted entirely b,
electricity, for it will be so cheap
can be used by the humblest tene
ment dweller. Ships will no longe
be driven by steam. Electricity will
be their motive power. And then !
will be possible to cross the Atlanti
in three days.
cat the present time nineteenth
of the power obtained from coal is los
by the use of boilers, wheels and dyna
mos. With the direct generation c
the electrical current, therefore, tn
world will have ten times more energ
than now.''
When asked just what subject nov
engrossed his attention smile imme
diately lightened Mr.. Edison's boy
ish, sensitive face.
"The man who is studying a scier
i tifc problem" he replied, "can n
more talk of what he is doing tha
can the general of his plan of attac
on the eve of battle. The chief il
centive which prompts the scienti:
to labor toward certain goal is th
hope that he will be the first to reac
it. Therefore he does not care
make plain the road to others.
cit has been said, Mr.. Edison, yo
intended to take up the study of spoi
taneous life," said the reporter.
mo, 1 will leave that for M
Burke, was the prompt reply. eth;
is too mysterious for me, and yet, ft
that matter, it is no more strange tha
&C, 700 other things man may ol
serve"
Here the speaker paused and, lif
Ing a bit of paper from the table, i
| II drop.
.No man can explain why that p
per falls" he said. 'You may ca
It gravitation, but then I ask, 'Wh
is gravitation p No one can te
why the magnet attracts iron or stee
We are still ignorant of the true cha
] acter Of electricity. Indeed, to m