The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-02-04

New York, ~ Y.-Thomas A. Edi-
son looking into the future, thinks
the prospect of the laboring man is a
particularly bright one.
"In 200 years, by the cheapening of
commodities, the ordinary laborer
will live as well as q man does now
with 100000 annual income. Auto
matte machinery and scientific agri-
culture will bring about this result"
Mr.. Edison says. Not individualism
but social labor will dominate the fut-
ure; you can't have individual ma
chimes and every man working by
himself Industry will constantly be-
come more social and interdependent.
There will be no manual labor in the
factories of the future. The men in
them will be merely superintendent
watching the machinery to see that it
works right.
THE work day, / believe, will be
eight hours. Every man needs that
much work to keep him out of mis-
chief and to keep him happy. But it
will be work with the brain, some
thing that men will be interested in,
and done in wholesome. pleasant sur
roundings. Less and less man will
be used as an engine, or as horse,
and his brain will be employed to
benefit himself and his fellows.
THE clothes of the future will be
so cheap that every young woman will
be able to follow the fashions prompt
ly.
The monorail does not appeal to
me. 1t was q fundamental mistake
that our railroads were built on 4
foot 12 inch gauge instead OF
foot gauge, which we will probably
have to come to yet.
The aeroplane OF the future will.
think, have to be on the helicopter
principle. A successful air machine
must be able TO defy the winds. II
Wright's aeroplane had one-twentieth
of its surface, the wind principle is
the only way to rise above atmo-
spheric conditions. By increasing the
velocity of propeller revolutions the
size of the machine can be diminished
and thereby we vanquish the hostility
of the wind. A helicopter could have
foot-siZe planes distributed on a 100
to $50 foot circle and controlled from
the centre by wires.
Chemical food has been worked
out pretty we'll by Emil Fischer and
his students, but it won't be com.
mercial proposition. You can't beat
the farm as laboratory, commercials
ly speaking. II we should dry up like
Mars and couldn't raise vegetables on
the earth we might turn TO a chemical
diet
Society will have to stop this
whiskey business which is like throw
ing sand in the bearings OF a steam
engine.
Among the many problems which
await solution in the future one OF
the most important is to get the full
value out OF fuel. The wastefulness
of our present methods of combustion
is tremendous.
There is not as much power in
ton of 40 per cent. dynamite as there
is in a ton Of coal.
Everything in nature would burn
up if 1t were not for the fact that near
ly everything except coal is already
burned up. Iron would burn and make
good fuel-if in very fine powder
but 1t has already been consumed
in Natures furnace.
1--WE may discover the germ of get
ting all the power from fuel to-mor-
row, and then again 1t may take a
long time to find out.
ITO get rid OF friction in our ma.
chimes is one of the future problems.
The only machine without friction that
we know is the world. and it moves in
the restless ether"