Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-06-28
The Development Of Electricity

10 WAUGH tne WnlTTlnS WneelS vi tDe
mammoth generators, motors and other
electrical mechanism in the modern pow
er house makes it almost impossible to be-
lieve that the history of modern electrical
development is only about % years old al
though electricity was known to the an
clients many thousands of years ago.
From authentic record it appears that
the loadstone was discovered by the Chi
nese as long ago as 1900 BIC, although
they made no practical use of the discov-
cry. The first electricity intentionally
generated was produced by the Greeks
about year 600 B. in polishing amber for
ornamental purposes. 1t was soon noticed
that if piece of amber was rubbed with
silk it became possessed of peculiar
power which it did not have before. 1t
was not until some years later known as
electricity. At first, according to the
ancient superstition, the mysterious force
was looked upon as magic. 1t was long
known that the loadstone would attract
pieces of iron, but it was not until 1900
AID. that man discovered that it would
point north and south if suspended and
allowed to swing freely. Several nations
discovered this phenomena about the
same time, but the first practical use of
the compass was made in 1492, 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 compasses were made in this
way.
1t was in the year 1852 Ben Franklin
sent up his kite and told the world that
electricity generated by rubbing amber,
glass and sulphur was the same as the
lightning in the sky. This inspired the
scientists of that day to give great deal
of time and attention to the study Of cleo
tricity, and Franklin has since been called
the originator of the science of electricity
A new method of generating electricity
by chemical action was discovered by
Volta in 1898. Tradition has it that he
one day hung frog legs on an iron near
his house. The acids in the flesh acted
upon the iron and, dripping upon cop
per railing, just underneath, generated
chemical electricity which caused the
muscles in the legs to twitch every time
they Strengthened out and touched the
copper. Studying this problem, he used
copper and zinc plates separated by wet
cloths for the first chemical battery, and
few years later it was discovered that
steady current of electricity could be
developed by submerging the zinc and
copper plates in an acid bath. In 1900
Sir Humphrey Davy made the largest
battery in the world, one of 1000 cells,
and obtained current of sufficient
strength to make strong arc when the
wires carrying the electricity were sep
arated just trif1e. From this simple
experiment was born the arc light of to.
day. Soon after this it was found that a
number Of turns of insulated wire
around a soft iron bar produced a mag
net when the current was turned on
and there after it was no longer necessary
to utilize the old loadstones.
In 1882 Faraday discovered that if a
coil of wire was brought near a magnet
current of electricity was generated.
From this simple experiment the great
dynamos and generators of today were
evolved. So in 900 B. c. electricity was
generated by friction; in 1893 A. D. by
chemical action, and in 1882 A. D. from
magnetism.
Thus in brief is the history of electric
ity. 1t was long in coming, but the pro-
gress In its development during the last
few years seems little short of the magic
first associated with the hidden force by
the ancient Greeks. Little did they
dream of the force and power within
their grasp, and it is even hard for us to-
day to associate the little loadstone with
the mammoth $4,000 horsepower genera
tors Of New York and Chicago power