The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-02-06
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TON OF POVERTY COMING. :. Is

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"A On my way over 10 the Laboratory ]
had mapped out. In my mind "a list OF
questions that I.wished to ask Thomas
a.. writes 1. Benson In the February
Cosmopolitan. Edison did not wait 10,
see the map. He kneWlWbat he want
led TO discuss tlrst-gold. He believes
gold win mot much longer lure; that
~ may be left out ut night as safely.
as iron may be left out at might, that
nobody who works will accept gold in
payment for his work, and that no ma.
| ton VIII Issue gold as money. He
holds these views because he believes
It Is only aquestion Of time until a
way will be discovered to manufacture
gold. IS 14S5. 5 y "A,
1.-THE discovery. may be made to.mor.
row. he said. Tits iustlas likely to
be made tomorrow as at any other
time. i.s
Nothing that Is reasonable is I'M.
possible, and It is reasonable to ex-
pect that; we shall find out how 10
make gold,"he said.
And transportation upon land, he
declares. Is to be reyolutionized. The
steam locomotive is blowing It's last
blasts for millions of people. The next
generation Of New Workers. and New
Englanders will first hear at school
OF steam locomotives, and never will
see them unless they 80 to some State
that has neither water power; nor
much population. Water wheels will
make electricity to run all the rail-
roads that traverse regions in which
there Is abundant water power. In
densely populated States electric To-.
comotiyes will displace steam regard:
less Of whether water power Is avail
able.
Yet the changes Edison foresees in
the methods of transportation are less
radical than the changes he .foresees
in the use Of iron and steel. Steel, he
says, Is destined soon to fall from Its
high pinnicle4 as the skeleton Of sky.
'scrapers, to become the material OF
which furniture is made. Even the
pages OF books may be made of steel.
though Edison regards nickel as bet.
ter substitute for paper.
gs"Why not?" asked Edison. "Nickel
will absorb printers ink. A sheet Of
nickel one twenty-thousandth Of an
inch thick is cheaper, tougher and
more flexible than an ordinary sheet
OF book paper. A nickel book, two
inches thick, would contain 10000 pag..
es. Such a book would weigh only
pound. can make a pound Of nickel
sheet $ ror.a dollar ana a lus::a .er.'
y An absolute law appears to be ope.
rating to substitute steel for wood in
the making Of furniture. The law is
the increasing cost Of wood. Edison
says one New York firm Is already
making steel office furniture. NO tub
ing Is used. The various parts Of
chairs, tables and desks are stamped
out OF sheet steel and then bent into
shape. The legs, arms and backs OF
chairs are cut out as rapidly as the
big wheels Of stamping machines can
,reyolye. s-a.:o 4, i,&
{ 5"All furniture will sooA be made Of
steel" said Edison. THE steel re.
quired for given piece Of furniture
costs only, one-fifth as much as wood.
Re.enforced concrete is not only
cheaper than brick and steel, but It
is fireproof. Within thirty years all
construction will be Of reinforced
concrete from the finest mansions to
the tallest skyscrapers," he said.
Edison calls the brain a meat ma.
chine" He says the next generation
will see metal machinery that will al.
most rival the brain itself. l,.,5
Cloth, buttons. thread, tissue paper
and pasteboard will be fed into one
end Of a machine and suits Of cloth
ing packed In boxes will come out the
other. Bound books will fall from the
press. The, machine; that takes In lum.
Der will give out, finished furniture.
Machinery will make the, parts Of
things and put them together. instead
Of merely making the parts Of things
for human hands to put together.
Invention is IN Its infancy said
Edison. Infants haye, to creep be-
fore they can lk.salnyentors had to
begin by inyenting machinery to make
only the part Of things. They have
made great progress in this line. But
the time has now come to take the