New-York tribune., 1910-05-08

wisdom and instruction. but the suspicion ilIr hs
a little bit that as instructor Of large classes
he was not altogether at his best There seems
to have been tendency to be lured HOth ''7
subject in hand by the opening up OF some ne"
i,, oe snecuIatiou revealed by a casual re-
mark of his own or by some dihlcuity III Cii1
demonstration On the blackboard, and once ne
cot started that way the class dropped out %
sight to the lecturer and appears To nave DeeH
uont also to excuse Itself But there were
pupils who were kindred spirits. to ~hon ths
mental methods and physical researches OK
Thomson were a splendid Intellectual stmuIIS'
and = vivid picture is presented By one of thoSa
brilliant students. the late Professor w. T. Ayr
ton. as follows:
ori,inaT noVer of a genius like Thomson on stca
teaching WIS 1kS me uss Ir eihtT Years t1eTe
been many prime ministers, buL ohiy one e.. -
fieC dl1i, some scientific training had come from
other countries to hear IhoIIson Oas- - of briif
iant May sunshine following April showers, me ne
ideas Of those students spronteG - eze with
done before: The more 'i0usIlItG. % -. (rie,;, 81
eyes of wonder at Thomson deveioDng an 9[ltiil ~
Ii pdt shnff ueII Knowing that any notes cal
cUIa tons might previously have rnade % VS+Fe
ably with his great coat IN the Aa4i-
The problem is perhaps a very old one. how
to get the best results out of a great thinker
harnessed, as tutor, but even if Thomson 'te'I
down" as real teaching professor it is certain
that he was one Of the pioneers in modern
laboratory work. making his students InFeS-I-
cate all things; and ne did undoubtedly bring
great credit and repute 20 Glasgow. where bis
memory remains to-day great asset Those
who assisted at his jubilee in 1896 will not for
get the stately and lively exercises Of that beau
tiful June day. when in the big chapel above
the tiny brook from which he took his title that
simple good gray old man received the Plaudits
If notable assenblage and the addresses Of
every great university and every learned society
throughout the world 1t was a tribute to the
teacher Yet that same night at the grand ban
1uet in his honor, TO which the royal fluctuations
we're sent this man so honOred was not ashamed
10 avow with tears and almost with the note ot
tragedy in his voice that his life had been q
failure and that he was no nearer being abLe 70
axpound the principles solve the deep prob
lens of nature than when he had begun. those
ffty years before,
And now comes the memorable work To which
d large part Of these volumes is devoted-the
perfection OF submarine teIegraphy and lis ap-
pliances Here the closet philosopher becomes
the man of action and the man of the I1Ur-
Even land telegraphy was but q novelty and
struggling art when, in 1855. Thomson enunci-
ated the laws Of the speed Of signals through
ocean cables and demonstrated their subtle re-
ation to other natural forces He it vas Vho
pointed out the dangers from mutual induction
two wires under sheathing. and he who
showed the necessity of using fine copper in the
conductor. Even greater was his service in pre-
serving the cables by proving that il was not
necessary to drive signals through by big bat
teries and powerful induction coils. which simply
knocked OUT the cables, but that delicate and
weak currents were adequate. Then came his
two beautiful inventions. the mirror salvan0Tn-
eter with it's readings of little flashes of light in
the darkness, and next the even more QTacti-
cable siphon recorder. which is now universal as
Il means of giving written record of the mes
sage. These are but few items of the many
noted in Professor ThOmsons stirring pages. and
while all honor is due to Cyrus Field and the
others who by their undaunted courage sue
ceeded as John Bright said. in ''mooring the
Old World alongside he New" the real credit
of making the art of submarine telesraphy such
as we know it to-day belongs in fuller measure
to William Thomson than to any one else. And
this fact promptly recognized in his own
days not only in the rich returns from his pat
ents that made him millionaire but in the
knighthood that not many years later was sue
ceeded by a peerage-
Regret is sometimes expressed that NewtonS
great ability diverted to the routine toll of
the Mint but there is no occasion evidently