The Washington herald., 1908-02-06

monium. which makes music itself. is an
other marvellous invention in the cleo
trical world which is wonderful 20 the
lay mind, and which is 60 be- credited TO
the present decade. The new electric
lights that have come into existence
since the dawn Of the new century are
also evidences of unwonted progress.
and the I6-candlepower light. so long the
unit Of the lighting world, bids fair to
be retired from its vale of tears fore yer,
ia favor of a higher unit.
But not all the progress IN the field
Of invention and discovery mas been
made In the electrical world in the pres
eut deceunlaI period. The things that
have been done % promote the welfare
OF men during these ten years are more
than could be recouuted in many columns.
But perhaps one Of the most important
Of these viii prove 20 be the application
% coal o. the making 81 gas for gas
propelled engines. Careful tests by the
Geological Survey has shown that coal
Transformed into power through gas is
from two To three times more efficient
than that which uses steam as its me-
dllm 20 make power T. gines have
been perfected which viii run as stead
ily and even more safely with producer
gas than those which run by steam such
remarkable results have been attained
with the gas engine Of this type that
many manufacturers who make engines
could hardly believe that the gas engine
had so much more power per ton OF coal
used than the steam engine.
The first railroad on the sea is IN
achievement of the passing decade. For
generations English engineers have been
studying the problem Of bridging the
English Channel, or tunueliug under IT,
but no feasible scheme has ever been
brought farWard While il is true that
political considerations might make a
tunnel inadyisabIe. since iU case Of a
war with France that country might use
It as a route 10 invade England. set &c
d. generally admitted that this difficulty
could be overcome without serious trouble
hy the establishment OF means 0f food
ing IL m the English end. Therefore. the
whole matter resolves itself into an en-
cheering problem which has not yet
been solved.
But in America the ocean has literally
been tTiged by Henry IL Flaglar and his
millions. With Key West now connected
hfaa.t t.- IVA atH#f anu ri Afa-
20 be established from there TO Havana,
The day is soon al hand when man
may enter his Pullman stater00m in
New York and have all the comforts Of
a modern hotel from there 20 Havana,
without leaving his car. Or the private
car owner may take his car 10 Havana
and live in Cuba for a month or two
in his own exclusive little home oH
wheels 4 decade ago these things were
undreamed Of
Before the civil war there was a Ger
man farmer living up in Virginia who
saw for the FIRST time a coal oil lamp at
the home of n progressive neighbor. He
went home and told his children what
ne had seen. and said that 10 was his
belief that there was not much more
room for progress along the line of In
venti0u. Yet that mans sons have lived
10 use the wireless telegraph. the long
distance telephone, the automobile and
expect 20 see the telephot0graph instTu-
meut in use.
Perhaps the best idea OF the progress
Of the American people as a whole may
be cleaned from telephone statistics.
There are now nearly 6011U10 telephones
i'm the United States, the number OF
which has increased about threef0Id in
the present decade. Counting five people
20 the family, some member of every
third family in the country has tele-
phone The United States has two and
q half times as many telephones as all
the rest of the world put together. No
other nation has anywhere near as many
in the rural districts rs this country.
The telephone the rural free delivery
Of mails. the automobile. and a hundred
other inventions which the progressive
farmer is using, have, within the pres
ent decade made it possible for the farm
er to enjoy ell the advantages which
the city man enjoyed less than twenty
years ago.
What has been done in the field of IN
vention and discovery has been duplicat-
ed in every field of activity in the Unit
ed States. The wealth of the nation bids
fair to increase one-third in ten years.
bank clearings will have increased nearly
threefold, bank deposits promise 10 be
very much more than double i'm 1sio
what they were in 1902 twice as many
passengers will be carried i'm 1910 as were
carried by the railroads in 1900 if the
ratio Of increase keeps up, and every
thing else that makes for the happiness
of the people seems to be coming 10
them in twOfOld quantities. They all
tend to make the present decade the
greatest ten years I'm the history of the
world so far as achievement and prog
ress can make them such.
II,