Year: 1879

lst. hicholas.l


Did you ever wonder who first in
vented or used artificial light, and what
kind of light it was? To tell you the
truth, / never thought about it at all |;
but it happened that one evening not
long ago was made very much ashamed
Of my stupidity.


/ received an invitation to spend the
evening with a learned professor and
his beautiful wife, who live in large
house on Madison avenue, in New York,
and to witness some electrical expert
ments.


After the company had assembled
they were invited to go to the top of
the house. We marched up the stairs
in procession, the ladies having taken
the arms of the learned men. We were
ushered into large room, from which
all the furniture had been removed.
Camp-chairs were arranged in rows, and
were quickly filed. This room opened
into another, which also was filled with
camp-chairs. Between the rooms was a
high table, on which were mysterious
looking jars, out of which came small
copper wires in fine coils. The tops of
these seemed to be connected together
by finer wires. On the table, besides
these, were gas drop-light, common
tallow candle, little bronze boat con-
taiuing oil, with a wick at one end, a
rather shabby-looking dark candlestick,
or what looked like one, and some other
things, the uses of which did not
know.


Fastened against the wall was large
square, made of three colors of silk,
broad stripes of blue, red and green,
surrounded by a wide yellow border,
and wondered to myself if it were a
banner, and 70 what nation it belonged.
After we were seated there was mo-
mentary silence of expectation, and 1
family heard something that sounded
like the muffied beating of a steam
engine. i saw it afterward in the back
room, pretty little engine, hard at
work, not boiling water to generate or
make steam, but petroleum engine,
burning petroleum oil, to generate or
make an electric current which was car
ried through pipe to the table between
the rooms. The Professor said that this
cunning little engine consumed only
one drop Of oil a minute, and yet it was
"a horse and half power" ] called it
horse and colt power. You all know
that the power of all steam engines is
thus gauged or measured; that is, each
one has the strength and can do the
work of SO many horses. The engine of
an ocean steamer is of many hundred
horsepower giant in strength and
resistance against the mighty winds and
wayes-enabling the vessel, with almost
resistless power, to


''Cleave path male tic through the hoed,


As If she wsre goddess Of the deep"


And now that have quoted this ele-
CANT compliment to the steam-engine, |
will tell you what the Professor said
about light.


"Invery old time" he began, "people
went to bed with the chickens when the
sun had set. When they wanted to sit
up little later, all the light they knew
how to make was from the blaze Of
burning wood. After while, some OBJ
serving old fellow noticed that when
grease fell into the fire the blaze be.
came much brighter: SO he dipped 8
reed or rush into oil and set one end on
fire, and thus rush-lights came into
fashion. Old books and songs tell about
the farthing rush-lights. They were
sold four for penny, and very dismal
illumination they must have made
Then people began to put oil in cups
preparing rind Of pork to set in the
oil for wick. and burned that The
great feasts of the Romans, in the ole
classical heathen times, before the brit
of our Savior, must have been mos
dingy affairs, for all they had for light
ing up their tables were these lamps
And here the Professor put out all tn,
gas-lights and applied match to thu
wick at one end of the little bronz
Roman boat.


1t was highly classical and very ele
CANT in shape, but the light it gave wa
SO utterly dismal that all the compan,
uttered funny little groan, and hand
some old gentleman, who sat next. to me
said:


"Well, after that specimen of oil
Roman brillisney, 1 am quite reconcile
to paying my big gas bills"


dAfter this" continued the Professor
"candles we're invented. To show yo
what the first ones were like, I tried t
get as bad one as possible. 1t shoul
evolve OF unfurl the traditional 'shroud
in the light, and be otherwise disagret
able; but this one, am afraid, will
far more respectable and we'll behave
than the tallow candles of our al
cestors"


Here he lit the candle, and anotht
dismal groan saluted the forlorn yello
light. It looked as if it had lost all i
friends. 1t sputtered and guttered
tallow tears ran down its greasy side
and very soon it became, if not broker
hearted, certainly a broken-backer
tallow candle.


at was not so many years ago." sai
the Professor, "that candles were
general use. though greatly improve
in quality; for the next invention-tl
argand burner, or astral lamp cou
only be afforded by well-to-do peopl
The fame was fed by the oil made fro
the blubber of the sperm whale, whit
was rather expensive: but the Ian
made great improvement In arti6ci
light. Many of us can remember Il
astral lamp, which gave soft, pleasar
steady light under its glass shade, gu;