Omaha daily bee., 1915-06-09
Greatest Decade
of Invention
soisntifio American.

soientifio American
THE most significant event in the annals Of human
i achievement the invention Of the steam
CINE Its introduction divided recorded time into
two distinctly defined eras, and II may well be said
that the entire history Of material endeavors
counts forward backward from that comparatively
recent event The jump from manual to power opera
tons. which typfes the two eras, nothing short
cataclysmic. and profoundly affected and stirred
mankind IN all its relations extent inconceivably
greater than any political change or decision in battle
that Is ordinarily cited by the historian TO mark the
beginning Of epoch. AZ soon after this event
distracted civilization could be released from the
sitting bondage OF incessan warfare the problem OF
applying this mighty agency to the needs Of man be-
In earnest-with energy. capacity, and genius
ceasing and never before equsled Thus in
augurated tho OF machinery. Of invention OF indus
trial. vitality different frcm all that eceded
1t and during which tie basis q society more com
pleteiy altered and the economic and political sruc-
ture fundamentally revolutoniSed than in all
the preceding centuries OF civilization put together OF
the decades which may be roughly stated 20
this notable period OF development has failed
TO contribute its quota toward the sum Of great In
ventive achievements. Each and every decade has
the origin OF transcendent act for the adj
vancement Of material civilization
The ten years most frsusht with achievement up to
the invention OF the telephone the 1sOSO period
during which the INFLAMMATION OF rubber sew
ing machine, and telegrRph perfected These In
venonF by far the most notable Of the decade. were
all American and marked the elimination OF Yankee
ingenuity and Is safe to assert that other people
IN any equal short OF time point to record
Of accomplishments marvellous and so revolution
izlng ndustTially and socially The decade beginning
with 1870 also notablethe telephone the dynamo,
and the lamp appeared and gave the first indics-
tions Of the coming electricity to play in the
affairs of mankind
the ten years beginning with 1850 out
burst OF inventive activity that dwarfed all similar
periods the history of invention II seemed that the
discoveries things electrical the last three four
years OF the previous decade the signal for the
pent-up genius of tho world let loose. The trolley
car which has changed the face OF urban civilizations
the incandeseent light with its powerful and
healthier glow and more adaptable use; the auton1o-
bile the most distinctive feature OF our time; the
typewriter the most necesstous instrument in mod
business; the skyscraper, the delneator OF the
new skyline OF American business centers; and the
cepegeter that ubiquitous instrument and first aid
TO honesty-to pick out the most obvious OF the nno
vations that proclaim the ageall OF these into
being or were first whipped into shape in the ten
pregnant years besinning with 1880
Before 1850 electricity was sparingly used-the first
central station for arc lighting had just been estsb-
lished In 1872 recognition source Of energy
for universal lighting for propulsion for power. and
for heating-for all the large and vital uses II could
be put to--was q matter Of speculation, and not one
Of expectedy realization No one, even Of the
widest inaginiugs could have dreamed of the trans
formation close to hand. But before this census
period closed the electric incandescent lamp was In
contestably established the trolley was success
fully introduced the central station for power dis
trbution and the poyphase motor for stationary
work began show Its revolutioniEing possibilities,
and the electric furnace put into successful
commercial operation All the big problems mat were
putting into service In such large ways or
this new and Ehty servant first confronted
and solved In this particular decade. In the SOS the
generation. transmission. and utilization OF current
the dynamo, the transformer and motor-were all
made practical propositions large and commercial
scale for the first time The trolley which drest-
tcaly changed the aspects OF things urban and sub.
urban, brought the country to the city and spilled
the city into the country. increased land values by
tho billions; and the ncan6eseent lamp, which In
augurated clean and safe illumination introduced the
central station power house and inspired the first
great innovations in generation and utilization OF
electric current; transformer. that extremely sim
ple but supreme instrument for making serViceable
the alternating ourrent-the most easily generated
and tranenttabe form Of electrical and the
induction motor the eventual driver OF most OF our
nachinerya these PEAKS in electrical progress were
made in the Same decade,
The most fundamental of all operations are per
formed In the furnace. The profoundest changes OF
nature were heat and the basic processes OF
industry are carried under high temperature eond-
tons Except source OF energy. II is difficult
to conceive a utility OF more potency than a
novel type Of furnace. For the first time in all HIS
tory high furnace heat was attained through means
not involving combustion when the electric furnace
was perfected I'm the latter part OF the decade with
the advent Of this utility possibilities of heat appii-
cation were opened up that shamed even the dreams
! OF alchemy There Is burning, no smoke or foul
! gases-resultants of combustion The heat 10 clean,
comfortable, and extremely high. with the result
that Il IL revoutionxinG high temperature operation.
in niutudinous directions. and the changes In steel
ana alloy making and in eectrochernical processes ar"
already profound. The steam turbine which Is sup
planting the recprocating engine the gasoline engine
which made possible the motorboat automobile and
| aeroplane the automobile itself; the Mergenthsler
typesetter and the cyanide process which ves
in Importance with the Bessemer method OF making
steel and the vucaniIation OF rubber; and electte
| weldinF-al OF these truly epoch-makng inventions
sIrst saw the light OF day IN this period The
Harvey process for hardening armor plate was In
| vented in 1855 smokelsss powder few years earlier;
! the wax phonograph record. which made the phono-
| praph practical proposition, came out about
/ the same time; Westinghouses quick-acting brake
which only failed be considered pioneer invention
Of the first order by five 10 four vote OF the supreme
court was another notable addition TO the decade.
the Transparent film. which foreshadowed the movins