The Apotheosis of Electricity

The latter half of the present century is to science what the Augustan age of Rome or the Elizabethan age of England was to literature. In our time the Muses have been superseded by the goddess of Electricity. Beside the. name of a Shakespeare or a Virgil, that of an Edison or a Tesla is blazoned on the scroll of time; and as the words of the former aro in all men's hearts and mouths, so the works of the matter are to-day in all men's minds and hands. Human genius, which in. earlier days was esteemed bold to have lain a hand upon old ocean's mane, now has seized the cosmic currents of earth and sky, givers and life, yet swift and sure emissaries of death, and become the triumphant task-master of electricity — "that subtle and sublime agent of the Almighty, the most potent factor in the everlasting mystery of creation."

The National Electrical Exposition, held in conjunction with the nineteenth annual convention of the National Electric Light Association, puts this stupendous achievement, in all its bearings, before the eyes of the American public in the dazzling show which now occupies the Grand Central Palace in New York City. Governor Morton opened this unprecedented exposition by pressing a golden electrical key — the same which President Cleveland used in opening the world's fair at Chicago. The whole building blazed with light and vibrated with motion at this signal, which also, through telegraphic communication, fired simultaneously four guns, at the four sides of the country — namely, at Augusta, Maine, New Orleans, San Francisco, and St. Paul, Minnesota. And the electrical current thus turned on was generated at Niagara Falls by the power of the cataract, transmitted 462 miles over telegraph wires. This is by far the longest transmission of electricity for power or lighting purposes ever accomplished in the world, thus far.

The visitor saw around him at that moment, as he may see at the exposition any day until the end of the month, working machines and devices illustrating every conceivable application of electricity and electrical energy. Every kind of electric light invented up to date contributes to the general illumination there. Some idea of the magnitude of this branch alone may be obtained from the official statement that the delegates present at the convention represent nearly ten thousand electric-lighting plants in the United States, with an aggregate of capital amounting to seven hundred and fifty million dollars.

The vast space of the main floor in the "Palace" is taken up mostly with the countless exhibits of electrical mechanisms used in telegraphy and telephony, railway transportation, lighting, motors, and power, These fill about two hundred sections, occupied by leading companies and firms. In the middle of the hall is the popular clou of the show — the large working model of the Falls of Niagara, with the river above and below, the islands and Canadian shore, and a section of the city of Niagara, showing the power plant just completed there at an expense of six million dollars. Connected with this model are a number of telephone transmitters, in communication with receivers placed at Niagara above the great cataract itself. By this means it is possible to hear, at a distance of four hundred and sixty-two miles, the actual roar of the falls — which, however, is not a "roar" at all, but a deep, awesome dispason, pronounced by a musician to be "a perfectly constructed musical tone, or complete series of tones all in grand unison as in an organ." Nearby is a forty-foot section of the Erie Canal, with real water, and model canal-boats run by the new electric bank haulage system, which is actually being put into operation on that ancient water-way.. Another potent attraction, on the second floor, is the practical demonstration of the use of the Röntgen X rays, by means of Edison's fluoroscope.

Of course the exhibit of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company is a conspicuous feature. It includes a dynamo controlling section complete, with storage battery attached; and an almost infinite variety of electrical apparatus and inventions.

Although it is Nikola Tesla's alternating current motor which makes possible the long-distance transmission of energy over ordinary wires, as from Niagara in the present instance, yet there is comparatively little in this or in Tesla's other inventions and discoveries that could be made effective in a popular exhibit. Thus it happens that Tesla is practically unrepresented at the exposition, at this present writing. It is likely, however, that his "oscillator" and other mechanisms will be in place there by the time these notes are printed.

In connection with our illustrations of the exposition we give a portrait of Mr. Frank W. Hawley, chairman of the reception committee, and one of the most efficient workers for the success of the great show. Mr. Hawley has been prominently identified with the enterprise of applying electricity to the Erie Canal, and the elaborate model already mentioned was constructed at his special direction for the National Electrical Exposition.

HENRY TYRRELL.