Great Prospects

The year 1895 promises to mark an important era in the application of invention to the use of man, and it will also mark an important era in the development of the resources of the country. Enterprises of great magnitude are being planned, which if carried out, and there seems no reason why they should not be carried out, will give the people greater conveniences than they have ever before enjoyed. A company has just been formed in Illinois for the purpose of constructing an electric line from Chicago to New York for the purpose of carrying freight exclusively. The tracks are to be elevated, and it is calculated that freight can be transported the entire distance in one day's time, whereas now it requires a week for the majority of freight shipments to reach New York from Chicago.

The era of excessive telephone rates seems to be at an end, and the people are to experience relief along this line through the formation of a company which controls patents which will enable it to become a competitor of the Bell company and at the same time give the people better service by means of what is termed the automatic device which does away with the central office. The switching is done in an automatic way and is under the control of the subscriber. The lesser rates and the greater convenience will be hailed with joy by every user of the telephone.

Then a movement is on foot to harness the power that is now going to waste along the Black river in this state for the purpose of producing electricity for the benefit of all northern New York, and which if carried out will in all probability be connected with the great electricity producing plant at Niagara Falls, which will soon be in operation.

Announcement is made that the New York Central Railroad Company is arranging to substitute electricity as a motive power on its branch running from Buffalo to Niagara Falls, and other railroad corporations are considering the abolishment of steam on certain portions of their lines where electricity can be successfully adapted.

The possibilities of compressed air are spoken of in another column, but in this year of wonderful achievements the adaptation of this force will witness wonderful results. Compressed air is really only in its infancy, but its development will be as rapid as electricity has been for certain purposes.

To cap the climax in this age of research and invention the electrical wizard, Nikola Tesla, is credited with this statement: "If I could only discover an agency through which I could conduct 8,000,000 volts I could produce a light equal to the sun." He says that 8,000,000-volts can be created, but the difficulty lies in its transmission, as the wires now in use would be turned to ashes upon the first contact with a current of this power. Those who have watched the development of the electric current will not for a moment doubt the statement of Tesla.