Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-11-07
George Westinghouse, 6erc of
a Romance in Real rife

Westinghouse Immediately removed
to Pittsburg, where he became a sales
man for Alexander & Woods, a steel
casting firm, that took up the rerail.
ing frog and made it a success.
The idea of the air brake came to
the young man in this same year. In
one of his trips between Schenectady
and Troy he witnessed a bad train
wreck-a head on collision on piece
of straight track The danger had
been seen by the engineers in good
time, but the hand brakes could not
be set soon enough to avert the dis
aster. Westinghouse began to study
out a device by which the brakes
could be controlled from the engine
cab.
Air Drill Gives Idea for Brake.
First he tried automatic brakes at
tached to the couplers, then he tried
steam, but all to no avail. Finally one
day he picked up magazine aud read
of the use of compressed air in driving
the drills that were cutting the Mont
Cents tunnel out of solid rock.
i've got it," he exclaimed, tossing
asIue the magazine and beginning to
sketch rapidly the plans of the applica-
ton of compressed air to railway
train brakes.
1t was difficult to get a trial for his
invention, but finally Ralph Bagley
guaranteed the payment of the foundry
bill for the first apparatus, which was
insta4.ud on the Steubenville accommo-
dation train. 1t received its initial
trial unexpectedly. AS the train
rounded a curve the engineer saw a
wagon wedged between the tracks
some distance ahead. The advertised
time for the trial of the airbrakes had
not arrived. 1t was too late to stop
the train by hand brakes the skepti-
cal engineer turned on the air in des-
peration. The passengers We're
thrown out of their seats by the shock,
but-a wreck was averted.
| The crude device, which was an old
Worthington pump, was finally per,
fected and adopted on the Panhandle.
The Pennsylvania followed suit, and
then all the railroads rushed into line.
The young inventor organized the
Westinghouse Air Brake company
with himself, at the age of %, as presi
dent and general manager. The next
four years became phenomenal cam
paign of craftsmanship conducted by
the young president, and ending with
the introduction of the device abroad.
Westinghouse worked necessarily on
1.-THE improvement of his invention until
| he brought it to the perfection in
which it is known throughout the
world today.
! Credits an Invention TO Wife.
Westinghouse developed the trans
mission Of natural gas through pipes,
but he gives the credit to Mrs. West
inghouse. The wife of the inventor
wanted gas in her Pittsburg house
and Westinghouse began experiment
| ing with well in the back yard. Gas
was struck and as result Of his ex
/ periments he perfected a scheae to
bring gas to the big manufacturing
centers in small pipes at high pres
sure and distribute it in large pipes
in that way reducing the pressure to
the safety point. He put an end to
the disastrous explosions, leaks, and
"bIowoffs.''
The inventor next turned his atten-
ton to electricity. One day he read
of the experiments being made by
the English electricians, GoHlard and
Gibbs, with the alternating current
by which electrical energy could be
sent long distances. Westinghouse
at once dispatched Franklin Pope to
| England to buy the American rights
to the invention. This done, he
seized on the idea, developed it, AMI
from that time dates the great strides
made in the use of electrical current.
Electric lighting became universal
within a few years, the trolley ear
appeared, and electricity began to
turn the wheels of great factories. All
these things were made possible by
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