El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-21


physical science the inventor has
found electricity to be about the
most versatile thing in existence. It is
so mysterious in it's properties that the
physicist admits the accuracy of the
definition of the schoolgirl, who said:
TT is a force known only by it's mani
festation.' And yet so understandable
is it to the inventor that he has been
! able to do hundreds of widely. varying
things. He has made it touch the life
Of the average urban dweller at nearly
every step. IN the morning he reads
his paper, the news of which has been
gathered from all parts of the world
and transmitted by the electric tele-
graph; he rides on a car in which all
three forms of energy are utilized
power, heat and light; he ascends to his
office in an electric elevator; calls his
stenographer by an electric button,
talks to his clients over an electric tel
| ephone; sets his watch by an electrical
! ly-operated time ball; watches the
stock market at an electric ticker; and
| in innumerable ways makes use of the
| subtle fluid about which man knows
| so much and yet so little
Franklin Harnesses Lightning.
! While many important electrical dis
| coveries were made prior to his time,
| it remained for an American, Benjamin
| Franklin, first to harness the thun-
| derbolt for the uses of man. When he
stood in his little shed and sent his
| kite up into the clouds to catch a por-
! ton of lightning discharge man
was to find out for the first time in
history that the lightning of the heav-
| ems and the electricity OF the earth are
one and the same thing. His lightning
rods were the first inventions looking
to a practical use of mans knowledge
I concerning things electric. Later Jo
seph Henry, another American, made
experiments which ultimately led to
the invention of the telegraph, the tel
ephone and the dynamo.
Although the scientists of all civiIi-
cations were at work for years trying
to discover a means Of hitching electric
current to the machinery and vehicles
of the world, 1t remained for careless
workman to make the discovery which
has led to the perfection Of the electric
motor and its use in transportation and
manufacture. In 1873 Gramme, the in
ventor of the dynamo, was exhibiting
some of his machines at an exposition
in Vienna, While connecting the wires
between the various dynamos, a work
man. by mistake attached them con-
trary to instructions. Much to his sur
prise, when the connection was COM
pIeted, one dynamo began to revolve in
an opposite direction to the other. He
| Gramme and it soon was realized that
his mistake had laid bare the secret
of the electric motor. Since that time
American as well as European inven-
tors have applied the principles discov-
cred by carelessness TO almost every
conceivable line of industry, and they
declare that the end is no nearer than
when they began.
transportation BY Electricity.
20
transportation in the United States.
From the early SOS down to the present
time the United States has led the
! whole world in the widespread adapta-
tion of electricity as a motive power.
1t is said that America now has more
electrically operated cars and trains
than all the rest of the world together,
and that If they were placed end to
end they would make string of cars
reaching nearly one-third Of the way
across the continent.
The world ordinarily thinks of cleo
tricity as a prime mover, but this is far
! from the truth. 1t is only a medium
for the transmission of power. Just as
belt transfers power from one shaft
to another. so electricity transfers it
: from one point to another. There must
be some other force used in its gener-
| alton and more power is required in
|
motor which it drives. Under ideal
conditions and the maximum load there
| is loss of at least 3 percent of power
in the dynamo generating the electrici-
ty Then there IS another loss of 5
percent in the transmission of the cur
rent from the dynamo to the point
. where it is to be used similar loss
takes place in the motor which trans
forms the current into power again.
Thus it will be seen that at least 10
| percent of the power used in making
electricity is lost in its ultimate appli-
cation. When it is remembered that
the best steam plant utilities only Is
| percent of the power Of the coal and
that only IS percent of this power is
utilized in electrical practice. it will
| be seen how small proportion OF the
] Goals energy is used.
Getting Electricity From Coal.
Many scientists have concluded that
! some method can be devised to get
| electricity direct from the coal. They
believe if all the steps from the fur
mace to the electric motor could be
eliminated, such great percent fthe
latest energy of the coal could be util-
lied that the entire fuel question of the
world would be revolutionized- They
| have already succeeded in the laborato-
~ in securing electricity directly from
| the coal, but as yet have not done SO
in a way that makes it available fol
the shop. 1t is one of those things
which is scientifically possible but not
commercially practicable. 1t is said
that Thomas a. Edison is at work try
; ing to solve this problem. and that he
believes a successful solution of II
would be a fitting climax TO his career
as an inventor.
When Mr. Edison perfected his in
candescent electric lamp he paved the
way for thousands Of inventions in the
use of electricity as an illuminant AIN
and science both are lending them
selves to the efforts of the illuminat'
i. ing engineer Many Of the inventors
: of electric lighting apparatus and ap'
pliances believe that tgreater strides
are to be made in the future than have
been made in the past The ultimate
goal to which such inventors are aiming
is that of lighting without heat. I'm
der present-day conditions the electric
L light plant is able to utilize less thar
percent of the energy in the coal i
3 uses in illumination for its patrons.
Has Not Reached the End.
al Of ell chs r11iS fry