The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1915-11-11
ELECTRIC
WIZARD
AMAzES
AUDIENCE

The first of the Y. NJ. c. A. Star
Course series of entertainments for
the 1856 season was given at the
First Methodist church Thursday
evening by Burnell S. Ford of Colo
rado Springs, before an assemblage
of people that filled every part of the
spacious auditorium.
1t was a gathering of which any
speaker might be proud and was no
less pleasing and gratifying to Mr..
Ford than it was to the management
of the association. The splendid pat
ronage extended the Star Course lee
ture Thursday night, coupled with the
interesting character of the program,
assures the success of the entertain
ments to be given under its auspices
during the winter months.
Mr.. Ford has been advertised as
an electrical wizard" and his aston
ishing demonstrations with the tre-
mendous, but little known forces of
nature, proved that he was entitled
to the designation, and, that figure
atively at least, the phrase was not
inappropriate. Mr.. Ford in his special
line of study and achievements is a
marvel, and his experimental work in
connection with his lectures on cleo
tricity evoke the keenest interest from
9th the skilled and the unskilled in
the use of that mighty, but unseen
force.
Mr.. Ford revealed to his audience
the latest discoveries in electrical
science by means of specially design
ed apparatus and explained the prin-
ciples involved. His discourse was
one of the most interesting heard
here in long time on a technical sub
ject and his demonstrations we're
startling and unique. He said that
electricity was one of the most abun-
dant of the intangible forces of ma
ture and that 1t was destined to play
a most important role in the civili--
zation of mankind.
He explained, verbally and by ex-
pertinent, the method employed in the
transmission of electrical currents
by wireless telegraphy and wireless
telephones and declared that modern
science was now hopeful of being able
to transmit messages by electrical
currents. or waves, to almost inter
minable distances without the employ
ment Of wires, or other artificial
agency.
MIR. Ford in his work Thursday night
used two high-power transformers and
proved how currents of electricity
could be sent through the air for short
distances without any apparent loss
OF force. He was able to operate
miniature street cars on the platform
behind him, by throwing electric cur
rent to 1t from distance OF ten or
twelve feet. Many other things no
less wonderful we're done in the sight
OF the audience by means OF electrical
waves projected thru the atmosphere.
To show the harmlessness of the
high voltage on the human body, when
properly controlled, Mr. Ford connect
ed himself with one OF the transform
ers, and. with his mouth full Of water,
ordered his assistant to turn the cur
rent on. When the connection was
made and the current was on he per-
mitted a stream of water to flow from
his mouth that ignited a tallow candle
he had in his hand. BY the same
means he set fire to a piece of paper
held near his mouth. He stood upon
metallic plate and through the
agency of a powerful electric current
passing over his body ignited eight
incandescept lamps that had been
connected with the transformer in
groups of four. The closing act of
the performance was the transmission
of 100000 volts of electrical energy
across the rostrum, a distance of,
probably twelve or fourteen feet, to
glass plate held by two assistants
and on which lay some paper. The
paper was ignited by the wireless
current that passed thru the glass
insulator without injuring the hold
ers OF the plate. By the same process
OF transmission he exploded a small
quantity of gunpowder on the glass
plate at an equal distance from the
transformer
Mr.. Ford ave 1t as his opinion that
only short time would elapse until
military and naval science would be
able from land Notifications to des-
troy hostile ships at sea by means
of the electrical current long before