The Detroit times., 1914-06-19
EDISON
PREDICTS new
ERA IN FLYING
Declares, However, That He VIII
Not Live to See the Day of
Which He Speaks
SAYS STEAM CAN BE
MADE WITHOUT BOILER
Wizard-Scientist Speaks Feeling
ly Before Big Philadelphia
Convention

Into the atmosphere OF the annual
convention OF the National Electric
Light association here recently, leaped
a current, strong, dominating, dinus,
ing sparks which set the whole gath
ering aaame.
Thomas Edison the wizard of cleo.
tricity, the man who since Franklin
day has done more than any other to
put humanity on speaking terms with
the wonders OF the infinite, appeared
in the midst of the gathering.
Mr., Edison's coming was charged
with significance. 1t was dramatic in
the extreme. Men who are making
fortunes by Harvesting the powers he
has discovered, and who are CONTROL
ing big corporations and working for
municipalities. grew silent as the old
mans figure was discerned.
Everyone and everything gave way
TO Mr.. Edison. When he spoke every
mind received a new impetus toward
conquest. New visions were stirred
by his prophecies Realization stalked
abroad, and dreams which few
years ago would have been put down
as the visions of the necromancer or
the vaporings OF the scorcerer were
almost visualized before the eyes of
the gathering.
With a seer's prophetic vision Mr.
Edison predicted two things of tire
mendous moment 10 science and hui
manity, He declared electricity can
be derived directly from coal without
the intermediary of the steam boiler
the engine or the dynamo, and as
tn hn ad1 ~
electricity will revolutionize the sci
ence OF aviation and that not the
eagles fight, but the bees buzzing
will be the prototype upon which man
must build his wings.
His words dealt with the simplifca-
ton of the big mysteries of life, and
yet he wistfully paid tribute TO the
decay of human powers and to the
greatest OF all forces. death, when he
asserted that the things he predicted
will come true, but he will not be the
one 10 accomplish them.
Electricity will be derived from
coal" he said. but | will not be the
one 70 bring about its derivation.
am not working on that problem. It
would take too long TO solve, too
long, and have not that much time
to live"
For a moment the old man paused,
buried in thought, the thought OF
what he cannot ACCOMPLISH because
he is mortal. Then he playfully told
the "eubs OF commerce" as he called
the electricians, that they must do
the work for him, they who are young
and have the years TO live.
A snap of his eyes, keen look into
the future, and the magic book Of
fate was unrolled again, and the men
in the assembly room saw a vision
which set their heads whirling and
made their brains dizzy
What did they see? They saw the
air alive with graceful winged crea
lures of mans make, airships pro
PEELED BY the force OF electricity, safe,
sure. and built according to the me-
chanism that nature has used for
thousands and thousands of years
AS the inventor and his wife were
on their way 10 this city from New
York by motor car they passed
through shady glen. Fitting among
the trees was a humble bee, just a
plain. ordinary buzzing bee
DO you know" said Mr. Edison
"as 7 watched that bee realized that
a real plane. a heavier-than-air ma
chine OF great weight, can be built
so soon as we obtain something that
beats the air at the rate OF 200 times
a second" He gained his inspiration
from the bee as the Wright brothers
gained theirs from observing the
buzzard. Only Mr.. Edison approached
the matter from a different angle
THAT humble bee" he said, was
one inch long. three -eighths OF an
inch in diameter. with a wing one
auater inch wide and flve-eighths of
an inch long. The wings weighed
milligram-that bee weighed seven
thousand times more than his wings.
II we can only get TO that. get TO
that--the greatest weight for the
smallest wing-that is the thing. The
bees wings beat the air three hun
dred times a second.
"a bee works on sound waves Re-
member, the air is rigid As steel II