The Washington herald., 1920-05-23
Solomon Wrong When He Said
"Nothing New Under the Sun

Nowadays it's not liquor but SCI
ence that makes US dizzy and leaves
US clinging to fence posts.
Sir oliver Lodge comes back
from friendly talks with spirits and
tells us space is filed with restless
energy.
High explosives and our hottest
furnaces are child's play. in his
opinion, compared to the energy in
one little atom. And it takes
trillion atoms to make a speck of
matter big enough to see.
Atom Called Too Clumsy.
Any fragment weighing a few
grams, he says, holds enough energy
to raise 100000 tons 5000 feet.
But Sir oliver Lodge with his
dream Of Harvesting the atom, is
left in the awkward class by Irving
Langmuir. American. This General
Electric Company expert thinks an
atom too big and clumsy. lie
works with the force" or matter
that he calls a "quantel."
And IL DR.. Langmuir ever re-
leases the prisoned energy in
"quantel" he will hold in one small
corner of his room more power
than generates from all the power
plants of America.
In Detroit. Henry Ford is max
ing trolley-less cars to run on gas
oline distilled from straw. Even
gas" will not be needed when the
"quantels" are unloosed, according
to DIR. Langmuir's view.
No Need of Money.
By using his terrific source or
power immense airpalnes might be
lifted. DIR. Goddard of Clark Col
lege might employ it to send hrs
famous giant rocket shooting up
as far as the moon.
And money-manifestly a person
need only harness up some "quan-
tells" to have all the service money
can buy. All kinds OF art. super,
movies and super -phonograph
would become the great industries
because they will afford more fun
than working.
Then the unspeakabIe telephone
service-here De Forest is king of
dizzy magic. He has invented a
little glass tube holding bits of
wire and called an audion. For
tired nerves it is the hope of the
bNNoNSC IL inc
delays in connecting up phone
calls to one-tenth. BY increasing
the faintest sounds till they can be
heard, the audion is to the ear
what the microscope is to the eye.
Instead of wasting two good cop
per wires on each long distance
call. one wire will now carry your
message and others. The little au-
dion at the end will untangle this
web of voices so each can be
heard.
Speeches by Radio.
Are the musicians late to the
ball? Music plenty good enough
for dancing was sent half a mile
by radio from CarnNGie Institute
and Pittsburgh COUPLES jazzed
along to it's syncopated beats. II
anything the radio made it liveIier.
Does the Presidential candidate
fail to show up? Perhaps the
trains are not running. Let him
crate about his virtues and -opin-
ions by wireless telephone. Secre-
tary Daniels address on the flag
ship Pennsylvania was heard on
the other ships.
Now comes Maj. Gen. Squier,
chief of the Signal Corps, to revo-
lutionize our land and ocean cables
so extensively insulated. All you
need for messages to Europe is a
little bare wire in the sea. The
audion tube at the end will do the
rest.
The war developed many things.
1t put psychology on the map for
testing men. 1t made commercial
aviation. And even it's "tear-gas,"
instead Of machine-guns, can now
break up .lynching parties.
And the chemists-are they
standing still? Not if they know
1t. The American Chemical Society
at its last sessions lit into the III.
c. Of L." at a rate said to make
lasting joke of Palmer's Depart
ment of Justice.
They figured the day ought to be
at hand when invisible food vita
mines that I'LL US with pep" and
make kiddies grow will soon be ad-
ministered in handy doses 1t may
not even be necessary to buy or
ange juice and grapefruit or drink