Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-04-11

A hundred years ago I'm expert
menting with electrical phenomena
many luminous effects we're noted by
the experlmenters and physicists, but
the actual history of electric lighting,
so far as the public Is concerned,
dates back only TO 1875. In this
brief space of time the industry has
developed and grown beyond imagi-
nation until today there are thou
sands of central stations and isolated
plants and millions OF lamps scatter
ed over the entire earth. The Gen
eral Electric company alone has
placed 175, 900, 900 incandescent and
nearly a million arc lamps on the
market since 1880, the year Thomas
A. Edison invented the first success
ful incandescent lamp, and now
manufactures incandescent lamps at
the rate of 21,O00,O00 year.
The Arc Lamp.
Sir Humphrey Davy, of London
was the first to experiment in cleo
trlc lighting with any definite object
in view. The dynamo was then un-
dreamed of and chemical batteries
we're In general use. Davy construct
ed battery of 1000 cells, the largest
then in use, and In 1S09-10 demon
started the first crude arc light. He
attached pieces OF charcoal to the
terminals of his batteries and when
these crude carbons we're brought
near TO each other a bright spark
was produced aud more than half
the volume of charcoal became
ignited to whiteness and by with
drawing the points from each other
a constant discharge took place
through the heated air producing q
most brilliant ascending arc OF light.
For over thirty years, or until the
discovery of the dynamo, the arc
light thus described was an expen-
sive experiment. In 1874 a French
scientist hit upon the plan of using
the deposits In gas retorts In place
OF the charcoal and produced tho
first steady and continuous light. In
the meantime Prof. b. A. Stillman.
Jr.. and DR.. H. Goode were expert
menting along the same lines In the
laboratory at Yale college.
About the same time Foucault's
light was exhibited publicly in Paris
and its availability was being dis.
cussed for lighting streets and build
ings. Tho fact that batteries were
stlll in use and that the lamps had
to be regulated by hand discouraged
the plan OF general use. The first
practical use OF the new illumina-
ton was during the presentation OF
the opera Moses" at the Paris
opera house when an electric sun"
shed It's beams upon the stage. The
hrst out OF doors Illumination was
when Deleull placed n lamp on the
knees OF the statute OF woman
typlfying the town OF Lille. Other
lamps were soon on exhibition I'm
Paris, The frst public exhibition OF
lamps In England was made by Il. Il.
Static. at Sunderland, and during the
next four years other exhibitions fol.
lowed In lS45 Thomas Wright, OF
London, devised lamp In which the
carhons were automatically adjusted
In his lamps the carbons were cut
In discs and reyolyed slowly 10y clock
work as fast as the carbon was con
sumod.
Wright's adjusting invention was
followed by those OF Straithe la
iS47, Fouoault In lSi9. serrin In
1857 aud Duboscq In 1855 The las,
named made what is spoken OF as the
first real arc lamp. In 1855 Ia
Cassagne and Thiers. OF France.
brought out their FIRST regulator pat
ents which employed column OF
mercury and two separate electro.
magnets 10 life and feed the car
bons With this apparatus they light.
ed the Quai des Celestins. at Lyons,
In June OF that year, Better car
bon was soon substituted aud the
quality OF light improved. subject TO |
the limitations of batteries as
source OF current.
The modern period OF are lighting |
depeding upon dynamos as sources
Of current is credited 20 the work
ot z. r. Gramme. a Belgian inyon-
tor, residing In Paris. His first pat
emit was taken out in 1879 and his
hrst dynamo electric machine was