The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-12-11
What We May Expect in 1850
STARTLING AND WONDERFUL INVENTIONS WILL REVOLT.
TOME LIFE IN THE FUTURE. SAY MEN OF SCIENCE.
1Technical Mnrld Maeazine.N

tTechnical World Magazine.)
In 1880. The Imagination leaps
forward TO the :ulfl!ment of stu
pendcus promises. today but half re-
veaieG. vii: ships sail the ocean
without iual. rains traverse CONT
nen,s without engines. a~eroplanes
draw their motive powe. from the
without the aid G: coal. Will the
startling discoveries and achievements
of the presen, day seem but the in
sufficient devices Of a primitive age.
compared with the mighty potential
victories ot the future:
Wait:
Ever ten years in America sees a
revolution. Industrial phases assume
new proportions. commerce en!aTges
its border 10 rush over strange seas,
politics become a tangled web during
its evolutionary processes. economic
problems broaden their scope. Were
the possibilities of the great labor
divisions OF the world gagged by the
strides made during the last fifty years
one would stand in wholesome "
OF the vision. The last word in the
reconstruction of America is far from
being said. though t~ireless workers OF
scienc. are constantly forming the
new America out ot natural forces al
ISdGS IdlktlN dildcI AtC1t
We do no, feel the imminence OF
the discoveries hanging suspended
about US. which the magic rod Of
science may precipitate at any mo-
ment. because they occupy our
thoughts only a, intervals. We look to
the men OF constant interest in such
matters for en!ighrening hints for the
future. Edison. for instance. believes
tina, the world is face to face with
aEVic1 NC, VI 90 Sian IN a r~a1a NJ which
it has never dreamed. n that in ten
years fying machines will be in use
To carry the mails and passengers at
the rate OF 100 miles an hour. 1t is
Wilbur Wright's statement that when
aviation has progressed far enough
there is no reason why a birdman
should not mount to the clouds in his
%aeroplane. cut off the motor and then
soar in circles and spirals over the
ascending currents OF air like the
great birds. sail on for a period of
time with no exertion Of energy. then.
at his will. res.art the motor and re-
turn softly TO earth.
Wright's prophecy. and its partial
f~ulfllrent are interesting as an illus
tration OF the way in which h fore
casts made by men who are in touch
with scientific developments are COM
ing Charles X. Hamilton re-
SSltlS StdtSO lIl0 lliC " deIC.
plane now in use can be Indefinitely
increased in size. and that the speed
and carrying power can be propor-
tionately augmented. He believes the
limited size of aeroplanes. thus far.
to be merely a question OF cost and
that n day al e~xperimenter may
appear with an airship which will
compare with the present n as an
eagle with a swallow.
This r-iif on-H today. nv fnronHRAuy
and after that will come the maure-
,a.ias of the air. In 1880 we may
have airships a thousand feet long,
flying at a rate Of speed SO high az
to bring New York and London as
near together as New York and Chi
cago nov are.
Even now We are grouping on the
verge OF a discovery. or. rather. the
perfection of a discovery. that should
eliminate the most serious difficulty
TO be overcome in aerial navigation
the difficulty of carrying fuel. II do
not know how TO do it." says the in
ventor of the monograph. blu, a
method will be discovered Of wireless
II transmitting electrical energy from
the earth TO the motor Of a machine
in midair. There is no reason TO be-
lieve it canno be done"
1t has already been demonstrated
in the laboratory that electric cur
rents can be transmitted without
wires. A fan motor has been oper-
ated at a distance Of twenty feet from
the dEnam" from which it derived its
Dover. And more startling than this
is h achievement IF Eikola Tesla,
who has been experimenting with the
model of a boat operated by electric
power transmitted without wires.
finds the results astounding. Tesla has
been able to control the movements
Of the boats absolutely from a central
station without electrical connections
Of n kind. What has been done with
a little boat on a small body Of water
will eventually be done with the larg-
est liners at any distance from land.
In other words. a big liner may be
propelled across the Atlantic ocean
at high speed by power directed from
a wireless station on shore.
Inc work OF lengthening the reach
OF wireless biography from twenty
Feet to twenty miles. and from twenty
miles TO A thousand. was accomplished
before the i~ncredulous had put faith
The principle volved in wireless trans
mission OF power Is the same. and
We may be sure hat results will come
as rapidly. and that they will be made
revolutionary in their effect on the
economic and social orders. Not onl,
the ships Of the sea and the ships OF
the air will be operated by electric
currents flashed at them from some
giant power plant. but trains, street
cars n automobiles. subways and
elevated lines. will dispense with the
coal, wires. storage batteries and third
rails upon which they are now de.
pended.
And how shall the s]tupendous pow.
er be generated necessary to supply
the vital fluid that will animate the
whizzing things on sea n land and
in the air? 1t has been suggested thai
the force of Niagara could be utilized
to supply power to the air fleet. bu'
there must be more than this. Prob.
ably coal will be used at first, but thu
supply is rapidly vanishing and be
sides. unless a way is found to ge
the full energy. or a much larger por
ton Of it. out of a piece Of coal. thi.
method will be entirely too ineffectiv,
for the transportation companies o
the future.
According to Edison a mer,
glimpse Of our environment has BEEF
gained. Plans by which we shall con
troll 1t are fast being laid. The in
ca~icuiable energy expended in tina
swing n heave of the waters of tn,
twice each day will be trammeled an,
harnessed to our use. These restles
waters all a source Of more powe
than would be needed to run all tn
ships that float upon them. Asid
from the tides. there liz enough energ
In h mere jogging Of the wave
along the sides of a vessel like tn
Mauretania to propel her engines.
The sun pours enough power upo,
the earth to run all fits industries. Thi
power Is already utilized in Califor
MA Tor irrigation purposes. But sofa
engines are imperfect as Yet. and ca
convert only a small part of the -four
'teen hundred horse power, or NOR.