New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-07
Sweepings from Ink
pot Alley
By TANSY M'NAB


Electric Company, in Sche-
WIZARD nectady. One night the
WRITES 4 officers had signs nailed up
BOOK over the big plant reading:
mo smoking on these
premises" The next morning one of
the workmen strolled into the place
smoking big cigar. The new sign
caught his eye. This halted him sud
denly, and for a time he stood staring
incredulously at it. He was a little,
slender man, with huge brown-beard-
ed head. dressed in shabby suit of
clothes, flannel shirt and no necktie
At last he turned on his heel walked out
of the place and went home
The plant ran on, of course. Possibly
no other workman in the place would
have been missed. But this man was
missed. The managers of the big plant
worried about him, for they considered
him an exceptional worker, probably the
most valuable in the United States-in
fact. a O0,000-a-year man. They as
sured themselves that he was not ILL
Then one of the officers called on HIM
and asked what was the trouble.
mo smoking, no working" replied
the solitary striker, putting at his cigar.
After this ultimatum the company
did not hire a strikebreaker or retain
any gunner to shoot up the recalcltrant
one. Instead. it Immediately gave IN
and told the striker he could smoke all
over the works. SO the next day
Charles P. Steinmetz went back to work
Unquestionably, Steinmetz is super
workman His rapid-fre thinking ma
chine is as superior to the ordinary
headpiece as a machine gun is to rifle
Alone he can account for whole regl-
ments of problems.
Men have won fame as tanners OF
lions. Steinmetz tanned something more
powerful than all the lions in the world.
Before he finally solved the problem, the
great stumbling block of the electrical
engineer was the difficulty of transmit
ting high voltage power. 1t could not
be controlled. 1t tore the best transmits
sion systems to pieces. Most uneXpect-
edlv it would burst its way to freedom,
leaving wreck and ruin behind. But
Steinmetz found way to subdue the
monster. To-day the transmission of
high voltage power over great distances
is a commonplace.
Improved electric Lighting and heat
ing systems, better car service, better
electric service generally, have come as
result of his experiments and research.
He has invented now motors and per
fected old ones. But he is not mere
technician. He is a man with a vision,
who sees the power of our rivers har-
messed to do all our hauling and lifting,
to run the plough and the loom, to light
our streets and heat our houses, to cook
and clean and do the household work
generally. 'The time is coming" he
saws. when it will be misdemeanor to
light a fire in any American city. Smoke
and ashes will be mere memories Of a
more barbaric age"
You can readily see that there is an
air of magic about Steinmetz's perform
ances, as if he had stepped out of good,
old-fashioned German fairy tale. AS
matter of fact, believe he did. 1t was
because the German government had
lost its belief in fairy tales that Stein
metz was driven to America. 1t is for
this reason that he is performing mira
cles to-day for the General Electric
Company instead of for the Fatherland
which is just now so greatly in need
Of miracles. 1t is for this reason that
he is Harvesting the rivers of America
to do Uncle Sans work, instead of har-
Messing the rivers of Germany to hurl
back the Kaiser's enemies.
1t happened about thirty years ago.
Steinmetz was a student at Breslau,
member Of a socialist club. The gov
eminent broke up the club and held its
leader for trial He was allowed Ordi-