,transcriber's ,note3 ,underscores are used as delimiter for italics4 ,small capitals have been transcribed as all capitals4 ,,boys' ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,inventions ,illustration3 ,g4 ,marconi ,,boys' ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,inventions ,,by ,,ray ,,stannard ,,baker ,author of ,boys' ,book of ,inventions1 ,seen in ,germany ,illustration ,,fully ,,illustrated ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,doubleday1 ,,page ,,company ,,mcmix ,copyright1 #aijc1 by ,mc,c,l,u,r,e1 ,,phillips ,,co4 ,published1 ,november1 #aijc1 ,n ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,page ,,the ,,miracle ,,of ,,radium #c ,story of the ,marvels and ,dangers of the ,new ,element ,discovered by ,professor and ,madame ,curie4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,flying ,,machines #bg ,santos-,dumont's ,steerable ,balloons4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,earthquake ,,measurer #gi ,professor ,john ,milne's ,seismograph4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,electrical ,,furnaces #aac ,how the ,hottest ,heat is ,produced--,making ,diamonds4 ,,chapter ,v ,,harnessing ,,the ,,sun #aec ,the ,solar ,motor4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,inventor ,,and ,,the ,,food ,,problem #agc ,fixing of ,nitrogen--,experiments of ,professor ,nobbe4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,marconi ,,and ,,his ,,great ,,achievements #bjg ,new ,experiments in ,wireless ,telegraphy4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,sea-,,builders #bee ,the ,story of ,lighthouse ,building--,stone-,tower ,lighthouses1 ,iron ,pile ,lighthouses1 and ,steel ,cylinder ,lighthouses4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,newest ,,electric ,,light #bic ,peter ,cooper ,hewitt and his ,three ,great ,inventions --,the ,mercury ,arc ,light--,the ,new ,electrical ,converter--,the ,hewitt ,interrupter4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,page ,guglielmo ,marconi ,frontispiece ,m4 ,curie ,explaining the ,wonders of ,radium at the ,sorbonne #e ,dr4 ,danlos ,treating a ,lupus ,patient with ,radium at the ,st4 ,louis ,hospital1 ,paris #ac ,radium as a ,test for ,real ,diamonds #ai ,at the approach of ,radium pure gems are thrown into great brilliancy1 while imitations remain dull4 ,m4 and ,mme4 ,curie ,finishing the ,preparation of some ,radium #be ,m4 ,alberto ,santos-,dumont #bi ,severo's ,balloon1 the ,pax1 which on its ,first ,ascent at a ,height of about #b1jjj feet1 ,burst and ,exploded1 ,sending to a ,terrible ,death both ,m4 ,severo and his ,assistant #cc ,the ,trial of ,count ,zeppelin's ,air-,ship1 ,july #b1 #aijj #cg ,m4 ,santos-,dumont at ,nineteen #da ,m4 ,santos-,dumont's ,first ,balloon 7,spherical7 #dc ,m4 ,santos-,dumont's ,workshop #de ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #a #di ,basket of ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #a #eb ,showing propeller and motor4 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #a #ed ,showing how it began to fold up in the middle4 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #e ,rounding ,eiffel ,tower1 ,july #ac1 #aija #eg ,the ,interior of the ,arodrome #fa ,showing its construction1 the inflated balloon1 and the pennant with its mystic letters4 ,the ,fall into the ,courtyard of the ,trocadero ,hotel #fe ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #e4 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #f--,the ,prize ,winner #fi ,air-,ship ,pointing almost ,vertically ,upward #gc ,falling to the ,sea #gc ,just ,before the ,air-,ship ,lost all its ,gas #gd ,losing its ,gas and ,sinking #gd ,the ,balloon ,falling to the ,waves #ge ,boats ,around the ,ruined ,air-,ship #ge ,manoeuvring ,above the ,bay at ,monte ,carlo #gg ,professor ,john ,milne #hj ,from a photograph by ,s4 ,suzuki1 ,kudanzaka1 ,tokio4 ,professor ,milne's ,sensitive ,pendulum1 or ,seismograph1 as it ,appears ,enclosed in its ,protecting ,box #ha ,the ,sensitive ,pendulum1 or ,seismograph1 as it ,appears with the ,protecting ,box ,removed #ha ,gifu1 ,japan1 after the ,earthquake of #ahia #he ,this and the pictures following on pages #hi1 #aja1 #aaa1 are from ,japanese photographs reproduced in ,the ,great ,earthquake in ,japan1 #ahia1 by ,john ,milne and ,w4 ,k4 ,burton4 ,the ,work of the ,great ,earthquake of #ahia in ,neo ,valley1 ,japan #hi ,diagram ,showing ,vertical and ,horizontal ,sections of the ,more ,sensitive of ,professor ,milne's ,two ,pendulums1 or ,seismographs #ic ,seismogram of a ,borneo ,earthquake that ,occurred ,september #bj1 #ahig #id ,effect of the ,great ,earthquake of #ahia on the ,nagara ,gawa ,railway ,bridge1 ,japan #aja ,pieces of a ,submarine ,cable ,picked ,up in the ,gulf of ,mexico in #ahhh #ajh ,the kinks are caused by seismic disturbances1 and they show how much distortion a cable can suffer and still remain in good electrical condition1 as this was found to be4 ,record made on a ,stationary ,surface by the ,vibrations of the ,japanese ,earthquake of ,july #ai1 #ahia #aaa ,showing the complicated character of the motion 7common to most earthquakes71 and also the course of a point at the centre of disturbance4 ,table of ,temperatures #aae ,mr4 ,e4 ,g4 ,acheson1 ,one of the ,pioneers in the ,investigation of ,high ,temperatures #abe ,the ,furnace-,room1 where ,carborundum is ,made #aca ,a great1 dingy brick building1 open at the sides like a shed4 ,taking ,off a ,crust of the ,furnace at ,night #ace ,the light is so intense that you cannot look at it without hurting the eyes4 ,the ,interior of a ,furnace as it ,appears after the ,carborundum has been ,taken ,out #adc ,blowing ,off #adg ,not infrequently gas collects1 forming a miniature mountain1 with a crater at its summit1 and blowing a magnificent fountain of flame1 lava1 and dense white vapour high into the air1 and roaring all the while in a most terrifying manner4 ,side ,view of the ,solar ,motor #aee ,front ,view of the ,los ,angeles ,solar ,motor #aei ,the ,brilliant ,steam ,boiler ,glistens in the ,centre #afc ,the ,rear ,machinery for ,operating the ,reflector #afg ,trees ,growing in ,water at ,professor ,nobbe's ,laboratory #ahg ,experimenting with ,nitrogen in ,professor ,nobbe's ,laboratory #aia ,mr4 ,charles ,s4 ,bradley #aih ,mr4 ,d4 ,r4 ,lovejoy #aii ,eight-,inch #aj1jjj-,volt ,arcs ,burning the ,air for ,fixing ,nitrogen #bjj ,machine for ,burning the ,air with ,electric ,arcs so as to ,produce ,nitrates #bja ,marconi4 ,the ,sending of an ,epoch-,making ,message #bjf ,january #ah1 #aijc1 marks the beginning of a new era in telegraphic communication4 ,on that day there was sent by ,marconi himself from the wireless station at ,south ,wellfleet1 ,cape ,cod1 ,mass41 to the station at ,poldhu1 ,cornwall1 ,england1 a distance of #c1jjj miles1 the message--destined soon to be historic--from the ,president of the ,united ,states to the ,king of ,england4 ,preparing to ,fly the ,kite which ,supported the ,receiving ,wire #bac ,marconi on the extreme left4 ,mr4 ,marconi and his ,assistants in ,newfoundland3 ,mr4 ,kemp on the ,left1 ,mr4 ,paget on the ,right #bag ,they are sitting on a balloon basket1 with one of the ,baden-,powell kites in the background4 ,marconi ,transatlantic ,station at ,wellfleet1 ,cape ,cod1 ,mass4 #bbi ,at ,poole1 ,england #bca ,nearer ,view1 ,south ,foreland ,station #bce ,alum ,bay ,station1 ,isle of ,wight #bcg ,marconi ,room1 ,s4,s4 ,philadelphia #bda ,transatlantic ,high ,power1 ,marconi ,station at ,glace ,bay1 ,nova ,scotia #bdg ,work on the ,smith ,point ,lighthouse ,stopped by a ,violent ,storm #bed ,just after the cylinder had been set in place1 and while the workmen were hurrying to stow sufficient ballast to secure it against a heavy sea1 a storm forced the attending steamer to draw away4 ,one of the barges was almost overturned1 and a lifeboat was driven against the cylinder and crushed to pieces4 ,robert ,stevenson1 ,builder of the ,famous ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse1 and ,author of ,important ,inventions and ,improvements in the ,system of ,sea ,lighting #bef ,from a bust by ,joseph1 now in the library of ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse4 ,the ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse1 on the ,eastern ,coast of ,scotland #beg ,from the painting by ,turner4 ,the ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse was built by ,robert ,stevenson1 grandfather of ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 on the ,inchcape ,reef1 in the ,north ,sea1 near ,dundee1 ,scotland1 in #ahjg-ahaj4 ,the ,present ,lighthouse on ,minot's ,ledge1 near the ,entrance of ,massachusetts ,bay1 ,fifteen ,miles ,southeast of ,boston #bfj ,rising sheer out of the sea1 like a huge stone cannon1 mouth upward4--,longfellow4 ,the ,lighthouse on ,stannard ,rock1 ,lake ,superior #bfa ,this is a stone-tower lighthouse1 similar in construction to the one built with such difficulty on ,spectacle ,reef1 ,lake ,huron4 ,the ,fowey ,rocks ,lighthouse1 ,florida #bfd ,fourteen-,foot ,bank ,light ,station1 ,delaware ,bay1 ,del4 #bfh ,the ,great ,beds ,light ,station1 ,raritan ,bay1 ,n4 ,j4 #bgj ,a specimen of iron cylinder construction4 ,a ,storm at the ,tillamook ,lighthouse1 in the ,pacific1 one mile out from ,tillamook ,head1 ,oregon #bge ,saving the ,cylinder of the ,lighthouse at ,smith ,point1 ,chesapeake ,bay1 from being ,swamped in a ,high ,sea #bgi ,when the builders were towing the unwieldy cylinder out to set it in position1 the water became suddenly rough and began to fill it4 ,workmen1 at the risk of their lives1 boarded the cylinder1 and by desperate labours succeeded in spreading sail canvas over it1 and so saved a structure that had cost months of labour and thousands of dollars4 ,great ,waves ,dashed ,entirely ,over ,them1 so that ,they had to ,cling for ,their ,lives to the ,air-,pipes #bhe ,in erecting the ,smith ,point lighthouse1 after the cylinder was set up1 it had to be forced down fifteen and a half feet into the sand4 ,the lives of the men who did this1 working in the caisson at the bottom of the sea1 were absolutely in the hands of the men who managed the engine and the air-compressor at the surface2 and twice these latter were entirely deluged by the sea1 but still maintained steam and kept everything running as if no sea was playing over them4 ,peter ,cooper ,hewitt #bib ,with his interrupter4 ,watching a ,test of the ,hewitt ,converter #bii ,lord ,kelvin in the centre4 ,the ,hewitt ,mercury ,vapour ,light #cje ,the circular piece just above the switch button is one form of boosting coil which operates for a fraction of a second when the current is first turned on4 ,the tube shown here is about an inch in diameter and several feet long4 ,various shapes may be used4 ,unless broken1 the tubes never need renewal4 ,testing a ,hewitt ,converter #caa ,the row of incandescent lights is used1 together with a voltmeter and ammeter1 to measure strength of current1 resistance1 and loss in converting4 ,,boys' ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,inventions ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,miracle ,,of ,,radium ,story of the ,marvels and ,dangers of the ,new ,element ,discovered by ,professor and ,madame ,curie ,no substance ever discovered better deserves the term ,miracle of ,science1 given it by a famous ,english experimenter1 than radium4 ,here is a little pinch of white powder that looks much like common table salt4 ,it is one of many similar pinches sealed in little glass tubes and owned by ,professor ,curie1 of ,paris4 ,if you should find one of these little tubes in the street you would think it hardly worth carrying away1 and yet many a one of them could not be bought for a small fortune4 ,for all the radium in the world to-day could be heaped on a single table-spoon2 a pound of it would be worth nearly a million dollars1 or more than three thousand times its weight in pure gold4 ,professor and ,madame ,curie1 who discovered radium1 now possess the largest amount of any one1 but there are small quantities in the hands of ,english and ,german scientists1 and perhaps a dozen specimens in ,america1 one owned by the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history and several by ,mr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,hammer1 of ,new ,york1 who was the first ,american to experiment with the rare and precious substance4 ,illustration3 ,m4 ,curie ,explaining the ,wonders of ,radium at the ,sorbonne4 ,and perhaps it is just as well1 at first1 not to have too much radium1 for besides being wonderful it is also dangerous4 ,if a pound or two could be gathered in a mass it would kill every one who came within its influence4 ,people might go up and even handle the white powder without at the moment feeling any ill-effects1 but in a week or two the mysterious and dreadful radium influence would begin to take effect4 ,slowly the victim's skin would peel off1 his body would become one great sore1 he would fall blind1 and finally die of paralysis and congestion of the spinal cord4 ,even the small quantities now in hand have severely burned the experimenters4 ,professor ,curie himself has a number of bad scars on his hands and arms due to ulcers caused by handling radium4 ,and ,professor ,becquerel1 in journeying to ,london1 carried in his waistcoat pocket a small tube of radium to be used in a lecture there4 ,nothing happened at the time1 but about two weeks later ,professor ,becquerel observed that the skin under his pocket was beginning to redden and fall away1 and finally a deep and painful sore formed there and remained for weeks before healing4 ,it is just as well1 therefore1 that scientists learn more about radium and how to handle and control it before too much is manufactured4 ,but the cost and danger of radium are only two of its least extraordinary features4 ,seen in the daylight radium is a commonplace white powder1 but in the dark it glows like live fire1 and the purer it is the more it glows4 ,i held for a moment one of ,mr4 ,hammer's radium tubes1 and1 the lights being turned off1 it seemed like a live coal burning there in my hand1 and yet ,i felt no sensation of heat4 ,but radium really does give off heat as well as light--and gives it off continually without losing appreciable weight4 ,and that is what seems to scientists a miracle4 ,imagine a coal which should burn day in and day out for hundreds of years1 always bright1 always giving off heat and light1 and yet not growing any smaller1 not turning to ashes4 ,that is the almost unbelievable property of radium4 ,professor ,curie has specimens which have thus been radiating light and heat for several years1 with practically no loss of weight2 and no small amount of light and heat either4 ,professor ,curie has found that a given quantity of radium will melt its own weight of ice every hour1 and continue doing so practically for ever4 ,one of his associates has calculated that a fixed quantity of radium1 after throwing out heat for #a1jjj1jjj1jjj years1 would have lost only one-millionth part of its bulk4 ,what is the reason for these extraordinary properties8 ,is it not perpetual motion8 ,all the great scientists of the world have been trying in vain to answer these questions4 ,several theories have been advanced1 of which ,i shall speak later1 but none seems a satisfactory explanation4 ,when we know more of radium perhaps we shall be better prepared to say what it really is1 and we may have to unlearn many of the great principles of physics and chemistry which were seemingly settled for all time4 ,radium would seem1 indeed1 to defy the very law of the conservation of energy4 ,the practical mind at once sees radium in use as a new source of heat and light for mankind1 a furnace that would never have to be fed or cleaned1 a lamp that would glow perpetually--and the time may really come1 the inventor having taken hold of the wonder that the scientist has produced1 when many practical applications of the new element may be devised4 ,at present1 however1 the scarcity and cost and danger of radium will keep it in the hands of the experimenter4 ,another astonishing property of radium is its power of communicating some of its strange qualities to certain substances brought within its influence4 ,mr4 ,hammer kept his radium tubes for a time in a pasteboard box4 ,this being broken1 he removed the tubes and threw the pasteboard aside4 ,several days later1 having occasion to turn off the lights in the laboratory1 he found that the discarded box was glowing there in the dark4 ,it had taken up some of the rays from the radium4 ,nearly everything that comes in contact with radium thus becomes radio-active--even the experimenter's clothes and hands1 so that delicate instruments are disturbed by the invisible shine of the experimenter4 ,photographs can be taken with radium2 it also makes the air around it a better conductor of electricity4 ,and still more marvellous1 besides being an agency for the destruction of life1 as ,i shall show later1 it can actually be used in other ways to prolong life1 and the future may show many wonderful uses for it in the treatment of disease4 ,already1 in ,paris1 several cases of lupus have been cured with it1 and there is evidence that it will help to restore sight in certain cases of blindness4 ,i held a tube of radium to my closed eye and was conscious of the sensation of light2 the same sensation was present when the tube was held to my temple1 thus showing that the radium has an effect on the optic nerve4 ,a little blind girl in ,new ,york1 who had never had the sensation of light1 began to see a little after one treatment with radium1 and experiments are still going on1 but cautiously1 for fear that injuries may result4 ,we now come to the fascinating story of the discovery and manufacture of radium4 ,it has long been known that certain substances are phosphorescent2 that is1 under the proper conditions they glow without apparent heat4 ,everybody has seen fox-fire in the damp and decaying woods--a cold light which scientists have never been able to explain4 ,to ,m4 ,henri ,becquerel of the ,french ,institute is generally given the credit for having begun the real study of radio-activity1 although1 as in every great discovery and invention1 many other scientists and practical electricians had paved the way by their investigations4 ,in #ahif ,m4 ,becquerel was conducting some experiments with various phosphorescent substances4 ,he exposed some salts of the metal uranium to the sunlight until they became phosphorescent1 and then tried their effect upon a photographic plate4 ,it rained1 and he put the plate away in a drawer for several days4 ,when he developed it he was surprised to find on it a better image than sunlight would have made4 ,and thus1 by a sort of accident1 he led up to the discovery of the ,becquerel rays1 so called4 ,uranium is extracted from a metal or ore called uranite by mineralogists1 and popularly known as pitch-blende4 ,every young college student who has studied geology or chemistry has heard of pitch-blende4 ,two years after ,becquerel's discovery of the radio-activity of uranium ,professor ,pierre ,curie and ,madame ,curie1 of ,paris1 made the discovery that some of the samples of pitch-blende which they had were much more powerful than any uranium that they had used4 ,was there1 then1 something more powerful than uranium within the pitch-blende8 ,they began to boil down the waste rock left at the uranium mines1 and found a strange new element1 related to uranium but different1 to which ,madame ,curie gave the name polonium1 after her native land1 ,poland4 ,illustration3 ,dr4 ,danlos ,treating a ,lupus ,patient with ,radium at the ,st4 ,louis ,hospital1 ,paris4 ,then they did some more boiling down1 and succeeded in isolating an entirely new substance1 and the most radio-active yet discovered--radium4 ,shortly after that ,debierne discovered still another radio-active substance1 to which he gave the name actinium4 ,thus three new elements were added to the list of the world's substances1 and the most wonderful of these is radium4 ,in a day1 almost1 the ,curies became famous in the scientific world1 and many of the greatest investigators in the world--,lord ,kelvin1 ,sir ,william ,crookes1 and others--took up the study of radium4 ,very rarely have a man and woman worked together so perfectly as ,professor ,curie and his wife4 ,madame ,curie was a ,polish girl2 she came to ,paris to study1 very poor1 but possessed of rare talents4 ,her marriage with ,m4 ,curie was such a union as must have produced some fine result4 ,without his scientific learning and vivid imagination it is doubtful if radium would ever have been dreamed of1 and without her determination and patience against detail it is likely the dream would never have been realised4 ,one of the chief problems to be met in finding the secrets of radium is the great difficulty and expense1 in the first place1 of getting any of the substance to experiment with4 ,the ,curies have had to manufacture all they themselves have used4 ,in the first place1 pitch-blende1 which closely resembles iron in appearance1 is not plentiful4 ,the best of it comes from ,bohemia1 but it is also found in ,saxony1 ,norway1 ,egypt1 and in ,north ,carolina1 ,colorado1 and ,utah4 ,it appears in small lumps in veins of gold1 silver1 and mica1 and sometimes in granite4 ,comparatively speaking1 it is easy to get uranium from pitch-blende4 ,but to get the radium from the residues is a much more complicated task4 ,according to ,professor ,curie1 it is necessary to refine about #e1jjj tons of uranium residues to get a kilogramme--or about #b4b pounds--of radium4 ,it is hardly surprising1 therefore1 considering the enormous amount of raw material which must be handled1 that the cost of this rare mineral should be high4 ,it has been said that there is more gold in sea-water than radium in the earth4 ,professor ,curie has an extensive plant at ,ivry1 near ,paris1 where the refuse dust brought from the uranium mines is treated by complicated processes1 which finally yield a powder or crystals containing a small amount of radium4 ,these crystals are sent to the laboratory of the ,curies where the final delicate processes of extraction are carried on by the professor and his wife4 ,and1 after all1 pure metallic radium is not obtained4 ,it could be obtained1 and ,professor ,curie has actually made a very small quantity of it1 but it is unstable1 immediately oxidised by the air and destroyed4 ,so it is manufactured only in the form of chloride and bromide of radium4 ,the strength of radium is measured in radio-activity1 in the power of emitting rays4 ,so we hear of radium of an intensity of #de or #g1jjj or #cjj1jjj4 ,this method of measurement is thus explained4 ,taking the radio-activity of uranium as the unit1 as one1 then a certain specimen of radium is said to be #de or #g1jjj or #cjj1jjj times as intense1 to have so many times as much radio-activity4 ,the radium of highest intensity in this country now is #cjj1jjj1 but the ,curies have succeeded in producing a specimen of #a1ejj1jjj intensity4 ,this is so powerful and dangerous that it must be kept wrapped in lead1 which has the effect of stopping some of the rays4 ,rock-salt is another substance which hinders the passage of the rays4 ,english scientists have devised a curious little instrument1 called the spinthariscope1 which allows one actually to see the emanations from radium and to realise as never before the extraordinary atomic disintegration that is going on ceaselessly in this strange metal4 ,the spinthariscope is a small microscope that allows one to look at a tiny fragment of radium supported on a little wire over a screen4 ,illustration3 ,radium as a ,test for ,real ,diamonds4 ,at the approach of ,radium pure gems are thrown into great brilliancy1 while imitations remain dull4 ,the experiment must be made in a darkened room after the eye has gradually acquired its greatest sensitiveness to light4 ,looking intently through the lenses the screen appears like a heaven of flashing meteors among which stars shine forth suddenly and die away4 ,near the central radium speck the fire-shower is most brilliant1 while toward the rim of the circle it grows fainter4 ,and this goes on continuously as the metal throws off its rays like myriads of bursting1 blazing stars4 ,m4 ,curie has spoken of this vision1 really contained within the area of a two-cent piece1 as one of the most beautiful and impressive he ever witnessed2 it was as if he had been allowed to assist at the birth of a universe4 ,radium emits radiations1 that is1 it shoots off particles of itself into space at such terrific speed that #ib1ejj miles a second is considered a small estimate4 ,yet1 in spite of the fact that this waste goes on eternally and at such enormous velocity1 the actual loss sustained by the radium is1 as ,i have said1 infinitesimal4 ,we now come to one of the most interesting phases of the whole subject of radium--that is1 the influence which its strange rays have upon animal life4 ,mr4 ,cleveland ,moffett1 to whom ,i am indebted for the facts of the following experiments1 recently visited ,m4 ,danysz1 of the ,pasteur ,institute in ,paris1 who has made some wonderful investigations in this branch of science4 ,m4 ,danysz has tried the effect of radium on mice1 rabbits1 guinea-pigs1 and other animals1 and on plants1 and he found that if exposed long enough they all died1 often first losing their fur and becoming blind4 ,but the most startling experiment performed thus far at the ,pasteur ,institute is one undertaken by ,m4 ,danysz1 ,february #c1 #aijc1 when he placed three or four dozen little larv that live in flour in a glass flask1 where they were exposed for a few hours to the rays of radium4 ,he placed a like number of larv in a control-flask1 where there was no radium1 and he left enough flour in each flask for the larv to live upon4 ,after several weeks it was found that most of the larv in the radium flask had been killed1 but that a few of them had escaped the destructive action of the rays by crawling away to distant corners of the flask1 where they were still living4 ,but they were living as larv1 not as moths1 whereas in the natural course they should have become moths long before1 as was seen by the control-flask1 where the larv had all changed into moths1 and these had hatched their eggs into other larv1 and these had produced other moths4 ,all of which made it clear that the radium rays had arrested the development of these little worms4 ,more weeks passed1 and still three or four of the larv lived1 and four full months after the original exposure one larva was still alive and wriggling1 while its contemporary larv in the other jar had long since passed away as aged moths1 leaving generations of moths' eggs and larv to witness this miracle1 for here was a larva1 venerable among his kind1 that had actually lived through three times the span of life accorded to his fellows and that still showed no sign of changing into a moth4 ,it was very much as if a young man of twenty-one should keep the appearance of twenty-one for two hundred and fifty years6 ,not less remarkable than these are some recent experiments made by ,m4 ,bohn at the biological laboratories of the ,sorbonne1 his conclusions being that radium may so far modify various lower forms of life as to actually produce new species of monsters1 abnormal deviations from the original type of the species4 ,furthermore1 he has been able to accomplish with radium what ,professor ,loeb did with salt solutions--that is1 to cause the growth of unfecundated eggs of the sea-urchin1 and to advance these through several stages of their development4 ,in other words1 he has used radium to create life where there would have been no life but for this strange stimulation4 ,so much for the wonders of radium4 ,we seem1 indeed1 to be on the border-land of still more wonderful discoveries4 ,perhaps these radium investigations will lead to some explanation of that great question in science1 ,what is electricity8--and that1 who can say1 may solve that profounder problem1 ,what is life8 ,at present there are two theories as to the source of energy in radium1 thus stated by ,professor ,curie3 ,where is the source of this energy8 ,both ,madame ,curie and myself are unable to go beyond hypotheses2 one of these consists in supposing the atoms of radium evolving and transforming into another simple body1 and1 despite the extreme slowness of that transformation1 which cannot be located during a year1 the amount of energy involved in that transformation is tremendous4 ,illustration3 ,m4 and ,mme4 ,curie ,finishing the ,preparation of some ,radium4 ,the second hypothesis consists in the supposition that radium is capable of capturing and utilising some radiations of unknown nature which cross space without our knowledge4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,flying ,,machines,a ,santos-,dumont's ,steerable ,balloons ,among the inventors engaged in building flying machines the most famous1 perhaps1 is ,m4 ,santos-,dumont1 whose thrilling adventures and noteworthy successes have given him world-wide fame4 ,he was the first1 indeed1 to build a balloon that was really steerable with any degree of certainty1 winning a prize of #bj1jjj for driving his great air-ship over a certain specified course in ,paris and bringing it back to the starting-point within a specified time4 ,another experimenter who has had some degree of success is the ,german1 ,count ,zeppelin1 who guided a huge air-ship over ,lake ,geneva1 ,switzerland1 in #aija4 ,a ,in the first ,boys' ,book of ,inventions1 the author devoted a chapter entitled ,through the ,air to the interesting work of the inventors of flying machines who have experimented with aroplanes2 that is1 soaring machines modelled after the wings of a bird4 ,the work of ,professor ,s4 ,p4 ,langley with his marvellous ,arodrome1 and that of ,hiram ,maxim and of ,otto ,lilienthal1 were given especial consideration4 ,in the present chapter attention is directed to an entirely different class of flying machines--the steerable balloons4 ,carl ,e4 ,myers1 an ,american1 an expert balloonist1 has also built balloons of small size which he has been able to steer4 ,and mention must also be made of ,m4 ,severo1 the ,frenchman1 whose ship1 ,pax1 exploded in the air on its first trip1 dropping the inventor and his assistant hundreds of feet downward to their death on the pavements of ,paris4 ,it will be most interesting and instructive to consider especially the work of ,santos-,dumont1 for he has been not only the most successful in making actual flights of any of the inventors who have taken up this great problem of air navigation1 but his adventures have been most romantic and thrilling4 ,in five years' time he has built and operated no fewer than ten great air-ships which he has sailed in various parts of ,europe and in ,america4 ,he has even crowned his experiences with more than one shipwreck in the air1 an adventure by the side of which an ordinary sea-wreck is tame indeed1 and he has escaped with his life as a result not only of good fortune but of real daring and presence of mind in the face of danger4 ,illustration3 ,m4 ,alberto ,santos-,dumont4 ,for an inventor1 ,m4 ,santos-,dumont is a rather extraordinary character4 ,the typical inventor--at least so we think--is poor1 starts poor at least1 and has a struggle to rise4 ,m4 ,santos-,dumont has always had plenty of means4 ,the inventor is always first a dreamer1 we think4 ,m4 ,santos-,dumont is first a thoroughly practical man1 an engineer with a good knowledge of science1 to which he adds the imagination of the inventor and the keen love and daring of the sportsman and adventurer1 without which his experiments could never have been carried through4 ,it would seem1 indeed1 that nature had especially equipped ,m4 ,santos-,dumont for his work in arial navigation4 ,supposing an inventor1 having all the mental equipment of ,santos-,dumont1 the ideas1 the energy1 the means--supposing such a man had weighed two hundred pounds6 ,he would have had to build a very large ship to carry his own weight1 and all his problems would have been more complex1 more difficult4 ,nature made ,santos-,dumont a very small1 slim1 slight man1 weighing hardly more than one hundred pounds1 but very active and muscular4 ,the first time ,i ever saw him1 in ,crystal ,palace1 ,london1 where he was setting up one of his air-ships in a huge gallery1 ,i thought him at first glance to be some boy1 a possible spectator1 who was interested in flying machines4 ,his face1 bare and shaven1 looked youthful2 he wore a narrow-brimmed straw hat and was dressed in the height of fashion4 ,one would not have guessed him to be the inventor4 ,a moment later he had his coat off and was showing his men how to put up the great fan-like rudder of the ship which loomed above us like some enormous ,rugby football1 and then one saw the power that was in him4 ,brazilian by nationality1 he has a dark face1 large dark eyes1 an alertness of step and an energetic way of talking4 ,his boyhood was spent on his father's extensive coffee plantation in ,brazil2 his later years mostly in ,paris1 though he has been a frequent visitor to ,england and ,america4 ,he speaks ,spanish1 ,french1 and ,english with equal fluency4 ,indeed1 hearing his ,english one would say that he must certainly have had his training in an ,english-speaking country1 though no one would mistake him in appearance for either ,english or ,american1 for he is very much a ,latin in face and form4 ,one finds him most unpretentious1 modest1 speaking freely of his inventions1 and yet never taking to himself any undue credit4 ,illustration3 ,severo's ,balloon1 the ,pax1 which1 on its ,first ,ascent at a ,height of about #b1jjj feet1 ,burst and ,exploded1 ,sending to a ,terrible ,death both ,m4 ,severo and his ,assistant4 ,santos-,dumont is still a very young man to have accomplished so much4 ,he was born in ,brazil1 ,july #bj1 #ahgc4 ,from his earliest boyhood he was interested in kites and dreamed of being able to fly4 ,he says3 ,i cannot say at what age ,i made my first kites2 but ,i remember how my comrades used to tease me at our game of ',pigeon flies'6 ,all the children gather round a table1 and the leader calls out3 ',pigeon flies6 ,hen flies6 ,crow flies6 ,bee flies6' and so on2 and at each call we were supposed to raise our fingers4 ,sometimes1 however1 he would call out3 ',dog flies6 ,fox flies6' or some other like impossibility1 to catch us4 ,if any one should raise a finger1 he was made to pay a forfeit4 ,now my playmates never failed to wink and smile mockingly at me when one of them called ',man flies6' ,for at the word ,i would always lift my finger very high1 as a sign of absolute conviction2 and ,i refused with energy to pay the forfeit4 ,the more they laughed at me1 the happier ,i was4 ,of course he read ,jules ,verne's stories and was carried away in imagination in that author's wonderful balloons and flying machines4 ,he also devoured the history of arial navigation which he found in the works of ,camille ,flammarion and ,wilfrid de ,fonvielle4 ,he says1 further3 ,at an early age ,i was taught the principles of mechanics by my father1 an engineer of the cole ,centrale des ,arts et ,manufactures of ,paris4 ,from childhood ,i had a passion for making calculations and inventing2 and from my tenth year ,i was accustomed to handle the powerful and heavy machines of our factories1 and drive the compound locomotives on our plantation railroads4 ,i was constantly taken up with the desire to lighten their parts2 and ,i dreamed of air-ships and flying machines4 ,the fact that up to the end of the nineteenth century those who occupied themselves with arial navigation passed for crazy1 rather pleased than offended me4 ,it is incredible and yet true that in the kingdom of the wise1 to which all of us flatter ourselves we belong1 it is always the fools who finish by being in the right4 ,i had read that ,montgolfire was thought a fool until the day when he stopped his insulters' mouths by launching the first spherical balloon into the heavens4 ,illustration3 ,the ,trial of ,count ,zeppelin's ,air-,ship1 ,july #b1 #aijj4 ,upon going to ,paris ,santos-,dumont at once took up the work of making himself familiar with ballooning in all of its practical aspects4 ,he saw that if he were ever to build an air-ship he must first know all there was to know about balloon-making1 methods of filling with gas1 lifting capacities1 the action of balloons in the air1 and all the thousand and one things connected with ordinary ballooning4 ,and ,paris has always been the centre of this information4 ,he regards this preliminary knowledge as indispensable to every air-ship builder4 ,he says3 ,before launching out into the construction of air-ships ,i took pains to make myself familiar with the handling of spherical balloons4 ,i did not hasten1 but took plenty of time4 ,in all1 ,i made something like thirty ascensions2 at first as a passenger1 then as my own captain1 and at last alone4 ,some of these spherical balloons ,i rented1 others ,i had constructed for me4 ,of such ,i have owned at least six or eight4 ,and ,i do not believe that without such previous study and experience a man is capable of succeeding with an elongated balloon1 whose handling is so much more delicate4 ,before attempting to direct an air-ship1 it is necessary to have learned in an ordinary balloon the conditions of the atmospheric medium2 to have become acquainted with the caprices of the wind1 now caressing and now brutal1 and to have gone thoroughly into the difficulties of the ballast problem1 from the triple point of view of starting1 of equilibrium in the air1 and of landing at the end of the trip4 ,to go up in an ordinary balloon1 at least a dozen times1 seems to me an indispensable preliminary for acquiring an exact notion of the requisites for the construction and handling of an elongated balloon1 furnished with its motor and propeller4 ,illustration3 ,m4 ,santos-,dumont at ,nineteen4 ,illustration3 ,m4 ,santos-,dumont's ,first ,balloon 7,spherical74 ,his first ascent in a balloon was made in #ahig1 when he was #bd years old1 as a passenger with ,m4 ,machuron1 who had then just returned from the ,arctic regions1 where he had helped to start ,andre on his ill-fated voyage in search of the ,north ,pole4 ,he found the sensations delightful1 being so pleased with the experience that he subsequently secured a small balloon of his own1 in which he made several ascents4 ,he also climbed the ,alps in order to learn more of the condition of the air at high altitudes4 ,in #ahih he set about experimentation in the building of a real air-ship or steerable balloon4 ,efforts had been made in this direction by former inventors1 but with small success4 ,as far back as #aheb ,henri ,gifford made the first of the familiar cigar-shaped balloons1 trying steam as a motive power1 but he soon found that an engine strong enough to propel the balloon was too heavy for the balloon to lift4 ,that simple failure discouraged experimenters for a long time4 ,in #ahgg ,dupuy de ,lome tried steering a balloon by man power1 but the man was not strong enough4 ,in #ahhc another ,frenchman1 ,tissandier1 experimented with electricity1 but1 as his batteries had to be light enough to be taken up in the balloon1 they proved effective only in helping to weigh it down to earth again4 ,krebs and ,renard1 military aronauts1 succeeded better with electricity1 for they could make a small circuit with their air-ship1 provided only that no air was stirring4 ,enthusiasts cried out that the problem was solved1 but the two aronauts themselves1 as good mathematicians1 figured out that they would have to have a motor eight times more powerful than their own1 and that without any increase in weight1 which was an impossibility at that time4 ,illustration3 ,m4 ,santos-,dumont's ,workshop4 ,santos-,dumont saw plainly that none of these methods would work4 ,what then was he to try8 ,why1 simple enough3 the petroleum motor from his automobile4 ,the recent development of the motor-vehicle had produced a light1 strong1 durable motor4 ,it was ,santos-,dumont's first great claim to originality that he should have applied this to the balloon4 ,he discovered no new principles1 invented nothing that could be patented4 ,the cigar-shaped balloon had long been used1 so had the petroleum motor1 but he put them together4 ,and he did very much more than that4 ,the very essence of success in arial navigation is to secure light weight with great strength and power4 ,the inventor who can build the lightest machine1 which is also strong1 will1 other things being equal1 have the greatest success4 ,it is to ,santos-,dumont's great credit that he was able to build a very light motor1 that also gave a good horse-power1 and a light balloon that was also very strong4 ,the one great source of danger in using the petroleum motor in connection with a balloon is that the sparking of the motor will set fire to the inflammable hydrogen gas with which the balloon is filled1 causing a terrible explosion4 ,this1 indeed1 is what is thought to have caused the mortal mishap to ,severo and his balloon4 ,but ,santos-,dumont was able to surmount this and many other difficulties of construction4 ,the inventor finally succeeded in making a motor--remarkable at that time--which1 weighing only #ff pounds1 would produce #c-a_/b horse-power4 ,it is easy to understand why a petroleum motor is such a power-producer for its size4 ,the greater part of its fuel is in the air itself1 and the air is all around the balloon1 ready for use4 ,the aronaut does not have to take it up with him4 ,that proportion of his fuel that he must carry1 the petroleum1 is comparatively insignificant in weight4 ,a few figures will prove interesting4 ,two and one-half gallons of gasoline1 weighing #ae pounds1 will drive a #b-a_/b horse-power autocycle #id miles in four hours4 ,santos-,dumont's balloon needs less than #e-a_/c gallons for a three hours' trip4 ,this weighs but #cg pounds1 and occupies a small cigar-shaped brass reservoir near the motor of his machine4 ,an electric battery of the same horse-power would weigh #b1fie pounds4 ,illustration3 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #a4 ,santos-,dumont tested his new motor very thoroughly by attaching it to a tricycle with which he made some record runs in and around ,paris4 ,having satisfied himself that it was thoroughly serviceable he set about making the balloon1 cigar-shaped1 #hb feet long4 ,to keep within the limit of weight1 he says1 ,i first gave up the network and the outer cover of the ordinary balloon4 ,i considered this sort of second envelope1 holding the first within it1 to be superfluous1 and even harmful1 if not dangerous4 ,to the envelope proper ,i attached the suspension-cords of my basket directly1 by means of small wooden rods introduced into horizontal hems1 sewed on both sides along the stuff of the balloon for a great part of its length4 ,again1 in order not to pass the #ff pounds weight1 including varnish1 ,i was obliged to choose ,japan silk that was extremely fine1 but fairly resisting4 ,up to this time no one had ever thought of using this for balloons intended to carry up an aronaut1 but only for little balloons carrying light registering apparatus for investigations in the upper air4 ,illustration3 ,basket of ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #a4 ,showing propeller and motor4 ,i gave the order for this balloon to ,m4 ,lachambre4 ,at first he refused to take it1 saying that such a thing had never been made1 and that he would not be responsible for my rashness4 ,i answered that ,i would not change a thing in the plan of the balloon1 if ,i had to sew it with my own hands4 ,at last he agreed to sew and varnish the balloon as ,i desired4 ,after repeated trials of his motor in the basket--which he suspended in his workshop--and the making of a rudder of silk he was able1 in ,september1 #ahih1 to attempt real flying4 ,but1 after rising successfully in the air1 the weight of the machinery and his own body swung beneath the fragile balloon was so great that while descending from a considerable height the balloon suddenly sagged down in the middle and began to shut up like a portfolio4 ,at that moment1 he said1 ,i thought that all was over1 the more so as the descent1 which had already become rapid1 could no longer be checked by any of the usual means on board1 where nothing worked4 ,illustration3 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #a4 ,showing how it began to fold up in the middle4 ,the descent became a rapid fall4 ,luckily1 ,i was falling in the neighborhood of the soft1 grassy plouse of the ,longchamps race-course1 where some big boys were flying kites4 ,a sudden idea struck me4 ,i cried to them to grasp the end of my #ajj-meter guide-rope1 which had already touched the ground1 and to run as fast as they could with it against the wind6 ,they were bright young fellows1 and they grasped the idea and the guide-rope at the same lucky instant4 ,the effect of this help in extremis was immediate1 and such as ,i had expected4 ,by this manoeuvre we lessened the velocity of the fall1 and so avoided what would otherwise have been a terribly rough shaking up1 to say the least4 ,i was saved for the first time4 ,thanking the brave boys1 who continued to aid me to pack everything into the air-ship's basket1 ,i finally secured a cab and took the relic back to ,paris4 ,his life was thus saved almost miraculously2 but the accident did not deter him from going forward immediately with other experiments4 ,the next year1 #ahii1 he built a new air-ship called ,santos-,dumont ,,ii41 and made an ascension with it1 but it dissatisfied him and he at once began with ,santos-,dumont ,,iii41 with which he made the first trip around the ,eiffel ,tower4 ,he now made ready to compete for the ,deutsch prize of #bj1jjj4 ,the winning of this prize demanded that the trip from ,saint-,cloud to the ,eiffel ,tower1 around it and back to the starting place1 a distance of some eight miles1 should be made in half an hour4 ,for this purpose he finished a much larger air-ship1 ,santos-,dumont ,v41 in #aija4 ,after a trial1 made on ,july #ab1 which was attended by several accidents1 the inventor decided to make a start early on the following morning1 ,july #ac4 ,as early as four o'clock he was ready1 and a crowd had begun to gather in the park4 ,at #f4bj the great sliding doors of the balloon-house were pushed open1 and the massive inflated occupant was towed out into the open space of the park4 ,the big pointed nose of the balloon and its fish-like belly resembled a shark gliding with lazy craft from a shadow into light waters4 ,in the basket of the car stood the coatless aronaut1 who laughed and chatted like a boy with the crowd around him4 ,illustration3 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #e ,rounding ,eiffel ,tower1 ,july #ac1 #aija4 ,from the very first the conditions did not show themselves favourable for the attempt4 ,the wind was blowing at the rate of six or seven yards a second4 ,the change of temperature from the balloon-house to the cool morning air had somewhat condensed the hydrogen gas of the balloon1 so that one end flapped about in a flabby manner4 ,air was pumped into the air reservoir1 inside the balloon1 but still the desired rigidity was not attained4 ,but1 more discouraging yet1 when the motor was started1 its continuous explosions gave to the practised ear signs of mechanical discord4 ,nevertheless1 ,santos-,dumont1 with his sleeves rolled up1 fixed himself in his basket4 ,his eye took a careful survey of the entire air-ship lest some preliminary had been overlooked4 ,he counted the ballast bags under his feet in the basket1 he looked to the canvas pocket of loose sand at either hand1 then saw to his guide-rope4 ,there is a very great deal to look after in managing such a ship1 and it requires a calm head and a steady hand to do it4 ,near the saddle on which ,i sat1 he writes1 were the ends of the cords and other means for controlling the different parts of the mechanism--the electric sparking of the motor1 the regulation of the carburetter1 the handling of the rudder1 ballast1 and the shifting weights 7consisting of the guide-rope and bags of sand71 the managing of the balloon's valves1 and the emergency rope for tearing open the balloon4 ,it may easily be gathered from this enumeration that an air-ship1 even as simple as my own1 is a very complex organism2 and the work incumbent on the aronaut is no sinecure4 ,several friends shook his hand1 among them ,mr4 ,deutsch4 ,the place was very still as the man holding the guide-rope awaited the signal to let go4 ,then the little man in the basket above them raised his hands and shouted4 ,illustration3 ,the ,interior of the ,arodrome4 ,showing its construction1 the inflated balloon1 and the pennant with its mystic letters4 ,at first it did not look like a race against time4 ,the balloon rose sluggishly1 and ,santos-,dumont had to dump out bag after bag of sand1 till finally the guide-rope was clear of the trees4 ,all this gave him no opportunity to think of his direction1 and he was drifting toward ,versailles2 but while yet over the ,seine he pulled his rudder ropes taut4 ,then slowly1 gracefully1 the enormous spindle veered round and pointed its nose toward the ,eiffel ,tower4 ,the fans spun energetically1 and the air-ship settled down to business-like travelling4 ,it marked a straight1 decided line for its goal1 then followed the chosen route with a considerable speed4 ,soon the chug-chugging of the motor could be heard no longer by the spectators1 and the balloon and car grew smaller and smaller in its halo of light smoke4 ,those in the park saw only the screw and the rear of the balloon1 like the stern of a steamer in dry dock4 ,before long only a dot remained against the sky4 ,gradually he came nearer again1 almost returning to the park1 but the wind drove him back across the river ,seine4 ,suddenly the motor stopped1 and the whole air-ship was seen to fall heavily toward the earth4 ,the crowd raced away expecting to find ,santos-,dumont dead and his air-ship a wreck4 ,but they found him on his feet1 with his hands in his pockets1 reflectively looking up at his air-ship among the top branches of some chestnut trees in the grounds of ,baron ,edmund de ,rothschild1 ,boulevard de ,boulogne4 ,this1 he says1 was near the htel of ,princesse ,ysabel1 ,comtesse d',eu1 who sent up to me in my tree a champagne lunch1 with an invitation to come and tell her the story of my trip4 ,when my story was over1 she said to me3 ',your evolutions in the air made me think of the flight of our great birds of ,brazil4 ,i hope that you will succeed for the glory of our common country4' ,and an examination showed that the air-ship was practically uninjured4 ,so he escaped death a second time4 ,less than a month later he had a still more terrible mishap1 best related in his own words4 ,he says3 ,and now ,i come to a terrible day--,august #h1 #aija4 ,at #f4cj ,a4,m41 ,i started for the ,eiffel ,tower again1 in the presence of the committee1 duly convoked4 ,i turned the goal at the end of nine minutes1 and took my way back to ,saint-,cloud2 but my balloon was losing hydrogen through the automatic valves1 the spring of which had been accidentally weakened2 and it shrank visibly4 ,all at once1 while over the fortifications of ,paris1 near ,la ,muette1 the screw-propeller touched and cut the suspension-cords1 which were sagging behind4 ,i was obliged to stop the motor instantly2 and at once ,i saw my air-ship drift straight back to the ,eiffel ,tower4 ,i had no means of avoiding the terrible danger1 except to wreck myself on the roofs of the ,trocadero quarter4 ,without hesitation ,i opened the manoeuvre-valve1 and sent my balloon downward4 ,illustration3 ,the ,fall into the ,courtyard of the ,trocadero ,hotel4 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #e4 ,at #cb metres 7#ajf feet7 above the ground1 and with the noise of an explosion1 it struck the roof of the ,trocadero ,hotels4 ,the balloon-envelope was torn to rags1 and fell into the courtyard of the hotels1 while ,i remained hanging #ae metres 7#ej feet7 above the ground in my wicker basket1 which had been turned almost over1 but was supported by the keel4 ,the keel of the ,santos-,dumont ,v4 saved my life that day4 ,after some minutes a rope was thrown down to me2 and1 helping myself with feet and hands up the wall 7the few narrow windows of which were grated like those of a prison71 ,i was hauled up to the roof4 ,the firemen from ,passy had watched the fall of the air-ship from their observatory4 ,they1 too1 hastened to the rescue4 ,it was impossible to disengage the remains of the balloon-envelope and suspension apparatus except in strips and pieces4 ,my escape was narrow2 but it was not from the particular danger always present to my mind during this period of my experiments4 ,the position of the ,eiffel ,tower as a central landmark1 visible to everybody from considerable distances1 makes it a unique winning-post for an arial race4 ,yet this does not alter the other fact that the feat of rounding the ,eiffel ,tower possesses a unique element of danger4 ,what ,i feared when on the ground--,i had no time to fear while in the air--was that1 by some mistake of steering1 or by the influence of some side-wind1 ,i might be dashed against the ,tower4 ,the impact would burst my balloon1 and ,i should fall to the ground like a stone4 ,though ,i never seek to fly at a great height--on the contrary1 ,i hold the record for low altitude in a free balloon--in passing over ,paris ,i must necessarily move above all its chimney-pots and steeples4 ,the ,eiffel ,tower was my one danger--yet it was my winning-post6 ,illustration3 ,santos-,dumont ,no4 #f--,the ,prize ,winner4 ,but in the air ,i have no time to fear4 ,i have always kept a cool head4 ,alone in the air-ship1 ,i am always very busy4 ,i must not let go the rudder for a single instant4 ,then there is the strong joy of commanding4 ,what does it feel like to sail in a dirigible balloon8 ,while the wind was carrying me back to the ,eiffel ,tower ,i realised that ,i might be killed2 but ,i did not feel fear4 ,i was in no personal inconvenience4 ,i knew my resources4 ,i was excessively occupied4 ,i have felt fear while in the air1 yes1 miserable fear joined to pain2 but never in a dirigible balloon4 ,even this did not daunt him4 ,that very night he ordered a new air-ship1 ,santos-,dumont ,,vi41 and it was ready in twenty-two days4 ,the new balloon had the shape of an elongated ellipsoid1 #cb metres 7#aje feet7 on its great axis1 and #f metres 7#bj feet7 on its short axis1 terminated fore and aft by cones4 ,its capacity was #fje cubic metres 7#ba1cfb cubic feet71 giving it a lifting power of #fbj kilos 7#a1cfb pounds74 ,of this1 #a1ajj pounds were represented by keel1 machinery1 and his own weight1 leaving a net lifting-power of #abj kilos 7#bfa pounds74 ,on ,october #ai1 #aija1 he made another attempt to round the ,eiffel ,tower1 and was at last successful in winning the #bj1jjj prize4 ,following this great feat1 ,santos-,dumont continued his experiments at ,monte ,carlo1 where he was wrecked over the ,mediterranean ,sea and escaped only by presence of mind1 and he is still continuing his work4 ,the future of the dirigible balloon is open to debate4 ,santos-,dumont himself does not think there is much likelihood that it will ever have much commercial use4 ,a balloon to carry many passengers would have to be so enormous that it could not support the machinery necessary to propel it1 especially against a strong wind4 ,but he does believe that the steerable balloon will have great importance in war time4 ,he says3 ,i have often been asked what present utility is to be expected of the dirigible balloon when it becomes thoroughly practicable4 ,i have never pretended that its commercial possibilities could go far4 ,the question of the air-ship in war1 however1 is otherwise4 ,mr4 ,hiram ,maxim has declared that a flying machine in ,south ,africa would have been worth four times its weight in gold4 ,henri ,rochefort has said3 ',the day when it is established that a man can direct an air-ship in a given direction and cause it to manoeuvre as he wills 444 there will remain little for the nations to do but to lay down their arms4' ,illustration3 ,air-,ship ,pointing almost ,vertically ,upward4 ,illustration3 ,falling to the ,sea4 ,illustration3 ,just ,before the ,air-,ship ,lost all its ,gas4 ,illustration3 ,losing its ,gas and ,sinking4 ,illustration3 ,the ,balloon ,falling to the ,waves4 ,illustration3 ,boats ,around the ,ruined ,air-,ship4 ,but such experiments as ,santos-,dumont's1 whether they result immediately in producing an air-ship of practical utility in commerce or not1 have great value for the facts which they are establishing as to the possibility of balloons1 of motors1 of light construction1 of air currents1 and moreover they add to the world's sum total of experiences a fine1 clean sport in which men of daring and scientific knowledge show what men can do4 ,illustration3 ,manoeuvering ,above the ,bay at ,monte ,carlo4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,earthquake ,,measurer ,professor ,john ,milne's ,seismograph ,of all strange inventions1 the earthquake recorder is certainly one of the most remarkable and interesting4 ,a terrible earthquake shakes down cities in ,japan1 and sixteen minutes later the professor of earthquakes1 in his quiet little observatory in ,england1 measures its extent--almost1 indeed1 takes a picture of it4 ,actual waves1 not unlike the waves of the sea blown up by a hurricane1 have travelled through or around half the earth in this brief time2 vast mountain ranges1 cities1 plains1 and oceans have been heaved to their crests and then allowed to sink back again into their former positions4 ,and some of these earthquake waves which sweep over the solid earth are three feet high1 so that the whole of ,new ,york1 perhaps1 rises bodily to that height and then slides over the crest like a skiff on an ocean swell4 ,illustration3 ,professor ,john ,milne4 ,from a photograph by ,s4 ,suzuki1 ,kudanzaka1 ,tokio4 ,at first glance this seems almost too strange and wonderful to believe1 and yet this is only the beginning of the wonders which the earthquake camera--or the seismograph 7earthquake writer1 as the scientists call it7--has been disclosing4 ,illustration3 ,professor ,milne's ,sensitive ,pendulum1 or ,seismograph1 as it ,appears ,enclosed in its ,protecting ,box4 ,illustration3 ,the ,sensitive ,pendulum1 or ,seismograph1 as it ,appears with the ,protecting ,box ,removed4 ,the earthquake professor who has worked such scientific magic is ,john ,milne4 ,he lives in a quaint old house in the little ,isle of ,wight1 not far from ,osborne ,castle1 where ,queen ,victoria made her home part of the year4 ,not long ago he was a resident of ,japan and professor of seismology 7the science of earthquakes7 at the ,university of ,tokio1 where he made his first discoveries about earthquakes1 and invented marvellously delicate machines for measuring and photographing them thousands of miles away4 ,professor ,milne is an ,englishman by birth1 but1 like many another of his countrymen1 he has visited some of the strangest nooks and corners of the earth4 ,he has looked for coal in ,newfoundland2 he has crossed the rugged hills of ,iceland2 he has been up and down the length of the ,united ,states2 he has hunted wild pigs in ,borneo2 and he has been in ,india and ,china and a hundred other out-of-the-way places1 to say nothing of measuring earthquakes in ,japan4 ,professor ,milne laid the foundation of his unusual career in a thorough education at ,king's ,college1 ,london1 and at the ,school of ,mines4 ,by fortunate chance1 soon after his graduation1 he met ,cyrus ,field1 the famous ,american1 to whom the world owes the beginnings of its present ocean cable system4 ,he was then just twenty-one1 young and raw1 but plucky4 ,he thought he was prepared for anything the world might bring him2 but when ,field asked him one ,friday if he could sail for ,newfoundland the next ,tuesday1 he was so taken with astonishment that he hesitated1 whereupon ,field leaned forward and looked at him in a way that ,milne has never forgotten4 ,my young friend1 ,i suppose you have read that the world was made in six days4 ,now1 do you mean to tell me that1 if this whole world was made in six days1 you can't get together the few things you need in four8 ,illustration3 ,gifu1 ,japan1 after the ,earthquake of #ahia4 ,this and the pictures following on pages #hi1 #aja1 #aaa1 are from ,japanese photographs reproduced in ,the ,great ,earthquake in ,japan1 #ahia1 by ,john ,milne and ,w4 ,k4 ,burton4 ,and ,milne sailed the next ,tuesday to begin his lifework among the rough hills of ,newfoundland4 ,then came an offer from the ,japanese ,government1 and he went to the land of earthquakes1 little dreaming that he would one day be the greatest authority in the world on the subject of seismic disturbances4 ,his first experiments--and they were made as a pastime rather than a serious undertaking--were curiously simple4 ,he set up rows of pins in a certain way1 so that in falling they would give some indication as to the wave movements in the earth4 ,he also made pendulums made of strings with weights tied at the end1 and from his discoveries made with these elementary instruments1 he planned earthquake-proof houses1 and showed the engineers of ,japan how to build bridges which would not fall down when they were shaken4 ,so highly was his work regarded that the ,japanese made him an earthquake professor at ,tokio and supplied him with the means for making more extended experiments4 ,and presently we find him producing artificial earthquakes by the score4 ,he buried dynamite deep in the ground and exploded it by means of an electric button4 ,the miniature earthquake thus produced was carefully measured with curious instruments of ,professor ,milne's invention4 ,at first one earthquake was enough at any one time1 but as the experiments continued1 ,professor ,milne sometimes had five or six earthquakes all quaking together2 and once so interested did he become that he forgot all about the destructive nature of earthquakes1 and ventured too near4 ,a ton or more of earth came crashing down around him1 half burying him and smashing his instruments flat4 ,all this made the ,japanese rub their eyes with astonishment1 and by and by the ,emperor heard of it4 ,of course he was deeply interested in earthquakes1 because there was no telling when one might come along and shake down his palace over his head4 ,so he sent for ,professor ,milne1 and1 after assuring himself that these experimental earthquakes really had no serious intentions1 he commanded that one be produced on the spot4 ,so ,professor ,milne laid out a number of toy towns and villages and hills in the palace yard with a tremendous toy earthquake underneath4 ,the ,emperor and his gayly dressed followers stood well off to one side1 and when ,professor ,milne gave the word the ,emperor solemnly pressed a button1 and watched with the greatest delight the curious way in which the toy cities were quaked to earth4 ,and after that1 this surprising ,englishman1 who could make earthquakes as easily as a ,japanese makes a lacquered basket1 was held in high esteem in ,japan1 and for more than twenty years he studied earthquakes and invented machines for recording them4 ,then he returned to his home in ,england1 where he is at work establishing earthquake stations in various parts of the world1 by means of which he expects to reduce earthquake measurement to an exact science1 an accomplishment which will have the greatest practical value to the commercial interests of the world1 as ,i shall soon explain4 ,illustration3 ,the ,work of the ,great ,earthquake of #ahia in ,neo ,valley1 ,japan4 ,but first for a glimpse at the curious earthquake measurer itself4 ,to begin with1 there are two kinds of instruments--one to measure near-by disturbances1 and the second to measure waves which come from great distances4 ,the former instrument was used by ,professor ,milne in ,japan1 where earthquakes are frequent2 the latter is used in ,england4 ,the technical name for the machine which measures distant disturbances is the horizontal pendulum seismograph1 and1 like most wonderful inventions1 it is exceedingly simple in principle1 yet doing its work with marvellous delicacy and accuracy4 ,in brief1 the central feature of the seismograph is a very finely poised pendulum1 which is jarred by the slightest disturbance of the earth1 the end of it being so arranged that a photograph is taken of every quiver4 ,set a pendulum clock on the dining-table1 jar the table1 and the pendulum will swing1 indicating exactly with what force you have disturbed the table4 ,in exactly the same way the delicate pendulum of the earthquake measurer indicates the shaking of the earth4 ,illustration3 ,diagram ,showing ,vertical and ,horizontal ,sections of the ,more ,sensitive of ,professor ,milne's ,two ,pendulums1 or ,seismographs4 ,the accompanying diagram gives a very clear idea of the arrangement of the apparatus4 ,the boom is the pendulum4 ,it is customary to think of a pendulum as hanging down like that of a clock1 but this is a horizontal pendulum4 ,professor ,milne has built a very solid masonry column1 reaching deep into the earth1 and so firmly placed that nothing but a tremor of the hard earth itself will disturb it4 ,upon this is perched a firm metal stand1 from the top of which the boom or pendulum1 about thirty inches long1 is swung by means of a tie or stay4 ,the end of the boom rests against a fine1 sharp pivot of steel 7as shown in the little diagram to the right71 so that it will swing back and forth without the least friction4 ,the sensitive end of the pendulum1 where all the quakings and quiverings are shown most distinctly1 rests exactly over a narrow roll of photographic film1 which is constantly turned by clockwork1 and above this1 on an outside stand1 there is a little lamp which is kept burning night and day1 year in and year out4 ,the light from this lamp is reflected downward by means of a mirror through a little slit in the metal case which covers the entire apparatus4 ,of course this light affects the sensitive film1 and takes a continuous photograph of the end of the boom4 ,if the boom remains perfectly still1 the picture will be merely a straight line1 as shown at the extreme right and left ends of the earthquake picture on this page4 ,but if an earthquake wave comes along and sets the boom to quivering1 the picture becomes at once blurred and full of little loops and indentations1 slight at first1 but becoming more violent as the greater waves arrive1 and then gradually subsiding4 ,in the picture of the ,borneo earthquake of ,september #bj1 #ahig1 taken by ,professor ,milne in his ,english laboratory1 it will be seen that the quakings were so severe at the height of the disturbance that nothing is left in the photograph but a blur4 ,on the edge of the picture can be seen the markings of the hours1 #g4cj1 #h4cj1 and #i4cj4 ,usually this time is marked automatically on the film by means of the long hand of a watch which crosses the slit beneath the mirror 7as shown in the lower diagram with figure #c74 ,the ,borneo earthquake waves lasted in ,england1 as will be seen1 two hours fifty-six minutes and fifteen seconds1 with about forty minutes of what are known as preliminary tremors4 ,professor ,milne removes the film from his seismograph once a week--a strip about twenty-six feet long--develops it1 and studies the photographs for earthquake signs4 ,illustration3 ,seismogram of a ,borneo ,earthquake that ,occurred ,september #bj1 #ahig4 ,besides this very sensitive photographic seismograph ,professor ,milne has a simpler machine1 not covered up and without lamp or mirror4 ,in this instrument a fine silver needle at the end of the boom makes a steady mark on a band of smoked paper1 which is kept turning under it by means of clockwork4 ,a glance at this smoked-paper record will tell instantly at any time of day or night whether the earth is behaving itself4 ,if the white line on the dark paper shows disturbances1 ,professor ,milne at once examines his more sensitive photographic record for the details4 ,it is difficult to realise how very sensitive these earthquake pendulums really are4 ,they will indicate the very minutest changes in the earth's level--as slight as one inch in ten miles4 ,a pair of these pendulums placed on two buildings at opposite sides of a city street would show that the buildings literally lean toward each other during the heavy traffic period of the day1 dragged over from their level by the load of vehicles and people pressing down upon the pavement between them4 ,the earth is so elastic that a comparatively small impetus will set it vibrating4 ,why1 even two hills tip together when there is a heavy load of moisture in a valley between them4 ,and then when the moisture evaporates in a hot sun they tip away from each other4 ,these pendulums show that4 ,nor are these the most extraordinary things which the pendulums will do4 ,g4 ,k4 ,gilbert1 of the ,united ,states ,geological ,survey1 argues that the whole region of the great lakes is being slowly tipped to the southwest1 so that some day ,chicago will sink and the water outlet of the great fresh-water seas will be up the ,chicago ,river toward the ,mississippi1 instead of down the ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,of course this movement is as slow as time itself--thousands of years must elapse before it is hardly appreciable2 and yet ,professor ,milne's instruments will show the changing balance--a marvel that is almost beyond belief4 ,strangely enough1 sensitive as this special instrument is to distant disturbances1 it does not swerve nor quiver for near-by shocks4 ,thus1 the blasting of powder1 the heavy rumbling of wagons1 the firing of artillery has little or no effect in producing a movement of the boom4 ,the vibrations are too short2 it requires the long1 heavy swells of the earth to make a record4 ,professor ,milne tells some odd stories of his early experiences with the earthquake measurer4 ,at one time his films showed evidences of the most horrible earthquakes1 and he was afraid for the moment that all ,japan had been shaken to pieces and possibly engulfed by the sea4 ,but investigation showed that a little grey spider had been up to pranks in the box4 ,the spider wasn't particularly interested in earthquakes1 but he took the greatest pleasure in the swinging of the boom1 and soon began to join in the game himself4 ,he would catch the end of the boom with his feelers and tug it over to one side as far as ever he could4 ,then he would anchor himself there and hold on like grim death until the boom slipped away4 ,then he would run after it1 and tug it over to the other side1 and hold it there until his strength failed again4 ,and so he would keep on for an hour or two until quite exhausted1 enjoying the fun immensely1 and never dreaming that he was manufacturing wonderful seismograms to upset the scientific world1 since they seemed to indicate shocking earthquake disasters in all directions4 ,mr4 ,cleveland ,moffett1 to whom ,i am indebted for much of the information contained in this chapter1 tells how the reporters for the ,london papers rush off to see ,professor ,milne every time there is news of a great earthquake1 and how he usually corrects their information4 ,in ,june1 #ahif1 for instance1 the little observatory was fairly besieged with these searchers for news4 ,this earthquake happened on the #agth1 said they1 and the whole eastern coast of ,japan was overwhelmed with tidal waves1 and #cj1jjj lives were lost4 ,that last is probable1 answered ,professor ,milne1 but the earthquake happened on the #aeth1 not the #agth2 and then he gave them the exact hour and minute when the shocks began and ended4 ,but our cables put it on the #agth4 ,your cables are mistaken4 ,and1 sure enough1 later despatches came with information that the destructive earthquake had occurred on the #aeth1 within half a minute of the time ,professor ,milne had specified4 ,there had been some error of transmission in the earlier newspaper despatches4 ,again1 a few months later1 the newspapers published cablegrams to the effect that there had been a severe earthquake at ,kobe1 with great injury to life and property4 ,that is not true1 said ,professor ,milne4 ,there may have been a slight earthquake at ,kobe1 but nothing that need cause alarm4 ,and the mail reports a few weeks later confirmed his reassuring statement1 and showed that the previous sensational despatches had been grossly exaggerated4 ,professor ,milne is also the man to whose words cable companies lend anxious ear1 for what he says often means thousands of dollars to them4 ,early in ,january1 #ahih1 it was officially reported that two ,west ,indian cables had broken on ,december #ca1 #ahig4 ,that is very unlikely1 said ,professor ,milne2 but ,i have a seismogram showing that these cables may have broken at #aa4cj ,a4,m4 on ,december #bi1 #ahig4 ,and then he located the break at so many miles off the coast of ,haiti4 ,this sort of thing1 which is constantly happening1 would look very much like magic if ,professor ,milne had kept his secrets to himself2 but he has given them freely to all the world4 ,illustration3 ,effect of the ,great ,earthquake of #ahia on the ,nagara ,gawa ,railway ,bridge1 ,japan4 ,professor ,milne has learned from his experiments that the solid earth is full of movements1 and tremors1 and even tides1 like the sea4 ,we do not notice them1 because they are so slow and because the crests of the waves are so far apart4 ,professor ,milne likes to tell1 fancifully1 how the earth breathes4 ,he has found that nearly all earthquake waves1 whether the disturbance is in ,borneo or ,south ,america1 reach his laboratory in sixteen minutes1 and he thinks that the waves come through the earth instead of around it4 ,if they came around1 he says1 there would be two records--one from waves coming the short way and one from waves coming the long way round4 ,but there is never more than a single record1 so he concludes that the waves quiver straight through the solid earth itself1 and he believes that this fact will lead to some important discoveries about the centre of our globe4 ,professor ,milne was once asked how1 if earthquake waves from every part of the earth reached his observatory in the same number of minutes1 he could tell where the earthquake really was4 ,i may say1 in a general way1 he replied1 that we know them by their signatures1 just as you know the handwriting of your friends2 that is1 an earthquake wave which has travelled #c1jjj miles makes a different record in the instruments from one that has travelled #e1jjj miles2 and that1 again1 a different record from one that has travelled #g1jjj miles1 and so on4 ,each one writes its name in its own way4 ,it's a fine thing1 isn't it1 to have the earth's crust harnessed up so that it is forced to mark down for us on paper a diagram of its own movements8 ,he took pencil and paper again1 and dashed off an earthquake wave like this3 ,illustration ,there you have the signature of an earthquake wave which has travelled only a short distance1 say #b1jjj miles2 but here is the signature of the very same wave after travelling1 say1 #f1jjj miles3 ,illustration ,you see the difference at a glance2 the second seismogram 7that is what we call these records7 is very much more stretched out than the first1 and a seismogram taken at #h1jjj miles from the start would be more stretched out still4 ,this is because the waves of transmission grow longer and longer1 and slower and slower1 the farther they spread from the source of disturbance4 ,in both figures the point ,a1 where the straight line begins to waver1 marks the beginning of the earthquake2 the rippling line ,,ab shows the preliminary tremors which always precede the heavy shocks1 marked ,c2 and ,d shows the dying away of the earthquake in tremors similar to ,,ab4 ,now1 it is chiefly in the preliminary tremors that the various earthquakes reveal their identity4 ,the more slowly the waves come1 the longer it takes to record them1 and the more stretched out they become in the seismograms4 ,and by carefully noting these differences1 especially those in time1 we get our information4 ,suppose we have an earthquake in ,japan4 ,if you were there in person you would feel the preliminary tremors very fast1 five or ten in a second1 and their whole duration before the heavy shocks would not exceed ten or twenty seconds4 ,but these preliminary tremors1 transmitted to ,england1 would keep the pendulums swinging from thirty to thirty-two minutes before the heavy shocks1 and each vibration would occupy five seconds4 ,there would be similar differences in the duration of the heavy vibrations2 in ,japan they would come at the rate of about one a second3 here1 at the rate of about one in twenty or forty seconds4 ,it is the time1 then1 occupied by the preliminary tremors that tells us the distance of the earthquake4 ,earthquakes in ,borneo1 for instance1 give preliminary tremors occupying about forty-one minutes1 in ,japan about half an hour1 in the earthquake region east of ,newfoundland about eight minutes1 in the disturbed region of the ,west ,indies about nineteen or twenty minutes1 and so on4 ,thus the earthquake is located with absolute precision4 ,most earthquakes occur in the deep bed of the ocean1 in the vast valleys between ocean mountains1 and the dangerous localities are now almost as well known as the principal mountain ranges of ,north ,america4 ,there is one of these valleys1 or ocean holes1 off the west coast of ,south ,america from ,ecuador down2 there is one in the mid-,atlantic1 about the equator1 between twenty degrees and forty degrees west longitude3 there is one at the ,grecian end of the ,mediterranean2 one in the ,bay of ,bengal1 and one bordering the ,alps2 there is the famous ,tuscarora ,deep1 from the ,philippine ,islands down to ,java2 and there is the ,north ,atlantic region1 about #cjj miles east of ,newfoundland4 ,in the ,tuscarora ,deep the slope increases #a1jjj fathoms in twenty-five miles1 until it reaches a depth of #d1jjj fathoms4 ,illustration3 ,pieces of a ,submarine ,cable ,picked ,up in the ,gulf of ,mexico in #ahhh4 ,the kinks are caused by seismic disturbances1 and they show how much distortion a cable can suffer and still remain in good electrical condition1 as this was found to be4 ,and this brings us to the consideration of one of the greatest practical advantages of the seismograph--in the exact location of cable breaks4 ,indeed1 a large proportion of these breaks are the result of earthquakes4 ,in a recent report ,professor ,milne says that there are now about twenty-seven breaks a year for #aj1jjj miles of cable in active use4 ,most of these are very costly1 fifteen breaks in the ,atlantic cable between #ahhd and #ahid having cost the companies #c1jjj1jjj1 to say nothing of loss of time4 ,and twice it has happened in ,australia 7in #ahhj and #ahhh7 that the whole island has been thrown into excitement and alarm1 the reserves being called out1 and other measures taken1 because the sudden breaking of cable connections with the outside world has led to the belief that military operations against the country were preparing by some foreign power4 ,a ,milne pendulum at ,sydney or ,adelaide would have made it plain in a moment that the whole trouble was due to a submarine earthquake occurring at such a time and such a place4 ,as it was1 ,australia had to wait in a fever of suspense 7in one case there was a delay of nineteen days7 until steamers arriving brought assurances that neither ,russia nor any other possibly unfriendly power had begun hostilities by tearing up the cables4 ,there have been submarine earthquakes in the ,tuscarora1 like that of ,june #ae1 #ahif1 that have shaken the earth from pole to pole2 and more than once different cables from ,java have been broken simultaneously1 as in #ahij1 when the three cables to ,australia snapped in a moment4 ,and the great majority of breaks in the ,north ,atlantic cables have occurred in the ,newfoundland hollow1 where there are two slopes1 one dropping from #gjh to #b1djj fathoms in a distance of sixty miles1 and the other from #bge to #a1idf fathoms within thirty miles4 ,on ,october #d1 #ahhd1 three cables1 lying about ten miles apart1 broke simultaneously at the spot4 ,the significance of such breaks is greater when the fact is borne in mind that cables frequently lie uninjured for many years on the great level plains of the ocean bed1 where seismic disturbances are infrequent4 ,the two chief causes of submarine earthquakes are landslides1 where enormous masses of earth plunge from a higher to a lower level1 and in so doing crush down upon the cable1 and faults1 that is1 subsidences of great areas1 which occur on land as well as at the bottom of the sea1 and which in the latter case may drag down imbedded cables with them4 ,it is in establishing the place and times of these breaks that ,professor ,milne's instruments have their greatest practical value2 scientifically no one can yet calculate their value4 ,illustration3 ,record ,made on a ,stationary ,surface by the ,vibrations of the ,japanese ,earthquake of ,july #ai1 #ahia4 ,showing the complicated character of the motion 7common to most earthquakes71 and also the course of a point at the centre of disturbance4 ,in addition to the first instrument set up by ,professor ,milne in ,tokio in #ahhc1 which is still recording earthquakes1 there are now in operation about twenty other seismographs in various parts of the world1 so that earthquake information is becoming very accurate and complete1 and there is even an attempt being made to predict earthquakes just as the weather bureau predicts storms4 ,in any event ,professor ,milne's invention must within a few years add greatly to our knowledge of the wonders of the planet on which we live4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,electrical ,,furnaces ,how the ,hottest ,heat is ,produced--,making ,diamonds ,no feats of discovery1 not even the search for the ,north ,pole or ,stanley's expeditions in the heart of ,africa1 present more points of fascinating interest than the attempts now being made by scientists to explore the extreme limits of temperature4 ,we live in a very narrow zone in what may be called the great world of heat4 ,the cut on the opposite page represents an imaginary thermometer showing a few of the important temperature points between the depths of the coldest cold and the heights of the hottest heat--a stretch of some #aj1dfa degrees4 ,we exist in a narrow space1 as you will see1 varying from #ajj or a little more above the zero point to a possible #ej below2 that is1 we can withstand these narrow extremes of temperature4 ,if some terrible world catastrophe should raise the temperature of our summers or lower that of our winters by a very few degrees1 human life would perish off the earth4 ,but though we live in such narrow limits1 science has found ways of exploring the great heights of heat above us and of reaching and measuring the depths of cold below us1 with the result of making many important and interesting discoveries4 ,i have written in the former ,boys' ,book of ,inventions of that wonderful product of science1 liquid air--air submitted to such a degree of cold that it ceases to be a gas and becomes a liquid4 ,this change occurs at a temperature #cab below zero4 ,professor ,john ,dewar1 of ,england1 who has made some of the most interesting of discoveries in the region of great cold1 not only reached a temperature low enough to produce liquid air1 but he succeeded in going on down until he could freeze this marvellous liquid into a solid--a sort of air ice4 ,not content even with this astonishing degree of cold1 ,professor ,dewar continued his experiments until he could reduce hydrogen--that very light gas--to a liquid1 at #ddj below zero1 and then1 strange as it may seem1 he also froze liquid hydrogen into a solid4 ,from his experiments he finally concluded that the absolute zero--that is1 the place where there is no heat--was at a point #dfa below zero4 ,and he has been able to produce a temperature1 artificially1 within a very few degrees of this utmost limit of cold4 ,illustration3 ,,degrees #ajjjj -- -- ,conjectural heat of the sun4 #gjjj -- -- ,highest heat yet obtained artificially4 #cejj -- -- ,steel boils4 #bab -- -- ,water boils4 #j ---- ,zero4 #dfa ---- ,prof4 ,dewar's absolute zero4 ,,degrees #j ---- ,zero4 #dj ---- ,mercury freezes4 #bjb ---- ,alcohol freezes4 #cjj ---- ,oxygen boils4 #cab ---- ,liquid air boils4 #cbj ---- ,nitrogen boils4 #ddj ---- ,hydrogen boils4 #dfa ---- ,prof4 ,dewar's absolute zero4 ,think what this absolute zero means4 ,heat1 we know1 like electricity and light1 is a vibratory or wave motion in the ether4 ,the greater the heat1 the faster the vibrations4 ,we think of all the substances around us as solids1 liquids1 and gases1 but these are only comparative terms4 ,a change of temperature changes the solid into the liquid1 or the gas into the solid4 ,take water1 for instance4 ,in the ordinary temperature of summer it is a liquid1 in winter it is a hard crystalline substance called ice2 apply the heat of a stove and it becomes steam1 a gas4 ,so with all other substances4 ,air to us is an invisible gas1 but if the earth should suddenly drop in temperature to #cab below zero all the air would fall in liquid drops like rain and fill the valleys of the earth with lakes and oceans4 ,still a little colder and these lakes and oceans would freeze into solids4 ,similarly1 steel seems to us a very hard and solid substance1 but apply enough heat and it boils like water1 and finally1 if the heat be increased1 it becomes a gas4 ,imagine1 if you can1 a condition in which all substances are solids2 where the vibrations known as heat have been stilled to silence2 where nothing lives or moves2 where1 indeed1 there is an awful nothingness2 and you can form an idea of the region of the coldest cold--in other words1 the region where heat does not exist4 ,our frozen moon gives something of an idea of this condition1 though probably1 cold and barren as it is1 the moon is still a good many degrees in temperature above the absolute zero4 ,some of the methods of exploring these depths of cold are treated in the chapter on liquid air already referred to4 ,our interest here centres in the other extreme of temperature1 where the heat vibrations are inconceivably rapid2 where nearly all substances known to man become liquids and gases2 where1 in short1 if the experimenter could go high enough1 he could reach the awful degree of heat of the burning sun itself1 estimated at over #aj1jjj degrees4 ,it is in the work of exploring these regions of great heat that such men as ,moissan1 ,siemens1 ,faure1 and others have made such remarkable discoveries1 reaching temperatures as high as #g1jjj1 or over twice the heat of boiling steel4 ,their accomplishments seem the more wonderful when we consider that a temperature of this degree burns up or vaporises every known substance4 ,how1 then1 could these men have made a furnace in which to produce this heat8 ,iron in such a heat would burn like paper1 and so would brick and mortar4 ,it seems inconceivable that even science should be able to produce a degree of heat capable of consuming the tools and everything else with which it is produced4 ,the heat vibrations at #g1jjj are so intense that nickel and platinum1 the most refractory1 the most unmeltable of metals1 burn like so much bee's-wax2 the best fire-brick used in lining furnaces is consumed by it like lumps of rosin1 leaving no trace behind4 ,it works1 in short1 the most marvellous1 the most incredible transformations in the substances of the earth4 ,indeed1 we have to remember that the earth itself was created in a condition of great heat--first a swirling1 burning gas1 something like the sun of to-day1 gradually cooling1 contracting1 rounding1 until we have our beautiful world1 with its perfect balance of gases1 liquids1 solids1 its splendid life4 ,a dying volcano here and there gives faint evidence of the heat which once prevailed over all the earth4 ,it was in the time of great heat that the most beautiful and wonderful things in the world were wrought4 ,it was fierce heat that made the diamond1 the sapphire1 and the ruby2 it fashioned all of the most beautiful forms of crystals and spars2 and it ran the gold and silver of the earth in veins1 and tossed up mountains1 and made hollows for the seas4 ,it is1 in short1 the temperature at which worlds were born4 ,more wonderful1 if possible1 than the miracles wrought by such heat is the fact that men can now produce it artificially2 and not only produce1 but confine and direct it1 and make it do their daily service4 ,one asks himself1 indeed1 if this can really be2 and it was under the impulse of some such incredulity that ,i lately made a visit to ,niagara ,falls1 where the hottest furnaces in the world are operated4 ,here clay is melted in vast quantities to form aluminium1 a metal as precious a few years ago as gold4 ,here lime and carbon1 the most infusible of all the elements1 are joined by intense heat in the curious new compound1 calcium carbide1 a bit of which dropped in water decomposes almost explosively1 producing the new illuminating gas1 acetylene4 ,here1 also1 pure phosphorus and the phosphates are made in large quantities2 and here is made carborundum--gem-crystals as hard as the diamond and as beautiful as the ruby4 ,an extensive plant has also been built to produce the heat necessary to make graphite such as is used in your lead-pencils1 and for lubricants1 stove-blacking1 and so on4 ,graphite has been mined from the earth for thousands of years2 it is pure carbon1 first cousin to the diamond4 ,ten years ago the possibility of its manufacture would have been scouted as ridiculous2 and yet in these wonderful furnaces1 which repeat so nearly the processes of creation1 graphite is as easily made as soap4 ,the marvel-workers at ,niagara ,falls have not yet been able to make diamonds--in quantities4 ,the distinguished ,french chemist ,moissan has produced them in his laboratory furnaces--small ones1 it is true1 but diamonds2 and one day they may be shipped in peck boxes from the great furnaces at ,niagara ,falls4 ,this is no mere dream2 the commercial manufacture of diamonds has already had the serious consideration of level-headed1 far-seeing business men1 and it may be accounted a distinct probability4 ,what revolution the achievement of it would work in the diamond trade as now constituted and conducted no one can say4 ,these marvellous new things in science and invention have been made possible by the chaining of ,niagara to the wheels of industry4 ,the power of the falling water is transformed into electricity4 ,electricity and heat are both vibratory motions of the ether2 science has found that the vibrations known as electricity can be changed into the vibrations known as heat4 ,accordingly1 a thousand horse-power from the mighty river is conveyed as electricity over a copper wire1 changed into heat and light between the tips of carbon electrodes1 and there works its wonders4 ,in principle the electrical furnace is identical with the electric light4 ,it is scarcely twenty years since the first electrical furnaces of real practical utility were constructed2 but if the electrical furnaces to-day in operation at ,niagara ,falls alone were combined into one1 they would1 as one scientist speculates1 make a glow so bright that it could be seen distinctly from the moon--a hint for the astronomers who are seeking methods for communicating with the inhabitants of ,mars4 ,one furnace has been built in which an amount of heat energy equivalent to #gjj horse-power is produced in an arc cavity not larger than an ordinary water tumbler4 ,on reaching ,niagara ,falls1 ,i called on ,mr4 ,e4 ,g4 ,acheson1 whose name stands with that of ,moissan as a pioneer in the investigation of high temperatures4 ,mr4 ,acheson is still a young man--not more than forty-five at most--and clean-cut1 clear-eyed1 and genial1 with something of the studious air of a college professor4 ,he is pre-eminently a self-made man4 ,at twenty-four he found a place in ,edison's laboratory--,edison's college of inventions1 he calls it--and1 at twenty-five1 he was one of the seven pioneers in electricity who 7in #ahha-hb7 introduced the incandescent lamp in ,europe4 ,he installed the first electric-light plants in the cities of ,milan1 ,genoa1 ,venice1 and ,amsterdam1 and during this time was one of ,edison's representatives in ,paris4 ,illustration3 ,mr4 ,e4 ,g4 ,acheson1 ,one of the ,pioneers in the ,investigation of ,high ,temperatures4 ,i think the possibility of manufacturing genuine diamonds1 he said to me1 has dazzled more than one young experimenter4 ,my first efforts in this direction were made in #ahhj4 ,it was before we had command of the tremendous electric energy now furnished by the modern dynamo1 and when the highest heat attainable for practical purposes was obtained by the oxy-hydrogen flame4 ,even this was at the service of only a few experimenters1 and certainly not at mine4 ,my first experiments were made in what ,i might term the 'wet way'2 that is1 by the process of chemical decomposition by means of an electric current4 ,very interesting results were obtained1 which even now give promise of value2 but the diamond did not materialise4 ,i did not take up the subject again until the dynamo had attained high perfection and ,i was able to procure currents of great power4 ,calling in the aid of the #f1ejj degrees ,fahrenheit or more of temperature produced by these electric currents1 ,i once more set myself to the solution of the problem4 ,i now had1 however1 two distinct objects in view3 first1 the making of a diamond2 and1 second1 the production of a hard substance for abrasive purposes4 ,my experiments in #ahhj had resulted in producing a substance of extreme hardness1 hard enough1 indeed1 to scratch the sapphire--the next hardest thing to the diamond--and ,i saw that such a material1 cheaply made1 would have great value4 ,my first experiment in this new series was of a kind that would have been denounced as absurd by any of the old-school book-chemists1 and had ,i had a similar training1 the probability is that ,i should not have made such an investigation4 ,but 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread1' and the experiment was made4 ,this experiment by ,mr4 ,acheson1 extremely simple in execution1 was the first act in rolling the stone from the entrance to a veritable ,aladdin's cave1 into which a multitude of experimenters have passed in their search for nature's secrets2 for1 while the use of the electrical furnace in the reduction of metals--in the breaking down of nature's compounds--was not new1 its use for synthetic chemistry--for the putting together1 the building up1 the formation of compounds--was entirely new4 ,it has enabled the chemist not only to reproduce the compounds of nature1 but to go further and produce valuable compounds that are wholly new and were heretofore unknown to man4 ,mr4 ,acheson conjectured that carbon1 if made to combine with clay1 would produce an extremely hard substance2 and that1 having been combined with the clay1 if it should in the cooling separate again from the clay1 it would issue out of the operation as diamond4 ,he therefore mixed a little clay and coke dust together1 placed them in a crucible1 inserted the ends of two electric-light carbons into the mixture1 and connected the carbons with a dynamo4 ,the fierce heat generated at the points of the carbons fused the clay1 and caused portions of the carbon to dissolve4 ,after cooling1 a careful examination was made of the mass1 and a few small purple crystals were found4 ,they sparkled with something of the brightness of diamonds1 and were so hard that they scratched glass4 ,mr4 ,acheson decided at once that they could not be diamonds2 but he thought they might be rubies or sapphires4 ,a little later1 though1 when he had made similar crystals of a larger size1 he found that they were harder than rubies1 even scratching the diamond itself4 ,he showed them to a number of expert jewellers1 chemists1 and geologists4 ,they had so much the appearance of natural gems that many experts to whom they were submitted without explanation decided that they must certainly be of natural production4 ,even so eminent an authority as ,geikie1 the ,scotch geologist1 on being told1 after he had examined them1 that the crystals were manufactured in ,america1 responded testily3 ,these ,americans6 ,what won't they claim next8 ,why1 man1 those crystals have been in the earth a million years4 ,mr4 ,acheson decided at first that his crystals were a combination of carbon and aluminium1 and gave them the name carborundum4 ,he at once set to work to manufacture them in large quantities for use in making abrasive wheels1 whetstones1 and sandpaper1 and for other purposes for which emery and corundum were formerly used4 ,he soon found by chemical analysis1 however1 that carborundum was not composed of carbon and aluminium1 but of carbon and silica1 or sand1 and that he had1 in fact1 created a new substance2 so far as human knowledge now extends1 no such combination occurs anywhere in nature4 ,and it was made possible only by the electrical furnace1 with its power of producing heat of untold intensity4 ,illustration3 ,the ,furnace-,room1 where ,carborundum is ,made4 ,a great1 dingy brick building1 open at the sides like a shed4 ,in order to get a clear understanding of the actual workings of the electrical furnace1 ,i visited the plant where ,mr4 ,acheson makes carborundum4 ,the furnace-room is a great1 dingy brick building1 open at the sides like a shed4 ,it is located only a few hundred yards from the banks of the ,niagara ,river and well within the sound of the great falls4 ,just below it1 and nearer the city1 stands the handsome building of the ,power ,company1 in which the mightiest dynamos in the world whir ceaselessly1 day and night1 while the waters of ,niagara churn in the water-wheel pits below4 ,heavy copper wires carrying a current of #b1bjj volts lead from the power-house to ,mr4 ,acheson's furnaces1 where the electrical energy is transformed into heat4 ,there are ten furnaces in all1 built loosely of fire-brick1 and fitted at each end with electrical connections4 ,and strange they look to one who is familiar with the ordinary fuel furnace1 for they have no chimneys1 no doors1 no drafts1 no ash-pits1 no blinding glow of heat and light4 ,the room in which they stand is comfortably cool4 ,each time a furnace is charged it is built up anew2 for the heat produced is so fierce that it frequently melts the bricks together1 and new ones must be supplied4 ,there were furnaces in many stages of development4 ,one had been in full blast for nearly thirty hours1 and a weird sight it was4 ,the top gave one the instant impression of the seamy side of a volcano4 ,the heaped coke was cracked in every direction1 and from out of the crevices and depressions and from between the joints of the loosely built brick walls gushed flames of pale green and blue1 rising upward1 and burning now high1 now low1 but without noise beyond a certain low humming4 ,within the furnace--which was oblong in shape1 about the height of a man1 and sixteen feet long by six wide--there was a channel1 or core1 of white-hot carbon in a nearly vaporised state4 ,it represented graphically in its seething activity what the burning surface of the sun might be--and it was almost as hot4 ,yet the heat was scarcely manifest a dozen feet from the furnace1 and but for the blue flames rising from the cracks in the envelope1 or wall1 one might have laid his hand almost anywhere on the bricks without danger of burning it4 ,illustration3 ,taking ,off a ,crust of the ,furnace at ,night4 ,the light is so intense that you cannot look at it without hurting the eyes4 ,in the best modern blast-furnaces1 in which the coal is supplied with special artificial draft to make it burn the more fiercely1 the heat may reach #c1jjj degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,this is less than half of that produced in the electrical furnace4 ,in porcelain kilns1 the potters1 after hours of firing1 have been able to produce a cumulative temperature of as much as #c1cjj degrees ,fahrenheit2 and this1 with the oxy-hydrogen flame 7in which hydrogen gas is spurred to greater heat by an excess of oxygen71 is the very extreme of heat obtainable by any artificial means except by the electrical furnace4 ,thus the electrical furnace has fully doubled the practical possibilities in the artificial production of heat4 ,mr4 ,fitzgerald1 the chemist of the ,acheson ,company1 pointed out to me a curious glassy cavity in one of the half-dismantled furnaces4 ,here the heat was only a fraction of that in the core1 he said4 ,but still the fire-brick--and they were the most refractory produced in this country--had been melted down like butter4 ,the floors under the furnace were all made of fire-brick1 and yet the brick had run together until they were one solid mass of glassy stone4 ,we once tried putting a fire-brick in the centre of the core1 said ,mr4 ,fitzgerald1 just to test the heat4 ,later1 when we came to open the furnace1 we couldn't find a vestige of it4 ,the fire had totally consumed it1 actually driving it all off in vapour4 ,indeed1 so hot is the core that there is really no accurate means of measuring its temperature1 although science has been enabled by various curious devices to form a fairly correct estimate4 ,the furnace has a provoking way of burning up all of the thermometers and heat-measuring devices which are applied to it4 ,a number of years ago a clever ,german1 named ,segar1 invented a series of little cones composed of various infusible earths like clay and feldspar4 ,he so fashioned them that one in the series would melt at #a1fbj degrees ,fahrenheit1 another at #a1hjj degrees1 and so on up4 ,if the cones are placed in a pottery kiln1 the potter can tell just what degree of temperature he has reached by the melting of the cones one after another4 ,but in ,mr4 ,acheson's electrical furnaces all the cones would burn up and disappear in two minutes4 ,the method employed for coming at the heat of the electrical furnace1 in some measure1 is this3 a thin filament of platinum is heated red hot--#a1hjj degrees ,fahrenheit--by a certain current of electricity4 ,a delicate thermometer is set three feet away1 and the reading is taken4 ,then1 by a stronger current1 the filament is made white hot--#c1djj degrees ,fahrenheit--and the thermometer moved away until it reads the same as it read before4 ,two points in a distance-scale are thus obtained as a basis of calculation4 ,the thermometer is then tried by an electrical furnace4 ,to be kept at the same marking it must be placed much farther away than in either of the other instances4 ,a simple computation of the comparative distances with relation to the two well-ascertained temperatures gives approximately1 at least1 the temperature of the electrical furnace4 ,some other methods are also employed4 ,none is regarded as perfectly exact2 but they are near enough to have yielded some very interesting and valuable statistics regarding the power of various temperatures4 ,for instance1 it has been found that aluminium becomes a limpid liquid at from #d1jej to #d1cbj degrees ,fahrenheit1 and that lime melts at from #d1idj to #e1djj degrees1 and magnesia at #d1fhj degrees4 ,there are two kinds of electrical furnaces1 as there are two kinds of electric lights--arc and incandescent4 ,moissan has used the arc furnace in all of his experiments1 but ,mr4 ,acheson's furnaces follow rather the principle of the incandescent lamp4 ,the incandescent light1 said ,mr4 ,fitzgerald1 is produced by the resistance of a platinum wire or a carbon filament to the passage of a current of electricity4 ,both light and heat are given off4 ,in our furnace1 the heat is produced by the resistance of a solid cylinder or core of pulverised coke to the passage of a strong current of electricity4 ,when the core becomes white hot it causes the materials surrounding it to unite chemically1 producing the carborundum crystals4 ,the materials used are of the commonest--pure white sand1 coke1 sawdust1 and salt4 ,the sand and coke are mixed in the proportions of sixty to forty1 the sawdust is added to keep the mixture loose and open1 and the salt to assist the chemical combination of the ingredients4 ,the furnace is half filled with this mixture1 and then the core of coke1 twenty-one inches in diameter1 is carefully moulded in place4 ,this core is sixteen feet long1 reaching the length of the furnace1 and connecting at each end with an immense carbon terminal1 consisting of no fewer than twenty-five rods of carbon1 each four inches square and nearly three feet long4 ,these terminals carry the current into the core from huge insulated copper bars connected from above4 ,when the core is complete1 more of the carborundum mixture is shovelled in and tramped down until the furnace is heaping full4 ,everything is now ready for the electric current4 ,the wires from the ,niagara ,falls power-plant come through an adjoining building1 where one is confronted1 upon entering1 with this suggestive sign3 ,,danger #b1bjj ,volts4 ,tesla produces immensely higher voltages than this for laboratory experiments1 but there are few more powerful currents in use in this country for practical purposes4 ,only about #b1jjj volts are required for executing criminals under the electric method employed in ,new ,york2 #djj volts will run a trolley-car4 ,it is hardly comfortable to know that a single touch of one of the wires or switches in this room means almost certain death4 ,mr4 ,fitzgerald gave me a vivid demonstration of the terrific destructive force of the ,niagara ,falls current4 ,he showed me how the circuit was broken4 ,for ordinary currents1 the breaking of a circuit simply means a twist of the wrist and the opening of a brass switch4 ,here1 however1 the current is carried into a huge iron tank full of salt water4 ,the attendant1 pulling on a rope1 lifts an iron plate from the tank4 ,the moment it leaves the water1 there follow a rumbling crash like a thunder-clap1 a blinding burst of flame1 and thick clouds of steam and spray4 ,the sight and sound of it make you feel delicate about interfering with a #b1bjj-volt current4 ,illustration3 ,the ,interior of a ,furnace as it ,appears after the ,carborundum has been ,taken ,out4 ,this current is1 indeed1 too strong in voltage for the furnaces1 and it is cut down1 by means of what were until recently the largest transformers in the world1 to about #ajj volts1 or one-fourth the pressure used on the average trolley line4 ,it is now1 however1 a current of great intensity--#g1ejj ampres1 as compared with the one-half ampre used in an incandescent lamp2 and it requires eight square inches of copper and #djj square inches of carbon to carry it4 ,within the furnace1 when the current is turned on1 a thousand horse-power of energy is continuously transformed into heat4 ,think of it6 ,is it any wonder that the temperature goes up8 ,and this is continued for thirty-six hours steadily1 until #cf1jjj horse-power hours are used up and #g1jjj pounds of the crystals have been formed4 ,remembering that #cf1jjj horse-power hours1 when converted into heat1 will raise #gb1jjj gallons of water to the boiling point1 or will bring #cej tons of iron up to a red heat1 one can at least have a sort of idea of the heat evolved in a carborundum furnace4 ,when the coke core glows white1 chemical action begins in the mixture around it4 ,the top of the furnace now slowly settles1 and cracks in long1 irregular fissures1 sending out a pungent gas which1 when lighted1 burns lambent blue4 ,this gas is carbon monoxide1 and during the process nearly six tons of it are thrown off and wasted4 ,it seems1 indeed1 a somewhat extravagant process1 for fifty-six pounds of gas are produced for every forty of carborundum4 ,it is very distinctly a geological condition1 said ,mr4 ,fitzgerald2 crystals are not only formed exactly as they are in the earth1 but we have our own little earthquakes and volcanoes4 ,not infrequently gas collects1 forming a miniature mountain1 with a crater at its summit1 and blowing a magnificent fountain of flame1 lava1 and dense white vapour high into the air1 and roaring all the while in a most terrifying manner4 ,the workmen call it blowing off4 ,illustration3 ,blowing ,off4 ,not infrequently gas collects1 forming a miniature mountain1 with a crater at its summit1 and blowing a magnificent fountain of flame1 lava1 and dense white vapour high into the air1 and roaring all the while in a most terrifying manner4 ,at the end of thirty-six hours the current is cut off1 and the furnace is allowed to cool1 the workmen pulling down the brick as rapidly as they dare4 ,at the centre of the furnace1 surrounding the core1 there remains a solid mass of carborundum as large in diameter as a hogshead4 ,portions of this mass are sometimes found to be composed of pure1 beautifully crystalline graphite4 ,this in itself is a surprising and significant product1 and it has opened the way directly to graphite-making on a large scale4 ,an important and interesting feature of the new graphite industry is the utilisation it has effected of a product from the coke regions of ,pennsylvania which was formerly absolute waste4 ,to return to carborundum3 when the furnace has been cooled and the walls torn away1 the core of carborundum is broken open1 and the beautiful purple and blue crystals are laid bare1 still hot4 ,the sand and the coke have united in a compound nearly as hard as the diamond and even more indestructible1 being less inflammable and wholly indissoluble in even the strongest acids4 ,after being taken out1 the crystals are crushed to powder and combined in various forms convenient for the various uses for which it is designed4 ,i asked ,mr4 ,acheson if he could make diamonds in his furnaces4 ,possibly1 he answered1 with certain modifications4 ,diamonds1 as he explained1 are formed by great heat and great pressure4 ,the great heat is now easily obtained1 but science has not yet learned nature's secret of great pressure4 ,moissan's method of making diamonds is to dissolve coke dust in molten iron1 using a carbon crucible into which the electrodes are inserted4 ,when the whole mass is fluid1 the crucible and its contents are suddenly dashed into cold water or melted lead4 ,this instantaneous cooling of the iron produces enormous pressure1 so that the carbon is crystallised in the form of diamond4 ,but whatever it may or may not yet be able to do in the matter of diamond-making1 there can be no doubt that the possibilities of the electrical furnace are beyond all present conjecture4 ,with ,american inventors busy in its further development1 and with electricity as cheap as the mighty power of ,niagara can make it1 there is no telling what new and wonderful products1 now perhaps wholly unthought-of by the human race1 it may become possible to manufacture1 and manufacture cheaply4 ,,chapter ,v ,,harnessing ,,the ,,sun ,the ,solar ,motor ,it seems daring and wonderful enough1 the idea of setting the sun itself to the heavy work of men1 producing the power which will help to turn the wheels of this age of machinery4 ,at ,los ,angeles1 ,cal41 ,i went out to see the sun at work pumping water4 ,the solar motor1 as it is called1 was set up at one end of a great enclosure where ostriches are raised4 ,i don't know which interested me more at first1 the sight of these tall birds striding with dignity about their roomy pens or sitting on their big yellow eggs--just as we imagine them wild in the desert--or the huge1 strange creation of man by which the sun is made to toil4 ,i do not believe ,i could have guessed the purpose of this unique invention if ,i had not known what to expect4 ,i might have hazarded the opinion that it was some new and monstrous searchlight3 beyond that ,i think my imagination would have failed me4 ,it resembled a huge inverted lamp-shade1 or possibly a tremendous iron-ribbed colander1 bottomless1 set on its edge and supported by a steel framework4 ,near by there was a little wooden building which served as a shop or engine-house4 ,a trough full of running water led away on one side1 and from within came the steady chug-chug1 chug-chug of machinery1 apparently a pump4 ,so this was the sun-subduer6 ,a little closer inspection1 with an audience of ostriches1 very sober1 looking over the fence behind me and wondering1 ,i suppose1 if ,i had a cracker in my pocket1 ,i made out some other very interesting particulars in regard to this strange invention4 ,the colander-like device was in reality1 ,i discovered1 made up of hundreds and hundreds 7nearly #a1hjj in all7 of small mirrors1 the reflecting side turned inward1 set in rows on the strong steel framework which composed the body of the great colander4 ,by looking up through the hole in the bottom of the colander ,i was astonished by the sight of an object of such brightness that it dazzled my eyes4 ,it looked1 indeed1 like a miniature sun1 or at least like a huge arc light or a white-hot column of metal4 ,and1 indeed1 it was white hot1 glowing1 burning hot--a slim cylinder of copper set in the exact centre of the colander4 ,at the top there was a jet of white steam like a plume1 for this was the boiler of this extraordinary engine4 ,illustration3 ,side ,view of the ,solar ,motor4 ,it is all very simple when you come to see it1 the manager was saying to me4 ,every boy has tried the experiment of flashing the sunshine into his chum's window with a mirror4 ,well1 we simply utilise that principle4 ,by means of these hundreds of mirrors we reflect the light and heat of the sun on a single point at the centre of what you have described as a colander4 ,here we have the cylinder of steel containing the water which we wish heated for steam4 ,this cylinder is thirteen and one-half feet long and will hold one hundred gallons of water4 ,if you could see it cold1 instead of glowing with heat1 you would find it jet black1 for we cover it with a peculiar heat-absorbing substance made partly of lampblack1 for if we left it shiny it would re-reflect some of the heat which comes from the mirrors4 ,the cold water runs in at one end through this flexible metallic hose1 and the steam goes out at the other through a similar hose to the engine in the house4 ,though this colander1 or reflector1 as it is called1 is thirty-three and one-half feet in diameter at the outer edge and weighs over four tons1 it is yet balanced perfectly on its tall standards4 ,it is1 indeed1 mounted very much like a telescope1 in meridian1 and a common little clock in the engine-room operates it so that it always faces the sun1 like a sunflower1 looking east in the morning and west in the evening1 gathering up the burning rays of the sun and throwing them upon the boiler at the centre4 ,in the engine-house ,i found a pump at work1 chug-chugging like any pump run by steam-power1 and the water raised by sun-power flowing merrily away4 ,the manager told me that he could easily get ten horse-power2 that1 if the sun was shining brightly1 he could heat cold water in an hour to produce #aej pounds of steam4 ,illustration3 ,front ,view of the ,los ,angeles ,solar ,motor4 ,the wind sometimes blows a gale in ,southern ,california1 and ,i asked the manager what provision had been made for keeping this huge reflector from blowing away4 ,provision is made for varying wind-pressures1 he said1 so that the machine is always locked in any position1 and may only be moved by the operating mechanism1 unless1 indeed1 the whole structure should be carried away4 ,it is designed to withstand a wind-pressure of #ajj miles an hour4 ,it went through the high gales of the ,november storm without a particle of damage4 ,one of the peculiar characteristics of its construction is that it avoids wind-pressure as much as possible4 ,the operation of the motor is so simple that it requires very little human labour4 ,when power is desired1 the reflector must be swung into focus--that is1 pointed exactly toward the sun--which is done by turning a crank4 ,this is not beyond the power of a good-sized boy4 ,there is an indicator which readily shows when a true focus is obtained4 ,this done1 the reflector follows the sun closely all day4 ,in about an hour the engine can be started by a turn of the throttle-valve4 ,as the engine is automatic and self-oiling1 it runs without further attention4 ,the supply of water to the boiler is also automatic1 and is maintained at a constant height without any danger of either too much or too little water4 ,steam-pressure is controlled by means of a safety-valve1 so that it may never reach a dangerous point4 ,the steam passes from the engine to the condenser and thence to the boiler1 and the process is repeated indefinitely4 ,having now the solar motor1 let us see what it is good for1 what is expected of it4 ,of course when the sun does not shine the motor does not work1 so that its usefulness would be much curtailed in a very cloudy country like ,england1 for instance2 but here in ,southern ,california and in all the desert region of the ,united ,states and ,mexico1 to say nothing of the ,sahara in ,africa1 where the sun shines almost continuously1 the solar motor has its greatest sphere of usefulness1 and1 indeed1 its greatest need2 for these lands of long sunshine1 the deserts1 are also the lands of parched fruitlessness1 of little water1 so that the invention of a motor which will utilise the abundant sunshine for pumping the much-needed water has a peculiar value here4 ,illustration3 ,the ,brilliant ,steam ,boiler ,glistens in the ,centre4 ,the solar motor is expected to operate at all seasons of the year1 regardless of all climatic conditions1 with the single exception of cloudy skies4 ,cold makes no difference whatever4 ,the best results from the first model used in experimental work at ,denver were obtained at a time when the pond from which the water was pumped was covered with a thick coating of ice4 ,but1 of course1 the length of the solar day is longer in the summer1 giving more heat and more power4 ,the motor may be depended upon for work from about one hour and a half after sunrise to within half an hour of sunset4 ,in the summer time this would mean about twelve hours' constant pumping4 ,think what such an invention means1 if practically successful1 to the vast stretches of our arid ,western land1 valueless without water4 ,spread all over this country of ,arizona1 ,new ,mexico1 ,southern ,california1 and other ,states are thousands of miles of canals to bring in water from the rivers for irrigating the deserts1 and there are untold numbers of wind-mills1 steam and gasoline pumps which accomplish the same purpose more laboriously4 ,think what a new source of cheap power will do--making valuable hundreds of acres of desert land1 providing homes for thousands of busy ,americans4 ,indeed1 a practical solar motor might make habitable even the ,sahara ,desert4 ,and it can be used in many other ways besides for pumping water4 ,threshing machines might be run by this power1 and1 converted into electricity and saved up in storage batteries1 it might be used for lighting houses1 even for cooking dinners1 or in fact for any purpose requiring power4 ,these solar motors can be built at no great expense4 ,i was told that ten-horse-power plants would cost about #bjj per horse-power1 and one-hundred-horse-power plants about #ajj per horse-power4 ,this would include the entire plant1 with engine and pump complete4 ,when it is considered that the annual rental of electric power is frequently #ej per horse-power1 whether it is used or not1 it will be seen that the solar motor means a great deal1 especially in connection with irrigation enterprises4 ,illustration3 ,the ,rear ,machinery for ,operating the ,reflector4 ,and the time is coming--long-headed inventors saw it many years ago--when some device for the direct utilisation of the sun's heat will be a necessity4 ,the world is now using its coal at a very rapid rate2 its wood1 for fuel purposes1 has already nearly disappeared1 so that1 within a century or two1 new ways of furnishing heat and power must be devised or the human race will perish of cold and hunger4 ,fortunately there are other sources of power at hand2 the waterfalls1 the ,niagaras1 which1 converted into electricity1 may yet heat our sitting-rooms and cook our dinners4 ,there is also wind-power1 now used to a limited extent by means of wind-mills4 ,but greater than either of these sources is the unlimited potentiality of the tides of the sea1 which men have sought in vain to harness1 and the direct heat of the sun itself4 ,some time in the future these will be subdued to the purpose of men1 perhaps our main dependence for heat and power4 ,when we come to think of it1 the harnessing of the sun is not so very strange4 ,in fact1 we have had the sun harnessed since the dawn of man on the earth1 only indirectly4 ,without the sun there would be nothing here--no men1 no life4 ,coal is nothing but stored-up1 bottled sunshine4 ,the sunlight of a million years ago produced forests1 which1 falling1 were buried in the earth and changed into coal4 ,so when we put coal in the cook-stove we may truthfully say that we are boiling the kettle with million-year-old sunshine4 ,similarly there would be no waterfalls for us to chain and convert into electricity1 as we have chained ,niagara1 if the sun did not evaporate the waters of the sea1 take it up in clouds1 and afterward empty the clouds in rain on the mountain-tops from whence the water tumbles down again to the sea4 ,so no wind would blow without the sun to work changes in the air4 ,in short1 therefore1 we have been using the sunlight all these years1 hardly knowing it1 but not directly4 ,and think of the tremendous amount of heat which comes to the earth from the sun4 ,every boy has tried using a burning-glass1 which1 focusing a few inches of the sun's rays1 will set fire to paper or cloth4 ,professor ,langley says that the heat which the sun1 when near the zenith1 radiates upon the deck of a steamship would suffice1 could it be turned into work without loss1 to drive her at a fair rate of speed4 ,the knowledge of this enormous power going to waste daily and hourly has inspired many inventors to work on the problem of the solar motor4 ,among the greatest of these was the famous ,swedish engineer1 ,john ,ericsson1 who invented the iron-clad ,monitor4 ,he constructed a really workable solar motor1 different in construction but similar in principle to the one in ,california which ,i have described4 ,in #ahgf ,ericsson said3 ,upon one square mile1 using only one-half of the surface and devoting the rest to buildings1 roads1 etc41 we can drive #fd1hjj steam-engines1 each of #ajj horse-power1 simply by the heat radiating from the sun4 ,archimedes1 having completed his calculation of the force of a lever1 said that he could move the earth4 ,i affirm that the concentration of the heat radiated by the sun would produce a force capable of stopping the earth in its course4 ,a firm believer in the truth of his theories1 he devoted the last fifteen years of his life and #ajj1jjj to experimental work on his solar engine4 ,for various reasons ,ericsson's invention was not a practical success2 but now that modern inventors1 with their advancing knowledge of mechanics1 have turned their attention to the problem1 and now that the need of the solar motor is greater than ever before1 especially in the world's deserts1 we may look to see a practical and successful machine4 ,perhaps the ,california motor may prove the solution of the problem2 perhaps it will need improvements1 which use and experience will indicate2 perhaps it may be left for a reader of these words to discover the great secret and make his fortune4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,inventor ,,and ,,the ,,food ,,problem ,fixing of ,nitrogen--,experiments of ,professor ,nobbe ,no lad of to-day1 ambitious to become a scientist or inventor1 reading of all the wonderful and revolutionising discoveries and inventions of recent years1 need fear for plenty of new problems to solve in the future4 ,no1 the great problems have not all been solved4 ,we have the steam-engine1 the electric motor1 the telegraph1 the telephone1 the air-ship1 but not one of them is perfect1 not one that does not bring to the attention of inventors scores of entirely new problems for solution4 ,the further we advance in science and mechanics the further we see into the marvels of our wonderful earth and of our life1 and the more there is for us to do4 ,as population increases and people become more intelligent there is a constant demand for new things1 new machinery which will enable the human race to move more rapidly and crowd more work and more pleasure into our short human life4 ,one man working to-day with machinery can accomplish as much as many men of a hundred years ago2 he can live in a house that would then have been a palace2 enjoy advantages of education1 amusement1 luxury1 that would then have been possible only to kings and princes4 ,and the very greatest of all the problems which the inventors and scientists of coming generations must solve is the question--seemingly commonplace--of food4 ,we who live in this age of plenty can hardly realise that food could ever be a problem4 ,but far-sighted scientists have already begun to look forward to the time when there will be so many people on the earth that the farms and fields will not supply food for every one4 ,it is a well-known fact that the population of the world is increasing enormously4 ,think how ,america has been expanding2 a whole continent overrun and settled almost within a century and a half6 ,nearly all the land that can be successfully farmed has already been taken up1 and the land in some of the older settled localities1 like ,virginia and the ,new ,england ,states1 has been so steadily cropped that it is failing in fertility1 so that it will not raise as much as it would years ago4 ,in ,europe no crop at all can be raised without quantities of fertiliser4 ,while there was yet new country to open up1 while ,america and ,australia were yet virgin soil1 there was no immediate cause for alarm2 but1 as no less an authority than ,sir ,william ,crookes pointed out a few years ago in a lecture before the ,british ,association1 the new land has now for the most part been opened and tamed to the plough or utilised for grazing purposes4 ,and already we are hearing of worn-out land in ,dakota--the paradise of the wheat producer4 ,the problem1 therefore1 is simple enough3 the world is reaching the limits of its capacity for food production1 while the population continues to increase enormously3 how soon will starvation begin8 ,sir ,william ,crookes has prophesied1 ,i believe1 that the acute stage of the problem will be reached within the next fifty years1 a time when the call of the world for food cannot be supplied4 ,if it were not for our coming inventors and scientists it would certainly be a gloomy outlook for the human race4 ,but science has already foreseen this problem4 ,when ,sir ,william ,crookes gave his address he based his arguments on modern agricultural methods2 he did not look forward into the future1 he did not show any faith in the scientists and inventors who are to come1 who are now boys1 perhaps4 ,he did not even take cognisance of the work that had already been done4 ,for inventors and scientists are already grappling with this problem of food4 ,in a nutshell1 the question of food production is a question of nitrogen4 ,this must be explained4 ,a crop of wheat1 for instance1 takes from the soil certain elements to help make up the wheat berry1 the straw1 the roots4 ,and the most important of all the elements it takes is nitrogen4 ,when we eat bread we take this nitrogen that the wheat has gathered from the soil into our own bodies to build up our bones1 muscles1 brains4 ,each wheat crop takes more nitrogen from the soil1 and finally1 if this nitrogen is not given back to the earth in some way1 wheat will no longer grow in the fields4 ,in other words1 we say the farm is worn out1 cropped to death4 ,the soil is there1 but the precious life-giving nitrogen is gone4 ,and so it becomes necessary every year to put back the nitrogen and the other elements which the crop takes from the soil4 ,this purpose is accomplished by the use of fertilisers4 ,manure1 ground bone1 nitrates1 guano1 are put in fields to restore the nitrogen and other plant foods4 ,in short1 we are compelled to feed the soil that the soil may feed the wheat1 that the wheat may feed us4 ,you will see that it is a complete circle--like all life4 ,now1 the trouble1 the great problem1 lies right here3 in the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient amount of fertiliser--in other words1 in getting food enough to keep the soil from nitrogen starvation4 ,already we ship guano--the droppings of sea-birds--from ,south ,america and the far islands of the sea to put on our lands1 and we mine nitrates 7which contain nitrogen7 at large expense and in great quantities for the same purpose4 ,and while we go to such lengths to get nitrogen we are wasting it every year in enormous quantities4 ,gunpowder and explosives are most made up of nitrogen--saltpetre and nitro-glycerin--so that every war wastes vast quantities of this precious substance4 ,every discharge of a #ac-;inch gun liberates enough nitrogen to raise many bushels of wheat4 ,thus we see another reason for the disarmament of the nations4 ,a prediction has been made that barely thirty years hence the wheat required to feed the world will be #c1bfj1jjj1jjj bushels annually1 and that to raise this about #ab1jjj1jjj tons of nitrate of soda yearly for the area under cultivation will be needed over and above the #a1bej1jjj tons now used by mankind4 ,but the nitrates now in sight and available are estimated good for only another fifty years1 even at the present low rate of consumption4 ,hence1 even if famine does not immediately impend1 the food problem is far more serious than is generally supposed4 ,now nitrogen1 it will be seen1 is one of the most precious and necessary of all substances to human life1 and it is one of the most common4 ,if the world ever starves for the lack of nitrogen it will starve in a very world of nitrogen4 ,for there is not one of the elements more common than nitrogen1 not one present around us in larger quantities4 ,four-fifths of every breath of air we breathe is pure nitrogen--four-fifths of all the earth's atmosphere is nitrogen4 ,but1 unfortunately1 most plants are unable to take up nitrogen in its gaseous form as it appears in the air4 ,it must be combined with hydrogen in the form of ammonia or in some nitrate4 ,ammonia and the nitrates are1 therefore1 the basis of all fertilisers4 ,now1 the problem for the scientist and inventor takes this form3 ,here is the vast store-house of life-giving nitrogen in the air2 how can it be caught1 fixed1 reduced to the purpose of men1 spread on the hungry wheat-fields8 ,the problem1 therefore1 is that of fixing the nitrogen1 taking the gas out of the air and reducing it to a form in which it can be handled and used4 ,two principal methods for doing this have already been devised1 both of which are of fascinating interest4 ,one of these ways1 that of a clever ,american inventor1 is purely a machinery process1 the utilisation of power by means of which the nitrogen is literally sucked out of the air and combined with soda so that it produces nitrate of soda1 a high-class fertiliser4 ,the water power of ,niagara ,falls is used to do this work--it seems odd enough that ,niagara should be used for food production6 ,the other method1 that of a hard-working ,german professor1 is the cunning utilisation of one of nature's marvellous processes of taking the nitrogen from the air and depositing it in the soil--for nature has its own beautiful way of doing it4 ,i will describe the second method first because it will help to clear up the whole subject and lead up to the work of the ,american inventor and his extraordinary machinery4 ,nearly every farmer1 without knowing it1 employs nature's method of fixing nitrogen every year4 ,it is a simple process which he has learned from experience4 ,he knows that when land is worn out by overcropping with wheat or other products which draw heavily on the earth's nitrogen supply certain crops will still grow luxuriantly upon the worn-out land1 and that if these crops are left and ploughed in1 the fertility of the soil will be restored1 and it will again produce large yields of wheat and other nitrogen-demanding plants4 ,these restorative crops are clover1 lupin1 and other leguminous plants1 including beans and peas4 ,every one who is at all familiar with farming operations has heard of seeding down an old field to clover and then ploughing in the crop1 usually in the second year4 ,the great importance of this bit of the wisdom of experience was not appreciated by science for many years4 ,then several ,german experimenters began to ask why clover and lupin and beans should flourish on worn-out land when other crops failed4 ,all of these plants are especially rich in nitrogen1 and yet they grew well on soil which had been robbed of its nitrogen4 ,why was this so8 ,it was a hard problem to solve1 but science was undaunted4 ,botanists had already discovered that the roots of the leguminous plants--that is1 clover1 lupin1 beans1 peas1 and so on--were usually covered with small round swellings1 or tumors1 to which were given the name nodules4 ,the exact purpose of these swellings being unknown1 they were set down as a condition1 possibly1 of disease1 and no further attention was paid to them until ,professor ,hellriegel1 of ,burnburg1 in ,anhalt1 ,germany1 took up the work4 ,after much experimenting1 he made the important discovery that lupins which had nodules would grow in soil devoid of nitrogen1 and that lupins which had no nodules would not grow in the same soil4 ,it was plain1 therefore1 that the nodules must play an important1 though mysterious1 part in enabling the plant to utilise the free nitrogen of the air4 ,that was early in the '#hjs4 ,his discovery at once started other investigators to work1 and it was not long before the announcement came--and it came1 curiously enough1 at a time when ,dr4 ,koch was making his greatest contributions to the world's knowledge of the germ theory of disease--that these nodules were the result of minute bacteria found in the soil4 ,professor ,beyerinck1 of ,mnster1 gave the bacteria the name ,radiocola4 ,it was at this time that ,professor ,nobbe took up the work with vigour4 ,if these nodules were produced by bacteria1 he argued that the bacteria must be present in the soil2 and if they were not present1 would it not be possible to supply them by artificial means8 ,in other words1 if soil1 say worn-out farm-soil or1 indeed1 pure sand like that of the sea-shore could thus be inoculated1 as a physician inoculates a guinea-pig with diphtheria germs1 would not beans and peas planted there form nodules and draw their nourishment from the air8 ,it was a somewhat startling idea1 but all radically new ideas are startling2 and1 after thinking it over1 ,professor ,nobbe began1 in #ahhh1 a series of most remarkable experiments1 having as their purpose the discovery of a practical method of soil inoculation4 ,he gathered the nodule-covered roots of beans and peas1 dried and crushed them1 and made an extract of them in water4 ,then he prepared a gelatine solution with a little sugar1 asparagine1 and other materials1 and added the nodule-extract4 ,in this medium colonies of bacteria at once began to grow--bacteria of many kinds4 ,professor ,nobbe separated the ,radiocola--which are oblong in shape--and made what is known as a clear culture1 that is1 a culture in gelatine1 consisting of billions of these particular germs1 and no others4 ,when he had succeeded in producing these clear cultures he was ready for his actual experiments in growing plants4 ,he took a quantity of pure sand1 and1 in order to be sure that it contained no nitrogen or bacteria in any form1 he heated it at a high temperature three different times for six hours1 thereby completely sterilising it4 ,this sand he placed in three jars4 ,to each of these he added a small quantity of mineral food--the required phosphorus1 potassium1 iron1 sulphur1 and so on4 ,to the first he supplied no nitrogen at all in any form2 the second he fertilised with saltpetre1 which is largely composed of nitrogen in a form in which plants may readily absorb it through their roots2 the third of the jars he inoculated with some of his bacteria culture4 ,then he planted beans in all three jars1 and awaited the results1 as may be imagined1 somewhat anxiously4 ,perfectly pure sterilised water was supplied to each jar in equal amounts and the seeds sprouted1 and for a week the young shoots in the three jars were almost identical in appearance4 ,but soon after that there was a gradual but striking change4 ,the beans in the first jar1 having no nitrogen and no inoculation1 turned pale and refused to grow1 finally dying down completely1 starved for want of nitrogenous food1 exactly as a man would starve for the lack of the same kind of nourishment4 ,the beans in the second jar1 with the fertilised soil1 grew about as they would in the garden1 all of the nourishment having been artificially supplied4 ,but the third jar1 which had been jealously watched1 showed really a miracle of growth4 ,it must be remembered that the soil in this jar was as absolutely free of nitrogen as the soil in the first jar1 and yet the beans flourished greatly1 and when some of the plants were analysed they were found to be rich in nitrogen4 ,nodules had formed on the roots of the beans in the third or inoculated jar only1 thereby proving beyond the hope of the experimenter that soil inoculation was a possibility1 at least in the laboratory4 ,with this favourable beginning ,professor ,nobbe went forward with his experiments with renewed vigour4 ,he tried inoculating the soil for peas1 clover1 lupin1 vetch1 acacia1 robinia1 and so on1 and in every case the roots formed nodules1 and although there was absolutely no nitrogen in the soil1 the plants invariably flourished4 ,then ,professor ,nobbe tried great numbers of difficult test experiments1 such as inoculating the soil with clover bacteria and then planting it with beans or peas1 or vice versa1 to see whether the bacteria from the nodules of any one leguminous plant could be used for all or any of the others4 ,he also tried successive cultures2 that is1 bean bacteria for beans for several years1 to see if better results could be obtained by continued use4 ,even an outline description of all the experiments which ,professor ,nobbe made in the course of these investigations would fill a small volume1 and it will be best to set down here only his general conclusions4 ,illustration3 ,trees ,growing in ,water at ,professor ,nobbe's ,laboratory4 ,these wonderful nitrogen-absorbing bacteria do not appear in all soil1 although they are very widely distributed4 ,so far as known they form nodules only on the roots of a few species of plants4 ,in their original form in the soil they are neutral--that is1 not especially adapted to beans1 or peas1 or any one particular kind of crop4 ,but if clover1 for instance1 is planted1 they straightway form nodules and become especially adapted to the clover plant1 so that1 as every farmer knows1 the second crop of clover on worn-out land is much better than the first4 ,and1 curiously enough1 when once the bacteria have become thoroughly adapted to one of the crops1 say beans1 they will not affect peas or clover1 or only feebly4 ,another strange feature of the life of these little creatures1 which has a marvellous suggestion of intelligence1 is their activities in various kinds of soil4 ,when the ground is very rich--that is1 when it contains plenty of nitrogenous matter--they are what ,professor ,nobbe calls lazy4 ,they do not readily form nodules on the roots of the plants1 seeming almost to know that there is no necessity for it4 ,but when once the nitrogenous matter in the soil begins to fail1 then they work more sharply1 and when it has gone altogether they are at the very height of activity4 ,consequently1 unless the soil is really worn out1 or very poor to begin with1 there is no use in inoculating it--it would be like taking owls to ,athens1 as ,professor ,nobbe says4 ,illustration3 ,experimenting with ,nitrogen in ,professor ,nobbe's ,laboratory4 ,having thus proved the remarkable efficacy of soil inoculation in his laboratory and greenhouses1 where ,i saw great numbers of experiments still going forward1 ,professor ,nobbe set himself to make his discoveries of practical value4 ,he gave to his bacteria cultures the name ,nitragen--spelled with an a--and he produced separate cultures for each of the important crops--peas1 beans1 vetch1 lupin1 and clover4 ,in #ahid the first of these were placed on the market1 and they have had a steadily increasing sale1 although such a radical innovation as this1 so far out of the ordinary run of agricultural operation1 and so almost unbelievably wonderful1 cannot be expected to spread very rapidly4 ,the cultures are now manufactured at one of the great commercial chemical laboratories on the river ,main4 ,i saw some of them in ,professor ,nobbe's laboratory4 ,they come in small glass bottles1 each marked with the name of the crop for which it is especially adapted4 ,the bottle is partly filled with the yellow gelatinous substance in which the bacteria grow4 ,on the surface of this there is a mossy-like growth1 resembling mould4 ,this consists of innumerable millions of the little oblong bacteria4 ,a bottle costs about fifty cents and contains enough bacteria for inoculating half an acre of land4 ,it must be used within a certain number of weeks after it is obtained1 while it is still fresh4 ,the method of applying it is very simple4 ,the contents of the bottle are diluted with warm water4 ,then the seeds of the beans1 clover1 or peas1 which have previously been mixed with a little soil1 are treated with this solution and thoroughly mixed with the soil4 ,after that the mass is partially dried so that the seeds may be readily sown4 ,the bacteria at once begin to propagate in the soil1 which is their natural home1 and by the time the beans or peas have put out roots they are present in vast numbers and ready to begin the active work of forming nodules4 ,it is not known exactly how the bacteria absorb the free nitrogen from the air1 but they do it successfully1 and that is the main thing4 ,many ,german farmers have tried ,nitragen4 ,one1 who was sceptical of its virtues1 wrote to ,professor ,nobbe that he sowed the bacteria-inoculated seeds in the form of a huge letter ,n in the midst of his field1 planting the rest in the ordinary way4 ,before a month had passed that ,n showed up green and big over all the field1 the plants composing it being so much larger and healthier than those around it4 ,the ,united ,states ,government has recently been experimenting along the same lines and has produced a new form of dry preparation of the bacteria in some cakes somewhat resembling a yeast-cake4 ,the possibilities of such a discovery as this seem almost limitless4 ,science predicts the exhaustion of nitrogen and consequent failure of the food supply1 and science promptly finds a way of making plants draw nitrogen from the boundless supplies of the air4 ,the time may come when every farmer will send for his bottles or cakes of bacteria culture every spring as regularly as he sends for his seed1 and when the work of inoculating the soil will be a familiar agricultural process1 with discussions in the farmers' papers as to whether two bottles or one is best for a field of sandy loam with a southern exposure4 ,stranger things have happened4 ,but it must be remembered1 also1 that the work is in its infancy as yet1 and that there are vast unexplored fields and innumerable possibilities yet to fathom4 ,wonderful as this discovery is1 and much as it promises in the future1 its efficacy1 as soon as it becomes generally known1 is certain to be overestimated1 as all new discoveries are4 ,professor ,nobbe himself says that it has its own limited serviceability4 ,it will produce a bounteous crop of beans in the pure sand of the sea-shore if 7and this is an important if7 that sand also contains enough of the mineral substances--phosphorus1 potassium1 and so on--and if it is kept properly watered4 ,a man with a worn-out farm cannot go ahead blindly and inoculate his soil and expect certain results4 ,he must know the exact disease from which his land is suffering before he applies the remedy4 ,if it is deficient in the phosphates1 bacteria cultures will not help it1 whereas if it is deficient in nitrogen1 bacteria are just what it needs4 ,and so agricultural education must go hand in hand with the introduction of these future preservers of the human race4 ,it is safe to say that by the time there is a serious failure of the earth's soil for lack of nitrogen1 science1 with this wonderful beginning1 will have ready a new system of cultivation1 which will gradually1 easily1 and perfectly take the place of the old4 ,before leaving this wonderful subject of soil inoculation1 a word about ,professor ,nobbe himself will surely be of interest4 ,i visited his laboratory and saw his experiments4 ,tharandt1 in ,saxony1 where ,professor ,nobbe has carried on his investigations for over thirty years1 is a little village set picturesquely among the ,saxon hills1 about half an hour's ride by railroad from the city of ,dresden4 ,here is located the ,forest ,academy of the ,kingdom1 with which ,professor ,nobbe is prominently connected1 and here also is the agricultural experiment station of which he is director4 ,he has been for more than forty years the editor of one of the most important scientific publications in ,germany2 he is chairman of the ,imperial ,society of ,agricultural ,station ,directors1 and he has been the recipient of many honours4 ,we now come to a consideration of the other method--the fixing of nitrogen by machinery3 a practical problem for the inventor4 ,every one has noticed the peculiar fresh smell of the air which follows a thunderstorm2 the same pungent odour appears in the vicinity of a frictional electric machine when in operation4 ,this smell has been attributed to ozone1 but it is now thought that it may be due to oxides of nitrogen2 in other words1 the electric discharges of lightning or of the frictional machine have burned the air--that is1 combined the nitrogen and oxygen of the air1 forming oxides of nitrogen4 ,illustration3 ,mr4 ,charles ,s4 ,bradley4 ,illustration3 ,mr4 ,d4 ,r4 ,lovejoy4 ,the fact that an electric spark will thus form an oxide of nitrogen has long been known1 but it remained for two ,american inventors1 ,mr4 ,charles ,s4 ,bradley and ,mr4 ,d4 ,r4 ,lovejoy1 of ,niagara ,falls1 ,n4 ,y41 to work out a way by inventive genius for applying this scientific fact to a practical purpose1 thereby originating a great new industry4 ,i shall not attempt here to describe the long process of experimentation which led up to the success of their enterprise4 ,here was their raw material all around them in the air2 their problem was to produce a large number of very hot electric flames in a confined space or box so that air could be passed through1 rapidly burned1 and converted into oxides of nitrogen 7nitric oxides and peroxides71 which could afterward be collected4 ,they took the power supplied by the great turbine wheels at ,niagara ,falls and produced a current of #aj1jjj volts1 a pressure far above anything ever used before for practical purposes in this country4 ,this was led into a box or chamber of metal six feet high and three feet in diameter--the box having openings to admit the air4 ,by means of a revolving cylinder the electric current is made to produce a rapid continuance of very brilliant arcs1 exactly like the glaring white arc of the arc-lamp1 only much more intense1 a great deal hotter4 ,the air driven in through and around these hot arcs is at once burned1 combining the oxygen and nitrogen of which it is composed and producing the desired oxides of nitrogen4 ,these are led along to a chamber where they are combined with water1 producing nitric or nitrous acid2 or if the gases are brought into contact with caustic potash1 saltpetre is the result2 if with caustic soda1 nitrate of soda is the product--a very valuable fertiliser4 ,and the inventors have been able to produce these various results at an expense so low that they can sell their output at a profit in competition with nitrates from other sources1 thus giving the world a new source of fertiliser at a moderate price4 ,illustration3 ,eight-,inch #aj1jjj-,volt ,arcs ,burning the ,air for ,fixing ,nitrogen4 ,illustration3 ,machine for ,burning the ,air with ,electric ,arcs so as to ,produce ,nitrates4 ,in this way the power of ,niagara has become a factor in the food question1 a defence against the ultimate hunger of the human race4 ,and when we think of the hundreds of other great waterfalls to be utilised1 and with our growing knowledge of electricity this utilisation will become steadily cheaper1 easier1 it would seem that the inventor had already found a way to help the farmer4 ,then there is the boundless power of the tides going to waste1 of the direct rays of the sun utilised by some such sun motor as that described in another chapter of this book1 which in time may be called to operate upon the boundless reservoir of nitrogen in the air for helping to produce the future food for the human race4 ,illustration3 ,,marconi4 ,the ,sending of an ,epoch-,making ,message4 ,january #ah1 #aijc1 marks the beginning of a new era in telegraphic communication4 ,on that day there was sent by ,marconi himself from the wireless station at ,south ,wellfleet1 ,cape ,cod1 ,mass41 to the station at ,poldhu1 ,cornwall1 ,england1 a distance of #c1jjj miles1 the message--destined soon to be historic--from the ,president of the ,united ,states to the ,king of ,england4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,marconi ,,and ,,his ,,great ,,achievements ,new ,experiments in ,wireless ,telegraphy ,no invention of modern times1 perhaps1 comes so near to being what we call a miracle as the new system of telegraphy without wires4 ,the very thought of communicating across the hundreds of miles of blue ocean between ,europe and ,america with no connection1 no wires1 nothing but air1 sunshine1 space1 is almost inconceivably wonderful4 ,a few years ago the mere suggestion of such a thing would have been set down as the wildest flight of imagination1 unbelievable1 perfectly impossible4 ,and yet it has come to pass6 ,think for a moment of sitting here on the shore of ,america and quietly listening to words sent through space across some #c1jjj miles of ocean from the edge of ,europe6 ,a cable1 marvellous as it is1 maintains a real connection between speaker and hearer4 ,we feel that it is a road along which our speech can travel2 we can grasp its meaning4 ,but in telegraphing without wires we have nothing but space1 poles with pendent wires on one side of the broad1 curving ocean1 and similar poles and wires 7or perhaps only a kite struggling in the air7 on the other--and thought passing between6 ,i have told in the first ,boys' ,book of ,inventions of ,guglielmo ,marconi's early experiments4 ,that was a chapter of uncertain beginnings1 of great hopes1 of prophecy4 ,this is the sequel1 a chapter of achievement and success4 ,what was only a scientific and inventive novelty a few years ago has become a great practical enterprise1 giving promise of changing the whole world of men1 drawing nations more closely together1 making us near neighbours to the ,english and the ,germans and the ,french--in short1 shrinking our earth4 ,there may come a time when we will think no more of sending a ,marconigram1 or an etheragram1 or whatever is to be the name of the message by wireless telegraphy1 to an acquaintance in ,england than we now think of calling up our neighbour on the telephone4 ,every one will recall the astonishment that swept over the country in ,december1 #aija1 when there came the first meagre reports of ,marconi's success in telegraphing across the ,atlantic ,ocean between ,england and ,newfoundland4 ,at first few would believe the reports1 but when ,thomas ,a4 ,edison1 ,graham ,bell1 and other great inventors and scientists had expressed their confidence in ,marconi's achievement1 the whole country1 was ready to hail the young inventor with honours4 ,and his successes since those ,december days have been so pronounced--for he had now sent messages both ways across the ,atlantic and at much greater distances--have more than borne out the promise then made4 ,wireless telegrams can now be sent directly from the shore of ,massachusetts to ,england1 and ocean-going ships are being rapidly equipped with the ,marconi apparatus so that they can keep in direct communication with both continents during every day of the voyage4 ,on some of the great ships a little newspaper is published1 giving the world's news as received from day to day4 ,it was the good fortune of the writer to arrive in ,st4 ,john's1 ,newfoundland1 during ,mr4 ,marconi's experiments in ,december1 #aija1 only a short time after the famous first message across the ,atlantic had been received4 ,three months later it was also the writer's privilege to visit the ,marconi station at ,poldhu1 in ,cornwall1 ,england1 from which the message had been sent1 ,mr4 ,marconi being then planning his greater work of placing his invention on a practical basis so that his company could enter the field of commercial telegraphy4 ,it was the writer's fortune to have many talks with ,mr4 ,marconi1 both in ,america and in ,england1 to see him at his experiments1 and to write some of the earliest accounts of his successes4 ,the story here told is the result of these talks4 ,mr4 ,marconi kept his own counsel regarding his plans in coming to ,newfoundland in ,december1 #aija4 ,he told nobody1 except his assistants1 that he was going to attempt the great feat of communicating across the ,atlantic ,ocean4 ,though feeling very certain of success1 he knew that the world would not believe him1 would perhaps only laugh at him for his great plans4 ,the project was entirely too daring for public announcement4 ,something might happen1 some accident to the apparatus1 that would cause a delay2 people would call this failure1 and it would be more difficult another time to get any one to put confidence in the work4 ,so ,marconi very wisely held his peace1 only announcing what he had done when success was assured4 ,mr4 ,marconi landed at ,st4 ,john's1 ,newfoundland1 on ,december #f1 #aija1 with his two assistants1 ,mr4 ,kemp and ,mr4 ,paget4 ,he set up his instruments in a low room of the old barracks on ,signal ,hill1 which stands sentinel at the harbour mouth half a mile from the city of ,st4 ,john's4 ,so simple and easily arranged is the apparatus that in three days' time the inventor was prepared to begin his experiments4 ,on ,wednesday1 the #aath1 as a preliminary test of the wind velocity1 he sent up one of his kites1 a huge hexagonal affair of bamboo and silk nine feet high1 built on the ,baden-,powell model3 the wind promptly snapped the wire and blew the kite out to sea4 ,he then filled a #ad-;foot hydrogen balloon1 and sent it upward through a thick fog bank4 ,hardly had it reached the limit of its tetherings1 however1 when the arial wire on which he had depended for receiving his messages fell to the earth1 the balloon broke away1 and was never seen again4 ,on ,thursday1 the #abth1 a day destined to be important in the annals of invention1 ,marconi tried another kite1 and though the weather was so blustery that it required the combined strength of the inventor and his assistants to manage the tetherings1 they succeeded in holding the kite at an elevation of about #djj feet4 ,marconi was now prepared for the crucial test4 ,before leaving ,england he had given detailed instructions to his assistants for the transmission of a certain signal1 the ,morse telegraphic ,s1 represented by three dots 744471 at a fixed time each day1 beginning as soon as they received word that everything at ,st4 ,john's was in readiness4 ,this signal was to be clicked out on the transmitting instruments near ,poldhu1 ,cornwall1 the southwestern tip of ,england1 and radiated from a number of arial wires pendent from masts #baj feet high4 ,if the inventor could receive on his kite-wire in ,newfoundland some of the electrical waves thus produced1 he knew that he held the solution of the problem of transoceanic wireless telegraphy4 ,he had cabled his assistants to begin sending the signals at three o'clock in the afternoon1 ,english time1 continuing until six o'clock2 that is1 from about #aa4cj to #b4cj o'clock in ,st4 ,john's4 ,illustration3 ,preparing to ,fly the ,kite which ,supported the ,receiving ,wire4 ,marconi on the extreme left4 ,at noon on ,thursday 7,december #ab1 #aija7 ,marconi sat waiting1 a telephone receiver at his ear1 in a room of the old barracks on ,signal ,hill4 ,to him it must have been a moment of painful stress and expectation4 ,arranged on the table before him1 all its parts within easy reach of his hand1 was the delicate receiving instrument1 the supreme product of years of the inventor's life1 now to be submitted to a decisive test4 ,a wire ran out through the window1 thence to a pole1 thence upward to the kite which could be seen swaying high overhead4 ,it was a bluff1 raw day2 at the base of the cliff #cjj feet below thundered a cold sea2 oceanward through the mist rose dimly the rude outlines of ,cape ,spear1 the easternmost reach of the ,north ,american ,continent4 ,beyond that rolled the unbroken ocean1 nearly #b1jjj miles to the coast of the ,british ,isles4 ,across the harbour the city of ,st4 ,john's lay on its hillside wrapped in fog3 no one had taken enough interest in the experiments to come up here through the snow to ,signal ,hill4 ,even the ubiquitous reporter was absent4 ,in ,cabot ,tower1 near at hand1 the old signalman stood looking out to sea1 watching for ships1 and little dreaming of the mysterious messages coming that way from ,england4 ,standing on that bleak hill and gazing out over the waste of water to the eastward1 one finds it difficult indeed to realise that this wonder could have become a reality4 ,the faith of the inventor in his creation1 in the kite-wire1 and in the instruments which had grown under his hand1 was unshaken4 ,illustration3 ,mr4 ,marconi and his ,assistants in ,newfoundland3 ,mr4 ,kemp on the ,left1 ,mr4 ,paget on the ,right4 ,they are sitting on a balloon basket1 with one of the ,baden-,powell kites in the background4 ,i believed from the first1 he told me1 that ,i would be successful in getting signals across the ,atlantic4 ,only two persons were present that ,thursday noon in the room where the instruments were set up--,mr4 ,marconi and ,mr4 ,kemp4 ,everything had been done that could be done4 ,the receiving apparatus was of unusual sensitiveness1 so that it would catch even the faintest evidence of the signals4 ,a telephone receiver1 which is no part of the ordinary instrument1 had been supplied1 so that the slightest clicking of the dots might be conveyed to the inventor's ear4 ,for nearly half an hour not a sound broke the silence of the room4 ,then quite suddenly ,mr4 ,kemp heard the sharp click of the tapper as it struck against the coherer2 this1 of course1 was not the signal1 yet it was an indication that something was coming4 ,the inventor's face showed no evidence of excitement4 ,presently he said3 ,see if you can hear anything1 ,kemp4 ,mr4 ,kemp took the receiver1 and a moment later1 faintly and yet distinctly and unmistakably1 came the three little clicks--the dots of the letter ,s1 tapped out an instant before in ,england4 ,at ten minutes past one1 more signals came1 and both ,mr4 ,marconi and ,mr4 ,kemp assured themselves again and again that there could be no mistake4 ,during this time the kite gyrated so wildly in the air that the receiving wire was not maintained at the same height1 as it should have been2 but again1 at twenty minutes after two1 other repetitions of the signal were received4 ,thus the problem was solved4 ,one of the great wonders of science had been wrought4 ,but the inventor went down the hill toward the city1 now bright with lights1 feeling depressed and disheartened--the rebound from the stress of the preceding days4 ,on the following afternoon1 ,friday1 he succeeded in getting other repetitions of the signal from ,england1 but on ,saturday1 though he made an effort1 he was unable to hear anything4 ,the signals were1 of course1 sent continuously1 but the inventor was unable to obtain continuous results1 owing1 as he explains1 to the fluctuations of the height of the kite as it was blown about by the wind1 and to the extreme delicacy of his instruments1 which required constant adjustment during the experiments4 ,even now that he had been successful1 the inventor hesitated to make his achievement public1 lest it seem too extraordinary for belief4 ,finally1 after withholding the great news for two days1 certainly an evidence of self-restraint1 he gave out a statement to the press1 and on ,sunday morning the world knew and doubted2 on ,monday it knew more and believed4 ,many1 like ,mr4 ,edison1 awaited the inventor's signed announcement before they would credit the news4 ,sir ,cavendish ,boyle1 the ,governor of ,newfoundland1 reported at once to ,king ,edward2 and the cable company which has exclusive rights in ,newfoundland1 alarmed at an achievement which threatened the very existence of its business1 demanded that he desist from further experiments within its territory1 truly an evidence of the belief of practical men in the future commercial importance of the invention4 ,it is not a little significant of the increased willingness of the world1 born of expanding knowledge1 to accept a new scientific wonder1 that ,mr4 ,marconi's announcement should have been so eagerly and so generally believed1 and that the popular imagination should have been so fired with its possibilities4 ,one cannot but recall the struggle against doubt1 prejudice1 and disbelief in which the promoters of the first transatlantic cable were forced to engage4 ,even after the first cable was laid 7in #aheh71 and messages had actually been transmitted1 there were many who denied that it had ever been successfully operated1 and would hardly be convinced even by the affidavits of those concerned in the work4 ,but in the years since then1 ,edison1 ,bell1 ,rntgen1 and many other famous inventors and scientists have taught the world to be chary of its disbelief4 ,outside of this general disposition to friendliness1 however1 ,marconi on his own part had well earned the credit of the careful and conservative scientist2 his previous successes made it the more easy to credit his new achievement4 ,for1 as an ,englishman 7,mr4 ,flood ,page71 in defending ,mr4 ,marconi's announcement1 has pointed out1 the inventor has never made any statement in public until he has been absolutely certain of the fact2 he has never had to withdraw any statement that he has made as to his progress in the past4 ,and these facts unquestionably carried great weight in convincing ,mr4 ,edison1 ,mr4 ,graham ,bell1 and others of equal note of the literal truth of his report4 ,it was astonishing how overwhelmingly credit came from every quarter of the world1 from high and low alike1 from inventors1 scientists1 statesmen1 royalty4 ,before ,marconi left ,st4 ,john's he was already in receipt of a large mail--the inevitable letters of those who would offer congratulations1 give advice1 or ask favours4 ,he received offers to lecture1 to write articles1 to visit this1 that1 and the other place--and all within a week after the news of his success4 ,the people of the ancient colony of ,newfoundland1 famed for their hospitality1 crowned him with every honour in their power4 ,i accompanied ,mr4 ,marconi across the island on his way to ,nova ,scotia1 and it seemed as if every fisher and farmer in that wild country had heard of him1 for when the train stopped they came crowding to look in at the window4 ,from the comments ,i heard1 they wondered most at the inventor's youthful appearance4 ,though he was only twenty-seven years old1 his experience as an inventor covered many years1 for he began experimenting in wireless telegraphy before he was twenty4 ,at twenty-two he came to ,london from his ,italian home1 and convinced the ,british ,post-,office ,department that he had an important idea2 at twenty-three he was famous the world over4 ,following this epoch-making success ,mr4 ,marconi returned to ,england1 where he continued most vigorously the work of perfecting his invention1 installing more powerful transmitters1 devising new receivers1 all the time with the intention of following up his ,newfoundland experiments with the inauguration of a complete system of wireless transmission between ,america and ,europe4 ,in the latter part of the year #aijb he succeeded in opening regular communication between ,nova ,scotia and ,england1 and ,january #ah1 #aijc1 marked another epoch in his work4 ,on that day there was sent by ,marconi himself from the wireless station at ,south ,wellfleet1 ,cape ,cod1 ,mass41 to the station at ,poldhu1 ,cornwall1 ,england1 a distance of #c1jjj miles1 the message--destined to be historic--from the ,president of the ,united ,states to the ,king of ,england4 ,it will be interesting to know something of the inventor himself4 ,he is somewhat above medium height1 and1 though of a highly strung temperament1 he is deliberate in his movements4 ,unlike the inventor of tradition1 he dresses with scrupulous neatness1 and1 in spite of being a prodigious worker1 he finds time to enjoy a limited amount of club and social life4 ,the portrait published with this chapter1 taken at ,st4 ,john's a few days after the experiments1 gives a very good idea of the inventor's face1 though it cannot convey the peculiar lustre of his eyes when he is interested or excited--and perhaps it makes him look older than he really is4 ,one of the first and strongest impressions that the man conveys is that of intense nervous activity and mental absorption2 he has a way of pouncing upon a knotty question as if he could not wait to solve it4 ,he talks little1 is straightforward and unassuming1 submitting good-naturedly1 although with evident unwillingness1 to being lionised4 ,in his public addresses he has been clear and sensible2 he has never written for any publication2 nor has he engaged in scientific disputes1 and even when violently attacked he has let his work prove his point4 ,and he has accepted his success with calmness1 almost unconcern2 he certainly expected it4 ,the only elation ,i saw him express was over the attack of the cable monopoly in ,newfoundland1 which he regarded as the greatest tribute that could have been paid his achievement4 ,during all his life1 opposition has been his keenest spur to greater effort4 ,though he was born and educated in ,italy1 his mother was of ,british birth1 and he speaks ,english as perfectly as he does ,italian4 ,indeed1 his blue eyes1 light hair1 and fair complexion give him decidedly the appearance of an ,englishman1 so that a stranger meeting him for the first time would never suspect his ,italian parentage4 ,his parents are still living1 spending part of their time on their estate in ,italy and part of the time in ,london4 ,one of the first messages conveying the news of his success at ,st4 ,john's went to them4 ,he embarked in experimental research because he loved it1 and no amount of honour or money tempts him from the pursuit of the great things in electricity which he sees before him4 ,besides being an inventor1 he is also a shrewd business man1 with a clear appreciation of the value of his inventions and of their possibilities when generally introduced4 ,what is more1 he knows how to go about the task of introducing them4 ,no sooner had ,marconi announced the success of his ,newfoundland experiments than critics began to raise objections4 ,might not the signals which he received have been sent from some passing ship fitted with wireless-telegraphy apparatus8 ,or1 might they not have been the result of electrical disturbances in the atmosphere8 ,or1 granting his ability to communicate across seas1 how could he preserve the secrecy of his messages8 ,if they were transmitted into space1 why was it not possible for any one with a receiving instrument to take them8 ,and was not his system of transmission too slow to make it useful1 or was it not rendered uncertain by storms8 ,and so on indefinitely4 ,an acquaintance with some of the principles which ,marconi considers fundamental1 and on which his work has been based1 will help to clear away these objections and give some conception of the real meaning and importance of the work at ,st4 ,john's and of the plans for the future development of the inventor's system4 ,in the first place1 ,mr4 ,marconi makes no claim to being the first to experiment along the lines which led to wireless telegraphy1 or the first to signal for short distances without wires4 ,he is prompt with his acknowledgment to other workers in his field1 and to his assistants4 ,professor ,s4 ,f4 ,b4 ,morse1 the inventor of telegraphy2 ,dr4 ,oliver ,lodge and ,sir ,william ,preece1 of ,england2 ,edison1 ,tesla1 and ,professors ,trowbridge and ,dolbear1 of ,america1 and others had experimented along these lines1 but it remained for ,marconi to perfect a system and put it into practical working order4 ,he took the coherer of ,branley and ,calzecchi1 the oscillator of ,righi1 he used the discoveries of ,henry and ,hertz1 but his creation1 like that of the poet who gathers the words of men in a perfect lyric1 was none the less brilliant and original4 ,illustration3 ,,marconi ,,transatlantic ,,station ,,at ,,south ,,wellfleet1 ,,cape ,,cod1 ,,mass4 ,in its bare outlines1 ,marconi's system of telegraphy consists in setting in motion1 by means of his transmitter1 certain electric waves which1 passing through the ether1 are received on a distant wire suspended from a kite or mast1 and registered on his receiving apparatus4 ,the ether is a mysterious1 unseen1 colourless1 odourless1 inconceivably rarefied something which is supposed to fill all space4 ,it has been compared to a jelly in which the stars and planets are set like cherries4 ,about all we know of it is that it has waves--that the jelly may be made to vibrate in various ways4 ,etheric vibrations of certain kinds give light2 other kinds give heat2 others electricity4 ,experiments have shown that if the ether vibrates at the inconceivable swiftness of #djj billions of waves a second we see the colour red1 if twice as fast we see violet1 if more slowly--perhaps #bcj millions to the second1 and less--we have the ,hertz waves used by ,marconi in his wireless-telegraphy experiments4 ,ether waves should not be confounded with air waves4 ,sound is a result of the vibration of the air2 if we had ether and no air1 we should still see light1 feel heat1 and have electrical phenomena1 but no sound would ever come to our ears4 ,air is sluggish beside ether1 and sound waves are very slow compared with ether waves4 ,during a storm the ether brings the flash of the lightning before the air brings the sound of thunder1 as every one knows4 ,illustration3 ,,at ,,poole1 ,,england4 ,electricity is1 indeed1 only another name for certain vibrations in the ether4 ,we say that electricity flows in a wire1 but nothing really passes except an etheric wave1 for the atoms composing the wire1 as well as the air and the earth1 and even the hardest substances1 are all afloat in ether4 ,vibrations1 therefore1 started at one end of the wire travel to the other4 ,throw a stone into a quiet pond4 ,instantly waves are formed which spread out in every direction2 the water does not move1 except up and down1 yet the wave passes onward indefinitely4 ,electric waves cannot be seen1 but electricians have learned how to incite them1 to a certain extent how to control them1 and have devised cunning instruments which register their presence4 ,electrical waves have long been harnessed by the use of wires for sending communications2 in other words1 we have had wire telegraphy4 ,but the ether exists outside of the wire as well as within2 therefore1 having the ether everywhere1 it must be possible to produce waves in it which will pass anywhere1 as well through mountains as over seas1 and if these waves can be controlled they will evidently convey messages as easily and as certainly as the ether within wires4 ,so argued ,mr4 ,marconi4 ,the difficulty lay in making an instrument which would produce a peculiar kind of wave1 and in receiving and registering this wave in a second apparatus located at a distance from the first4 ,it was1 therefore1 a practical mechanical problem which ,marconi had to meet4 ,beginning with crude tin boxes set up on poles on the grounds of his father's estate in ,italy1 he finally devised an apparatus from which a current generated by a battery and passing in brilliant sparks between two brass balls was radiated from a wire suspended on a tall pole4 ,by shutting off and turning on this peculiar current1 by means of a device similar to the familiar telegrapher's key1 the waves could be so divided as to represent dashes and dots1 and spell out letters in the ,morse alphabet4 ,this was the transmitter4 ,it was1 indeed1 simple enough to start these waves travelling through space1 to jar the etheric jelly1 so to speak2 but it was far more difficult to devise an apparatus to receive and register them4 ,for this purpose ,marconi adopted a device invented by an ,italian1 ,calzecchi1 and improved by a ,frenchman1 ,m4 ,branley1 called the coherer1 and the very crux of the system1 without which there could be no wireless telegraphy4 ,this coherer1 which he greatly improved1 is merely a little tube of glass as big around as a lead-pencil1 and perhaps two inches long4 ,it is plugged at each end with silver1 the plugs nearly meeting within the tube4 ,the narrow space between them is filled with finely powdered fragments of nickel and silver1 which possess the strange property of being alternately very good and very bad conductors of electrical waves4 ,the waves which come from the transmitter1 perhaps #b1jjj miles away1 are received on a suspended kite-wire1 exactly similar to the wire used in the transmitter1 but they are so weak that they could not of themselves operate an ordinary telegraph instrument4 ,they do1 however1 possess strength enough to draw the little particles of silver and nickel in the coherer together in a continuous metal path4 ,in other words1 they make these particles cohere1 and the moment they cohere they become a good conductor for electricity1 and a current from a battery near at hand rushes through1 operates the ,morse instrument1 and causes it to print a dot or a dash2 then a little tapper1 actuated by the same current1 strikes against the coherer1 the particles of metal are jarred apart or decohered1 becoming instantly a poor conductor1 and thus stopping the strong current from the home battery4 ,another wave comes through space1 down the suspended kite-wire1 into the coherer1 there drawing the particles again together1 and another dot or dash is printed4 ,all these processes are continued rapidly1 until a complete message is ticked out on the tape4 ,thus ,mr4 ,kemp knew when he heard the tapper strike the coherer that a signal was coming1 though he could not hear the click of the receiver itself4 ,and this is in bare outline ,mr4 ,marconi's invention--this is the combination of devices which has made wireless telegraphy possible1 the invention on which he has taken out more than #acb patents in every civilised country of the world4 ,of course his instruments contain much of intricate detail1 of marvellously ingenious adaptation to the needs of the work1 but these are interesting chiefly to expert technicians4 ,illustration3 ,,nearer ,,view ,,of ,,south ,,foreland ,,station4 ,illustration3 ,,alum ,,bay ,,station ,,isle ,,of ,,wight4 ,in his actual transoceanic experiments of ,december1 #aija1 ,mr4 ,marconi's transmitting station in ,england was fitted with twenty masts #baj feet high1 each with its suspended wire1 though not all of them were used4 ,a current of electricity sufficient to operate some #cjj incandescent lamps was used1 the resulting spark being so brilliant that one could not have looked at it with the unshaded eye4 ,the wave which was thus generated had a length of about a fifth of a mile1 and the rate of vibration was about #hjj1jjj to the second4 ,following the analogy of the stone cast in the pond with the ripples circling outward1 these waves spread from the suspended wires in ,england in every direction1 not only westward toward the cliff where ,marconi was flying his kite1 but eastward1 northward1 and southward1 so that if some of ,mr4 ,marconi's assistants had been flying kites1 say on the shore of ,africa1 or ,south ,america1 or in ,st4 ,petersburg1 they might possibly1 with a corresponding receiver1 have heard the identical signals at the same instant4 ,in his early experiments ,marconi believed that great distances could not be obtained without very high masts and long1 suspended wires1 the greater the distance the taller the mast1 on the theory that the waves were hindered by the curvature of the earth2 but his later theory1 substantiated by his ,newfoundland experiments1 is that the waves somehow follow around the earth1 conforming to its curve1 and the next station he establishes in ,america will not be set high on a cliff1 as at ,st4 ,john's1 but down close to the water on level land4 ,his ,newfoundland experiments have also convinced him that one of the secrets of successful long-distance transmission is the use of a more powerful current in his transmitter1 and this he will test in his next trials between the continents4 ,and now we come to the most important part of ,mr4 ,marconi's work1 the part least known even to science1 and the field of almost illimitable future development4 ,this is the system of tuning1 as the inventor calls it1 the construction of a certain receiver so that it will respond only to the message sent by a certain transmitter4 ,when ,marconi's discoveries were first announced in #ahif1 there existed no method of tuning1 though the inventor had its necessity clearly in mind4 ,accordingly the public inquired1 ,how are you going to keep your messages secret8 ,supposing a warship wishes to communicate with another of the fleet1 what is to prevent the enemy from reading your message8 ,how are private business despatches to be secured against publicity8 ,here1 indeed1 was a problem4 ,without secrecy no system of wireless telegraphy could ever reach great commercial importance1 or compete with the present cable communication4 ,the inventor first tried using a parabolic copper reflector1 by means of which he could radiate the electric waves exactly as light--which1 it will be borne in mind1 is only another kind of etheric wave--is reflected by a mirror4 ,this reflector could be faced in any desired direction1 and only a receiver located in that direction would respond to the message4 ,but there were grave objections to the reflector2 an enemy might still creep in between the sending and receiving stations1 and1 moreover1 it was found that the curvature of the earth interfered with the transmission of reflected messages1 thereby limiting their usefulness to short distances4 ,illustration3 ,,marconi ,,room ,,ss ,,philadelphia4 ,in passing1 however1 it may be interesting to note one extraordinary use for this reflecting system which the inventor now has in mind4 ,this is in connection with lighthouse work4 ,ships are to be provided with reflecting instruments which in dense fog or storms can be used exactly as a searchlight is now employed on a dark night to discover the location of the lighthouses or lightships4 ,for instance1 the lighthouse1 say1 on some rocky point on the ,new ,england coast would continually radiate a warning from its suspended wire4 ,these waves pass as readily through fog and darkness and storm as in daylight4 ,a ship out at sea1 hidden in fog1 has lost its bearings2 the sound of the warning horn1 if warning there is1 seems to come first from one direction1 then from another1 as sounds do in a fog1 luring the ship to destruction4 ,if now the mariner is provided with a wireless reflector1 this instrument can be slowly turned until it receives the lighthouse warning1 the captain thus learning his exact location2 if in distress1 he can even communicate with the lighthouse4 ,think also what an advantage such an equipment would be to vessels entering a dangerous harbour in thick weather4 ,this is one of the developments of the near future4 ,the reflector system being impracticable for long-distance work1 ,mr4 ,marconi experimented with tuning4 ,he so constructed a receiver that it responds only to a certain transmitter4 ,that is1 if the transmitter is radiating #hjj1jjj vibrations a second1 the corresponding receiver will take only #hjj1jjj vibrations4 ,in exactly the same way a familiar tuning fork will respond only to another tuning fork having exactly the same tune1 or number of vibrations per second4 ,and ,mr4 ,marconi has now succeeded in bringing this tuning system to some degree of perfection1 though very much work yet remains to be done4 ,for instance1 in one of his ,english experiments1 at ,poole in ,england1 he had two receivers connected with the same wire1 and tuned to different transmitters located at ,st4 ,catherine's ,point4 ,two messages were sent1 one in ,english and one in ,french4 ,both were received at the same time on the same wire at ,poole1 but one receiver rolled off its message in ,english1 the other in ,french1 without the least interference4 ,and so when critics suggested that the inventor may have been deceived at ,st4 ,john's by messages transmitted from ocean liners1 he was able to respond promptly3 ,impossible4 ,my instrument was tuned to receive only from my station in ,cornwall4 ,indeed1 the only wireless-telegraph apparatus that could possibly have been within hundreds of miles of ,newfoundland would be one of the ,marconi-fitted steamers1 and the call of a steamer is not the letter ,s1 but ,u4 ,the importance of the new system of tuning can hardly be overestimated4 ,by it all the ships of a fleet can be provided with instruments tuned alike1 so that they may communicate freely with one another1 and have no fear that the enemy will read the messages4 ,the spy of the future must be an electrical expert who can slip in somehow and steal the secret of the enemy's tunes4 ,great telegraph companies will each have its own tuned instruments1 to receive only its own messages1 and there may be special tunes for each of the important governments of the world4 ,or perhaps 7for the system can be operated very cheaply7 the time will even come when the great banking and business houses1 or even families and friends1 will each have its own wireless system1 with its own secret tune4 ,having variations of millions of different vibrations1 there will be no lack of tunes4 ,for instance1 the ,british navy may be tuned to receive only messages of #gjj1jjj vibrations to the second1 the ,german navy #a1ejj1jjj1 the ,united ,states ,government #a1jjj1jjj1 and so on indefinitely4 ,illustration3 ,,transatlantic ,,high ,,power ,,marconi ,,station ,,at ,,glace ,,bay1 ,,nova ,,scotia ,tuning also makes multiplex wireless telegraphy a possibility2 that is1 many messages may be sent or received on the same suspended wire4 ,supposing1 for instance1 the operator was sending a hurry press despatch to a newspaper4 ,he has two transmitters1 tuned differently1 connected with his wire4 ,he cuts the despatch in two1 sends the first half on one transmitter1 and the second on the other1 thereby reducing by half the time of transmission4 ,a sort of impression prevails that wireless telegraphy is still largely in the uncertain experimental stage2 but1 as a matter of fact1 it has long since passed from the laboratory to a wide commercial use4 ,its development since ,mr4 ,marconi's first paper was read1 in #ahif1 and especially since the first message was sent from ,england to ,france across the ,channel in ,march1 #ahii1 has been astonishingly rapid4 ,most of the ships of the great navies of ,europe and all the important ocean liners are now fitted with the wireless instruments4 ,the system has been recently adopted by the ,lloyds of ,england1 the greatest of shipping exchanges4 ,it is being used on many lightships1 and the ,new ,york ,herald receives daily reports from vessels at sea1 communicated from a ship station off ,nantucket4 ,were there space to be spared1 many incidents might be told showing in what curious and wonderful ways the use of the wireless instruments has saved life and property1 to say nothing of facilitating business4 ,and it cannot now be long before a regular telegraph business will be conducted between ,massachusetts and ,england1 through the new stations4 ,mr4 ,marconi informed me that he would be able to build and equip stations on both sides of the ,atlantic for less than #aej1jjj1 the subsequent charge for maintenance being very small4 ,a cable across the ,atlantic costs between #c1jjj1jjj and #d1jjj1jjj1 and it is a constant source of expenditure for repairs4 ,the inventor will be able to transmit with single instruments about twenty words a minute1 and at a cost ridiculously small compared with the present cable tolls4 ,he said in a speech delivered at a dinner given him by the ,governor at ,st4 ,john's that messages which now go by cable at twenty-five cents a word might be sent profitably at a cent a word or less1 which is even much cheaper than the very cheapest present rates in ,america for messages by land wires4 ,it is estimated that about #djj1jjj1jjj is invested in cable systems in various parts of the world4 ,if ,marconi succeeds as he hopes to succeed1 much of the vast network of wires at the bottom of the world's oceans1 represented by this investment1 will lose its usefulness4 ,it is now the inventor's purpose to push the work of installation between the continents as rapidly as possible1 and no one need be surprised if the year #aijb sees his system in practical operation4 ,along with this transatlantic work he intends to extend his system of transmission between ships at sea and the ports on land1 with a view to enabling the shore stations to maintain constant communication with vessels all the way across the ,atlantic4 ,if he succeeds in doing this1 there will at last be no escape for the weary from the daily news of the world1 so long one of the advantages of an ocean voyage4 ,for every morning each ship1 though in mid-ocean1 will get its bulletin of news1 the ship's printing-press will strike it off1 and it will be served hot with the coffee4 ,yet think what such a system will mean to ships in distress1 and how often it will relieve the anxiety of friends awaiting the delayed voyager4 ,mr4 ,marconi's faith in his invention is boundless4 ,he told me that one of the projects which he hoped soon to attempt was to communicate between ,england and ,new ,zealand4 ,if the electric waves follow the curvature of the earth1 as the ,newfoundland experiments indicate1 he sees no reason why he should not send signals #f1jjj or #aj1jjj miles as easily as #b1jjj4 ,then there is the whole question of the use of wireless telegraphy on land1 a subject hardly studied1 though messages have already been sent upward of sixty miles overland4 ,the new system will certainly prove an important adjunct on land in war-time1 for it will enable generals to signal1 as they have done in ,south ,africa1 over comparatively long distances in fog and storm1 and over stretches where it might be impossible for the telegraph corps to string wires or for couriers to pass on account of the presence of the enemy4 ,illustration3 ,work on the ,smith ,point ,lighthouse ,stopped by a ,violent ,storm4 ,just after the cylinder had been set in place1 and while the workmen were hurrying to stow sufficient ballast to secure it against a heavy sea1 a storm forced the attending steamer to draw away4 ,one of the barges was almost overturned1 and a lifeboat was driven against the cylinder and crushed to pieces4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,sea-,,builders ,the ,story of ,lighthouse ,building--,stone-tower ,lighthouses1 ,iron ,pile ,lighthouses1 and ,steel ,cylinder ,lighthouses ,a sturdy ,english oak furnished the model for the first of the great modern lighthouses4 ,a little more than one hundred and forty years ago ,john ,smeaton1 maker of odd and intricate philosophical instruments and dabbler in mechanical engineering1 was called upon to place a light upon the bold and dangerous reefs of ,eddystone1 near ,plymouth1 ,england4 ,john ,smeaton never had built a lighthouse2 but he was a man of great ingenuity and courage1 and he knew the kind of lighthouse not to build2 for twice before the rocks of ,eddystone had been marked1 and twice the mighty waves of the ,atlantic had bowled over the work of the builders as easily as they would have overturned a skiff4 ,winstanley1 he of song and story1 designed the first of these structures1 and he and all his keepers lost their lives when the light went down2 the other1 the work of ,john ,rudyerd1 was burned to the water's edge1 and one of the keepers1 strangely enough1 died from the effects of melting lead which fell from the roof and entered his open mouth as he gazed upward4 ,both of these lighthouses were of wood1 and both were ornamented with balconies and bay-windows1 which furnished ready holds for the rough handling of the wind4 ,illustration3 ,robert ,stevenson1 ,builder of the ,famous ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse1 and ,author of ,important ,inventions and ,improvements in the ,system of ,sea ,lighting4 ,from a bust by ,joseph1 now in the library of ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse4 ,illustration3 ,the ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse1 on the ,eastern ,coast of ,scotland4 ,from the painting by ,turner4 ,the ,bell ,rock ,lighthouse was built by ,robert ,stevenson1 grandfather of ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1 on the ,inchcape ,reef1 in the ,north ,sea1 near ,dundee1 ,scotland1 in #ahjg-ahaj4 ,john ,smeaton walked in the woods and thought of all these problems4 ,he tells quaintly in his memoirs how he observed the strength with which an oak-tree bore its great weight of leaves and branches2 and when he built his lighthouse1 it was wide and flaring at the base1 like the oak1 and deeply rooted into the sea-rock with wedges of wood and iron4 ,the waist was tapering and cylindrical1 bearing the weight of the keeper's quarters and the lantern as firmly and jauntily as the oak bears its branches4 ,moreover1 he built of stone1 to avoid the possibility of fire1 and he dovetailed each stone into its neighbour1 so that the whole tower would face the wind and the waves as if it were one solid mass of granite4 ,for years ,smeaton's ,eddystone blinked a friendly warning to ,english mariners1 serving its purpose perfectly1 until the ,brothers of ,trinity saw fit to build a larger tower in its place4 ,in ,england the famous lighthouses of ,bell ,rock1 built by ,robert ,stevenson1 ,skerryvore1 and ,wolf ,rock are all stone towers2 and in our own country1 ,minot's ,ledge1 off ,boston ,harbour1 more difficult of construction than any of them1 ,spectacle ,reef light in ,lake ,huron1 and ,stannard ,rock light in ,lake ,superior are good examples of ,smeaton's method of building4 ,illustration3 ,the ,present ,lighthouse on ,minot's ,ledge1 near the ,entrance of ,massachusetts ,bay1 ,fifteen ,miles ,southeast of ,boston4 ,rising sheer out of the sea1 like a huge stone cannon1 mouth upward4--,longfellow4 ,the mighty stone tower still remains for many purposes the most effective method of lighting the pathways of the sea1 but it is both exceedingly difficult to build1 and it is very expensive4 ,within comparatively recent years busy inventors have thought out several new plans for lighthouses1 which are quite as wonderful and important in their way as wireless telegraphy and the telephone are in the realm of electricity4 ,illustration3 ,the ,lighthouse on ,stannard ,rock1 ,lake ,superior4 ,this is a stone-tower lighthouse1 similar in construction to the one built with such difficulty on ,spectacle ,reef1 ,lake ,huron4 ,one of these inventions is the iron-pile or screw-pile lighthouse1 and the other is the iron cylinder lighthouse4 ,i will tell the story of each of them separately4 ,the skeleton-built iron-pile lighthouse bears much the same relation to the heavy stone tower lighthouse that a willow twig bears to a great oak4 ,the latter meets the fury of wind and wave with stern resistance1 opposing force to force2 the former conquers its difficulties by avoiding them4 ,a completed screw-pile lighthouse has the odd appearance of a huge1 ugly spider standing knee-deep in the sea4 ,its squat body is the home of the keeper1 with a single bright eye of light at the top1 and its long spindly legs are the iron piles on which the structure rests4 ,thirty years ago lighthouse builders were much pleased with the ease and apparent durability of the pile light4 ,an ,englishman named ,mitchell had invented an iron pile having at the end a screw not unlike a large auger4 ,by boring a number of these piles deep into the sand of the sea-bottom1 and using them as the foundation for a small but durable iron building1 he was enabled to construct a lighthouse in a considerable depth of water at small expense4 ,later builders have used ordinary iron piles1 which are driven into the sand with heavy sledges4 ,waves and tides pass readily through the open-work of the foundation1 the legs of the spider1 without disturbing the building overhead4 ,for ,southern waters1 where there is no danger of moving ice-packs1 lighthouses of this type have been found very useful1 although the action of the salt water on the iron piling necessitates frequent repairs4 ,more than eighty lights of this description dot the shoals of ,florida and adjoining ,states4 ,some of the oldest ones still remain in use in the ,north1 notably the one on ,brandywine shoal in ,delaware ,bay2 but it has been found necessary to surround them with strongly built ice-breakers4 ,two magnificent iron-pile lights are found on ,fowey ,rocks and ,american ,shoals1 off the coast of ,florida1 the first of which was built with so much difficulty that its story is most interesting4 ,illustration3 ,the ,fowey ,rocks ,lighthouse1 ,florida4 ,fowey ,reef lies five miles from the low coral island of ,soldier ,key4 ,northern storms1 sweeping down the ,atlantic1 brush in wild breakers over the reef and out upon the little key1 often burying it entirely under a torrent of water4 ,even in calm weather the sea is rarely quiet enough to make it safe for a vessel of any size to approach the reef4 ,the builders erected a stout elevated wharf and store-house on the key1 and brought their men and tools to await the opportunity to dart out when the sea was at rest and begin the work of marking the reef4 ,before shipment1 the lighthouse1 which was built in the ,north1 was set up1 complete from foundation to pinnacle1 and thoroughly tested4 ,at length the workmen were able to remain on the reef long enough to build a strong working platform twelve feet above the surface of the water1 and set on iron-shod mangrove piles4 ,having established this base of operations in the enemy's domain1 a heavy iron disk was lowered to the reef1 and the first pile was driven through the hole at its centre4 ,elaborate tests were made after each blow of the sledge1 and the slightest deviation from the vertical was promptly rectified with block and tackle4 ,in two months' time nine piles were driven ten feet into the coral rock1 the workmen toiling long hours under a blistering sun4 ,when the time came to erect the superstructure1 the sea suddenly awakened and storm followed storm1 so that for weeks together no one dared venture out to the reef4 ,the men rusted and grumbled on the narrow docks of the key1 and work was finally suspended for an entire winter4 ,at the very first attempt to make a landing in the spring1 a tornado drove the vessels far out of their course4 ,but a crew was finally placed on the working platform1 with enough food to last them several weeks1 and there they stayed1 suspended between the sea and the sky1 until the structure was complete4 ,this lighthouse cost #age1jjj4 ,the famous ,bug ,light of ,boston and ,thimble ,light of ,hampton ,roads1 ,va41 are both good examples of the iron-pile lighthouse4 ,now we come to a consideration of iron cylinder lighthouses1 which are even more wonderful1 perhaps1 than the screw-piles1 and in constructing them the sea-builder touches the pinnacle of his art4 ,imagine a sandy shoal marked only by a white-fringed breaker4 ,the water rushes over it in swift and constantly varying currents1 and if there is a capful of wind anywhere on the sea1 it becomes an instant menace to the mariner4 ,the shore may be ten or twenty miles away1 so far that a land-light would only lure the seaman into peril1 instead of guiding him safely on his way4 ,a lightship is always uncertain2 the first great storm may drive it from its moorings and leave the coast unprotected when protection is most necessary4 ,upon such a shoal1 often covered from ten to twenty feet with water1 the builder is called upon to construct a lighthouse1 laying his foundation in shifting sand1 and placing upon it a building strong enough to withstand any storm or the crushing weight of wrecks or ice-packs4 ,it was less than twenty years ago that sea-builders first ventured to grapple with the difficulties presented by these off-shore shoals4 ,in #ahha ,germany built the first iron cylinder lighthouse at ,rothersand1 near the mouth of the ,weser ,river1 and three years later the ,lighthouse ,establishment of the ,united ,states planted a similar tower on ,fourteen-,foot ,banks1 over three miles from the shores of ,delaware ,bay1 in twenty feet of water4 ,since then many hitherto dangerous shoals have been marked by new lighthouses of this type4 ,illustration3 ,fourteen-,foot ,bank ,light ,station1 ,delaware ,bay1 ,del4 ,when a builder begins a stone tower light on some lonely sea-rock1 he says to the sea1 ,do your worst4 ,i'm going to stick right here until this light is built1 if it takes a hundred years4 ,and his men are always on hand in fair weather or foul1 dropping one stone to-day and another to-morrow1 and succeeding by virtue of steady grit and patience4 ,the builder of the iron cylinder light pursues an exactly opposite course4 ,his warfare is more spirited1 more modern4 ,he stakes his whole success on a single desperate throw4 ,if he fails1 he loses everything3 if he wins1 he may throw again4 ,his lighthouse is built1 from foundation caisson to lantern1 a hundred or a thousand miles away from the reef where it is finally to rest4 ,it is simply an enormous cast-iron tube made in sections or courses1 each about six feet high1 not unlike the standpipe of a village water-works4 ,the builder must set up this tube on the shoal1 sink it deep into the sand bottom1 and fill it with rocks and concrete mortar1 so that it will not tip over4 ,at first such a feat would seem absolutely impossible2 but the sea-builder has his own methods of fighting4 ,with all the material necessary to his work1 he creeps up on the shoal and lies quietly in some secluded harbour until the sea is calmly at rest1 suspecting no attack4 ,then he darts out with his whole fleet1 plants his foundation1 and before the waves and the wind wake up he has established his outworks on the shoal4 ,the story of the construction of one of these lighthouses will give a good idea of the terrible difficulties which their builders must overcome4 ,not long ago ,w4 ,h4 ,flaherty1 of ,new ,york1 built such a lighthouse at ,smith's ,point1 in ,chesapeake ,bay4 ,at the mouth of the ,potomac ,river the opposing tides and currents have built up shoals of sand extending eight or ten miles out into the bay4 ,here the waves1 sweeping in from the open ,atlantic1 sometimes drown the side-lights of the big ,boston steamers4 ,the point has a grim story of wrecks and loss of life2 in #ahig alone1 four sea-craft were driven in and swamped on the shoals4 ,the ,lighthouse ,establishment planned to set up the light just at the edge of the channel1 and #abj miles south of ,baltimore4 ,illustration3 ,the ,great ,beds ,light ,station1 ,raritan ,bay1 ,n4 ,j4 ,a specimen of iron cylinder construction4 ,eighty thousand dollars was appropriated for doing the work4 ,in ,august1 #ahif1 the contractors formally agreed to build the lighthouse for #ef1jjj1 and1 more than that1 to have the lantern burning within a single year4 ,by the last of ,september a huge1 unwieldy foundation caisson was framing in a ,baltimore shipyard4 ,this caisson was a bottomless wooden box1 #cb feet square and #ab feet high1 with the top nearly as thick as the height of a man1 so that it would easily sustain the weight of the great iron cylinder soon to be placed upon it4 ,it was lined and caulked1 painted inside and out to make it air-tight and water-tight1 and then dragged out into the bay1 together with half an acre of mud and dock timbers4 ,here the workmen crowned it with the first two courses of the iron cylinder--a collar #cj feet in diameter and about #ab feet high4 ,inside of this a second cylinder1 a steel air-shaft1 five feet in diameter1 rose from a hole in the centre of the caisson1 this providing a means of entrance and exit when the structure should reach the shoal4 ,upon the addition of this vast weight of iron and steel1 the wooden caisson1 although it weighed nearly a hundred tons1 disappeared completely under the water1 leaving in view only the great black rim of the iron cylinder and the top of the air-shaft4 ,on ,april #gth of the next year the fleet was ready to start on its voyage of conquest4 ,the whole country had contributed to the expedition4 ,cleveland1 ,o41 furnished the iron plates for the tower2 ,pittsburg sent steel and machinery2 ,south ,carolina supplied the enormous yellow-pine timbers for the caisson2 ,washington provided two great barge-loads of stone2 and ,new ,york ,city contributed hundreds of tons of ,portland cement and sand and gravel1 it being cheaper to bring even such supplies from the ,north than to gather them on the shores of the bay4 ,everything necessary to the completion of the lighthouse and the maintenance of the eighty-eight men was loaded aboard ship4 ,and quite a fleet it made as it lay out on the bay in the warm spring sunshine4 ,the flagship was a big1 double-deck steamer1 #bjj feet over all1 once used in the coastwise trade4 ,she was loaded close down to her white lines1 and men lay over her rails in double rows4 ,she led the fleet down the bay1 and two tugs and seven barges followed in her wake like a flock of ducklings4 ,the steamer towed the caisson at the end of a long hawser4 ,in three days the fleet reached the lighthouse site4 ,during all of this time the sea had been calm1 with only occasional puffs of wind1 and the builders planned1 somewhat exultantly1 to drop the caisson the moment they arrived4 ,but before they were well in sight of the point1 the sea awakened suddenly1 as if conscious of the planned surprise4 ,a storm blew up in the north1 and at sunset on the tenth of ,april the waves were washing over the top of the iron cylinder and slapping it about like a boy's raft4 ,a few tons of water inside the structure would sink it entirely1 and the builder would lose months of work and thousands of dollars4 ,from a rude platform on top of the cylinder two men were working at the pumps to keep the water out4 ,when the edge of the great iron rim heaved up with the waves1 they pumped and shouted2 and when it went down1 they strangled and clung for their lives4 ,the builder saw the necessity of immediate assistance4 ,twelve men scrambled into a life-boat1 and three waves later they were dashed against the rim of the cylinder4 ,here half of the number1 clinging like cats to the iron plates1 spread out a sail canvas and drew it over the windward half of the cylinder1 while the other men pulled it down with their hands and teeth and lashed it firmly into place4 ,in this way the cylinder shed most of the wash1 although the larger waves still scuttled down within its iron sides4 ,half of the crew was now hurried down the rope-ladders inside the cylinder1 where the water was nearly three feet deep and swashing about like a whirlpool4 ,they all knew that one more than ordinarily large wave would send the whole structure to the bottom2 but they dipped swiftly1 and passed up the water without a word4 ,it was nothing short of a battle for life4 ,they must keep the water down1 or drown like rats in a hole4 ,they began work at sunset1 and at sunrise the next morning1 when the fury of the storm was somewhat abated1 they were still at work1 and the cylinder was saved4 ,illustration3 ,a ,storm at the ,tillamook ,lighthouse1 in the ,pacific1 one mile out from ,tillamook ,head1 ,oregon4 ,the swells were now too high to think of planting the caisson1 and the fleet ran into the mouth of the ,great ,wicomico ,river to await a more favourable opportunity4 ,here the builders lay for a week4 ,to keep the men busy some of them were employed in mixing concrete1 adding another course of iron to the cylinder1 and in other tasks of preparation4 ,the crew was composed largely of ,americans and ,irishmen1 with a few ,norwegians1 the ordinary ,italian or ,bohemian labourer not taking kindly to the risks and terrors of such an expedition4 ,their number included carpenters1 masons1 iron-workers1 bricklayers1 caisson-men1 sailors1 and a host of common shovellers4 ,the pay varied from twenty to fifty cents an hour for time actually worked1 and the builders furnished meals of unlimited ham1 bread1 and coffee4 ,on ,april #agth1 the weather being calmer1 the fleet ventured out stealthily4 ,a buoy marked the spot where the lighthouse was to stand4 ,when the cylinder was exactly over the chosen site1 the valves of two of the compartments into which it was divided were quickly opened1 and the water poured in4 ,the moment the lower edge of the caisson1 borne downward by the weight of water1 touched the shoal1 the men began working with feverish haste4 ,large stones were rolled from the barges around the outside of the caisson to prevent the water from eating away the sand and tipping the structure over4 ,in the meantime a crew of twenty men had taken their places in the compartments of the cylinder still unfilled with water4 ,a chute from the steamer vomited a steady stream of dusty concrete down upon their heads4 ,a pump drenched them with an unceasing cataract of salt water4 ,in this terrible hole they wallowed and struggled1 shovelling the concrete mortar into place and ramming it down4 ,every man on the expedition1 even the cooks and the stokers1 was called upon at this supreme moment to take part in the work4 ,unless the structure could be sufficiently ballasted while the water was calm1 the first wave would brush it over and pound it to pieces on the shoals4 ,illustration3 ,saving the ,cylinder of the ,lighthouse at ,smith ,point1 ,chesapeake ,bay1 from being ,swamped in a ,high ,sea4 ,when the builders were towing the unwieldy cylinder out to set it in position1 the water became suddenly rough and began to fill it4 ,workmen1 at the risk of their lives1 boarded the cylinder1 and by desperate labours succeeded in spreading sail canvas over it1 and so saved a structure that had cost months of labour and thousands of dollars4 ,after nearly two hours of this exhausting labour the captain of the steamer suddenly shouted the command to cast away4 ,the sky had turned black and the waves ran high4 ,all of the cranes were whipped in1 and up from the cylinder poured the shovellers1 looking as if they had been freshly rolled in a mortar bed4 ,there was a confused babel of voices and a wild flight for the steamer4 ,in the midst of the excitement one of the barges snapped a hawser1 and1 being lightened of its load1 it all but turned over in a trough of the sea4 ,the men aboard her went down on their faces1 clung fast1 and shouted for help1 and it was only with difficulty that they were rescued4 ,one of the life-boats1 venturing too near the iron cylinder1 was crushed like an egg-shell1 but a tug was ready to pick up the men who manned it4 ,so terrified were the workmen by the dangers and difficulties of the task that twelve of them ran away that night without asking for their pay4 ,on the following morning the builder was appalled to see that the cylinder was inclined more than four feet from the perpendicular4 ,in spite of the stone piled around the caisson1 the water had washed the sand from under one edge of it1 and it had tipped part way over4 ,now was the pivotal point of the whole enterprise4 ,a little lack of courage or skill1 and the work was doomed4 ,the waves still ran high1 and the freshet currents from the ,potomac ,river poured past the shoals at the rate of six or seven miles an hour4 ,and yet one of the tugs ran out daringly1 dragging a barge-load of stone4 ,it was made fast1 and although it pitched up and down so that every wave threatened to swamp it and every man aboard was seasick1 they managed to throw off #bjj tons more of stone around the base of the caisson on the side toward which it was inclined4 ,in this way further tipping in that direction was prevented1 and the action of the water on the sand under the opposite side soon righted the structure4 ,beginning on the morning of ,april #bast the entire crew worked steadily for forty-eight hours without sleeping or stopping for meals more than fifteen minutes at a time4 ,when at last they were relieved1 they came up out of the cylinder shouting and cheering because the foundation was at last secure4 ,the structure was now about thirty feet high1 and filled nearly to the top with concrete4 ,the next step was to force it down #ae-a_/b feet into the hard sand at the bottom of the bay1 thus securing it for ever against the power of the waves and the tide4 ,an air-lock1 which is a strongly built steel chamber about the size of a hogshead1 was placed on top of the air-shaft1 the water in the big box-like caisson at the bottom of the cylinder was forced out with compressed air1 and the men prepared to enter the caisson4 ,no toil can compare in its severity and danger with that of a caisson worker4 ,he is first sent into the air-lock1 and the air-pressure is gradually increased around him until it equals that of the caisson below2 then he may descend4 ,new men often shout and beg pitifully to be liberated from the torture4 ,frequently the effect of the compressed air is such that they bleed at the ears and nose1 and for a time their heads throb as if about to burst open4 ,in a few minutes these pains pass away1 the workers crawl down the long ladder of the air-shaft and begin to dig away the sand of the sea-bottom4 ,it is heaped high around the bottom of a four-inch pipe which leads up the air-shaft and reaches out over the sea4 ,a valve in the pipe is opened and the sand and stones are driven upward by the compressed air in the caisson and blown out into the water with tremendous force4 ,as the sand is mined away1 the great tower above it slowly sinks downward1 while the subterranean toilers grow sallow-faced1 yellow-eyed1 become half deaf1 and lose their appetites4 ,when ,smith's ,point ,light was within two feet of being deep enough the workmen had a strange and terrible adventure4 ,ten men were in the caisson at the time4 ,they noticed that the candles stuck along the wall were burning a lambent green4 ,black streaks1 that widened swiftly1 formed along the white-painted walls4 ,one man after another began staggering dizzily1 with eyes blinded and a sharp burning in the throat4 ,orders were instantly given to ascend1 and the crew1 with the help of ropes1 succeeded in escaping4 ,all that night the men lay moaning and sleepless in their bunks4 ,in the morning only a few of them could open their eyes1 and all experienced the keenest torture in the presence of light4 ,bags were fitted over their heads1 and they were led out to their meals4 ,illustration3 ,great ,waves ,dashed ,entirely ,over ,them1 so that ,they had to ,cling for ,their ,lives to the ,air-,pipes4 ,in erecting the ,smith ,point lighthouse1 after the cylinder was set up1 it had to be forced down fifteen and a half feet into the sand4 ,the lives of the men who did this1 working in the caisson at the bottom of the sea1 were absolutely in the hands of the men who managed the engine and the air-compressor at the surface2 and twice these latter were entirely deluged by the sea1 but still maintained steam and kept everything running as if no sea was playing over them4 ,that afternoon ,major ,e4 ,h4 ,ruffner1 of ,baltimore1 the ,government engineer for the district1 appeared with two physicians4 ,an examination of the caisson showed that the men had struck a vein of sulphuretted hydrogen gas4 ,here was a new difficulty--a difficulty never before encountered in lighthouse construction4 ,for three days the force lay idle4 ,there seemed no way of completing the foundation4 ,on the fourth day1 after another flooding of the caisson1 ,mr4 ,flaherty called for volunteers to go down the air-shaft1 agreeing to accompany them himself--all this in the face of the spectacle of thirty-five men moaning in their bunks1 with their eyes burning and blinded and their throats raw4 ,and yet fourteen men stepped forward and offered to see the work through4 ,upon reaching the bottom of the tower they found that the flow of gas was less rapid1 and they worked with almost frantic energy1 expecting every moment to feel the gas griping in their throats4 ,in half an hour another shift came on1 and before night the lighthouse was within an inch or two of its final resting-place4 ,the last shift was headed by an old caisson-man named ,griffin1 who bore the record of having stood seventy-five pounds of air-pressure in the famous ,long ,island gas tunnel4 ,just as the men were ready to leave the caisson the gas suddenly burst up again with something of explosive violence4 ,instantly the workmen threw down their tools and made a dash for the air-shaft4 ,here a terrible struggle followed4 ,only one man could go up the ladder at a time1 and they scrambled and fought1 pulling down by main force every man who succeeded in reaching the rounds4 ,then one after another they dropped in the sand1 unconscious4 ,griffin1 remaining below1 had signalled for a rope4 ,when it came down1 he groped for the nearest workman1 fastened it around his body1 and sent him aloft4 ,then he crawled around and pulled the unconscious workmen together under the air-shaft4 ,one by one he sent them up4 ,the last was a powerfully built ,irishman named ,howard4 ,griffin's eyes were blinded1 and he was so dizzy that he reeled like a drunken man1 but he managed to get the rope around ,howard's body and start him up4 ,at the eighteen-inch door of the lock the unconscious ,irishman wedged fast1 and those outside could not pull him through4 ,griffin climbed painfully up the thirty feet of ladder and pushed and pulled until ,howard's limp body went through4 ,griffin tried to follow him1 but his numbed fingers slipped on the steel rim1 and he fell backward into the death-hole below4 ,they dropped the rope again1 but there was no response4 ,one of the men called ,griffin by name4 ,the half-conscious caisson-man aroused himself and managed to tie the rope under his arms4 ,then he1 too1 was hoisted aloft1 and when he was dragged from the caisson1 more dead than alive1 the half-blinded men on the steamer's deck set up a shout of applause--all the credit that he ever received4 ,two of the men prostrated by the gas were sent to a hospital in ,new ,york1 where they were months in recovering4 ,another went insane4 ,griffin was blind for three weeks4 ,four other caisson-men came out of the work with the painful malady known as bends1 which attacks those who work long under high air-pressure4 ,a victim of the bends cannot straighten his back1 and often his legs and arms are cramped and contorted4 ,these terrible results will give a good idea of the heroism required of the sea-builder4 ,having sunk the caisson deep enough the workmen filled it full of concrete and sealed the top of the air-shaft4 ,then they built the light-keeper's home1 and the lantern was ready for lighting4 ,three days within the contract year the tower was formally turned over to the ,government4 ,and thus the builders1 besides providing a warning to the hundreds of vessels that yearly pass up the bay1 erected a lasting monument to their own skill1 courage1 and perseverance4 ,as long as the shoal remains the light will stand4 ,in the course of half a century1 perhaps less1 the sea-water will gnaw away the iron of the cylinder1 but there will still remain the core of concrete1 as hard and solid as the day on which it was planted4 ,it is fitting that work which has drawn so largely upon the highest intellectual and moral endowments of the engineer and the builder should not serve the selfish interests of any one man1 nor of any single corporation1 nor even of the ,government which provided the means1 but that it should be a gift to the world at large4 ,other nations1 even ,great ,britain1 which has more at stake upon the seas than any other country1 impose regular lighthouse taxes upon vessels entering their harbours2 but the lights erected by the ,united ,states flash a free warning to any ship of any land4 ,illustration3 ,peter ,cooper ,hewitt4 ,with his interrupter4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,newest ,,electric ,,light ,peter ,cooper ,hewitt and ,his ,three ,great ,inventions--,the ,mercury ,arc ,light--,the ,new ,electrical ,converter--,the ,hewitt ,interrupter ,it is indeed a great moment when an inventor comes to the announcement of a new and epoch-making achievement4 ,he has been working for years1 perhaps1 in his laboratory1 struggling along unknown1 unheard of1 often poor1 failing a hundred times for every achieved success1 but finally1 all in a moment1 surprising the secret which nature has guarded so long and so faithfully4 ,he has discovered a new principle that no one has known before1 he has made a wonderful new machine--and it works6 ,what he has done in his laboratory for himself now becomes of interest to all the world4 ,he has a great message to give4 ,his patience and perseverance through years of hard work have produced something that will make life easier and happier for millions of people1 that will open great new avenues for human effort and human achievement1 build up new fortunes2 often1 indeed1 change the whole course of business affairs in the world1 if not the very channels of human thought4 ,think what the steam-engine has done1 and the telegraph1 and the sewing-machine6 ,all this wonder lies to-day in the brain of the inventor2 to-morrow it is a part of the world's treasure4 ,such a moment came on an evening in ,january1 #aijb1 when ,peter ,cooper ,hewitt1 of ,new ,york ,city--then wholly unknown to the greater world--made the announcement of an invention of such importance that ,lord ,kelvin1 the greatest of living electricians1 afterward said that of all the things he saw in ,america the work of ,mr4 ,hewitt attracted him most4 ,on that evening in ,january1 #aijb1 a curious crowd was gathered about the entrance of the ,engineers' ,club in ,new ,york ,city4 ,over the doorway a narrow glass tube gleamed with a strange blue-green light of such intensity that print was easily readable across the street1 and yet so softly radiant that one could look directly at it without the sensation of blinding discomfort which accompanies nearly all brilliant artificial lights4 ,the hall within1 where ,mr4 ,hewitt was making the first public announcement of his discovery1 was also illuminated by the wonderful new tubes4 ,the light was different from anything ever seen before1 grateful to the eyes1 much like daylight1 only giving the face a curious1 pale-green1 unearthly appearance4 ,the cause of this phenomenon was soon evident2 the tubes were seen to give forth all the rays except red--orange1 yellow1 green1 blue1 violet--so that under its illumination the room and the street without1 the faces of the spectators1 the clothing of the women lost all their shades of red2 indeed1 changing the very face of the world to a pale green-blue4 ,it was a redless light4 ,the extraordinary appearance of this lamp and its profound significance as a scientific discovery at once awakened a wide public interest1 especially among electricians who best understood its importance4 ,here was an entirely new sort of electric light4 ,the familiar incandescent lamp1 the invention of ,thomas ,a4 ,edison1 though the best of all methods of illumination1 is also the most expensive4 ,mr4 ,hewitt's lamp1 though not yet adapted to all the purposes served by the ,edison lamp1 on account of its peculiar colour1 produces eight times as much light with the same amount of power4 ,it is also practically indestructible1 there being no filament to burn out2 and it requires no special wiring4 ,by means of this invention electricity1 instead of being the most costly means of illumination1 becomes the cheapest--cheaper even than kerosene4 ,no further explanation than this is necessary to show the enormous importance of this invention4 ,mr4 ,hewitt's announcement at once awakened the interest of the entire scientific world and made the inventor famous1 and yet it was only the forerunner of two other inventions equally important4 ,once discover a master-key and it often unlocks many doors4 ,tracing out the principles involved in his new lamp1 ,mr4 ,hewitt invented3 ,a new1 cheap1 and simple method of converting alternating electrical currents into direct currents4 ,an electrical interrupter or valve1 in many respects the most wonderful of the three inventions4 ,before entering upon an explanation of these discoveries1 which1 though seemingly difficult and technical1 are really simple and easily understandable1 it will be interesting to know something of ,mr4 ,hewitt and his methods of work and the genesis of the inventions4 ,mr4 ,hewitt's achievements possess a peculiar interest for the people of this country4 ,the inventor is an ,american of ,americans4 ,born to wealth1 the grandson of the famous philanthropist1 ,peter ,cooper1 the son of ,abram ,s4 ,hewitt1 one of the foremost citizens and statesmen of ,new ,york1 ,mr4 ,hewitt might have led a life of leisure and ease1 but he has preferred to win his successes in the ,american way1 by unflagging industry and perseverance1 and has come to his new fortune also like the ,american1 suddenly and brilliantly4 ,as a people we like to see a man deserve his success6 ,the same qualities which made ,peter ,cooper one of the first of ,american millionaires1 and ,abram ,s4 ,hewitt one of the foremost of the world's steel merchants1 ,mayor of ,new ,york1 and one of its most trusted citizens1 have placed ,mr4 ,peter ,cooper ,hewitt among the greatest of ,american inventors and scientists4 ,indeed1 ,peter ,cooper and ,abram ,s4 ,hewitt were both inventors2 that is1 they had the imaginative inventive mind4 ,peter ,cooper once said3 ,i was always planning and contriving1 and was never satisfied unless ,i was doing something difficult--something that had never been done before1 if possible4 ,the grandfather built the first ,american locomotive2 he was one of the most ardent supporters of ,cyrus ,field in the great project of an ,atlantic cable1 and he was for a score of years the president of a cable company4 ,his was the curious1 constructive mind4 ,as a boy he built a washing machine to assist his overworked mother2 later on he built the first lawnmower and invented a process for rolling iron1 the first used in this country2 he constructed a torpedo-boat to aid the ,greeks in their revolt against ,turkish tyranny in #ahbd4 ,he dreamed of utilising the current of the ,east ,river for manufacturing power2 he even experimented with flying machines1 becoming so enthusiastic in this labour that he nearly lost the sight of an eye through an explosion which blew the apparatus to pieces4 ,illustration3 ,watching a ,test of the ,hewitt ,converter4 ,lord ,kelvin in the centre4 ,it will be seen1 therefore1 that the grandson comes naturally by his inclinations4 ,it was his grandfather who gave him his first chest of tools and taught him to work with his hands1 and he has always had a fondness for contriving new machines and of working out difficult scientific problems4 ,until the last few years1 however1 he has never devoted his whole time to the work which best pleased him4 ,for years he was connected with his father's extensive business enterprise1 an active member1 in fact1 of the firm of ,cooper1 ,hewitt ,co41 and he has always been prominent in the social life of ,new ,york1 a member of no fewer than eight prominent clubs4 ,but never for a moment in his career--he is now forty-two years old1 though he looks scarcely thirty-five--has he ceased to be interested in science and mechanics4 ,as a student in ,stevens ,institute1 and later in ,columbia ,college1 he gave particular attention to electricity1 physics1 chemistry1 and mechanics4 ,later1 when he went into business1 his inventive mind turned naturally to the improvement of manufacturing methods1 with the result that his name appears in the ,patent ,records as the inventor of many useful devices--a vacuum pan1 a glue clarifier1 a glue cutter and other glue machinery4 ,he worked at many sorts of trades with his own hands--machine-shop practice1 blacksmithing1 steam-fitting1 carpentry1 jewelry work1 and other work-a-day employments4 ,he was employed in a jeweller's shop1 learning how to make rings and to set stones2 he managed a steam launch2 he was for eight years in his grandfather's glue factory1 where he had practical problems in mechanics constantly brought to his attention4 ,and he was able to combine all this hard practical work with a fair amount of shooting1 golfing1 and automobiling4 ,most of ,mr4 ,hewitt's scientific work of recent years has been done after business hours--the long1 slow1 plodding toil of the experimenter4 ,there is surely no royal road to success in invention1 no matter how well a man may be equipped1 no matter how favourably his means are fitted to his hands4 ,mr4 ,hewitt worked for seven years on the electrical investigations which resulted in his three great inventions2 thousands of experiments were performed2 thousands of failures paved the way for the first glimmer of success4 ,his laboratory during most of these years was hidden away in the tall tower of ,madison ,square ,garden1 overlooking ,madison ,square1 with the roar of ,broadway and ,twenty-third ,street coming up from the distance4 ,here he has worked1 gradually expanding the scope of his experiments1 increasing his force of assistants1 until he now has an office and two workshops in ,madison ,square ,garden and is building a more extensive laboratory elsewhere4 ,replying to the remark that he was fortunate in having the means to carry forward his experiments in his own way1 he said3 ,the fact is quite the contrary4 ,i have had to make my laboratory pay as ,i went along4 ,mr4 ,hewitt chose his problem deliberately1 and he chose one of the most difficult in all the range of electrical science1 but one which1 if solved1 promised the most flattering rewards4 ,the essence of modern invention1 he said1 is the saving of waste1 the increase of efficiency in the various mechanical appliances4 ,this being so1 he chose the most wasteful1 the least efficient of all widely used electrical devices--the incandescent lamp4 ,of all the power used in producing the glowing filament in the ,edison bulb1 about ninety-seven per cent4 is absolutely wasted1 only three per cent4 appearing in light4 ,this three per cent4 efficiency of the incandescent lamp compares very unfavourably1 indeed1 with the forty per cent4 efficiency of the gasoline engine1 the twenty-two per cent4 efficiency of the marine engine1 and the ninety per cent4 efficiency of the dynamo4 ,illustration3 ,the ,hewitt ,mercury ,vapour ,light4 ,the circular piece just above the switch button is one form of boosting coil which operates for a fraction of a second when the current is first turned on4 ,the tube shown here is about an inch in diameter and several feet long4 ,various shapes may be used4 ,unless broken1 the tubes never need renewal4 ,mr4 ,hewitt first stated his problem very accurately4 ,the waste of power in the incandescent lamp is known to be due largely to the conversion of a considerable part of the electricity used into useless heat4 ,an electric-lamp bulb feels hot to the hand4 ,it was therefore necessary to produce a cool light2 that is1 a light in which the energy was converted wholly or largely into light rays and not into heat rays4 ,this1 indeed1 has long been one of the chief goals of ambition among inventors4 ,mr4 ,hewitt turned his attention to the gases4 ,why could not some incandescent gas be made to yield the much desired light without heat8 ,this was the germ of the idea4 ,comparatively little was known of the action of electricity in passing through the various gases1 though the problem involved had long been the subject of experiment1 and ,mr4 ,hewitt found himself at once in a maze of unsolved problems and difficulties4 ,i tried many different gases1 he said1 and found that some of them gave good results--nitrogen1 for instance--but many of them produced too much heat and presented other difficulties4 ,finally1 he took up experiments with mercury confined in a tube from which the air had been exhausted4 ,the mercury arc1 as it is called1 had been experimented with years before1 had even been used as a light1 although at the time he began his investigations ,mr4 ,hewitt knew nothing of these earlier investigations4 ,he used ordinary glass vacuum tubes with a little mercury in the bottom which he had reduced to a gas or vapour under the influence of heat or by a strong current of electricity4 ,he found it a rocky experimental road2 he has called invention systematic guessing4 ,i had an equation with a large number of unknown quantities1 he said4 ,about the only thing known for a certainty was the amount of current passing into the receptacle containing the gas1 and its pressure4 ,i had to assume values for these unknown quantities in every experiment1 and you can understand what a great number of trials were necessary1 using different combinations1 before obtaining results4 ,i presume thousands of experiments were made4 ,many other investigators had been on the very edge of the discovery4 ,they had tried sending strong currents through a vacuum tube containing mercury vapour1 but had found it impossible to control the resistance4 ,one day1 however1 in running a current into the tube ,mr4 ,hewitt suddenly recognised certain flashes2 a curious phenomenon4 ,always it is the unexpected thing1 the thing unaccounted for1 that the mind of the inventor leaps upon4 ,for there1 perhaps1 is the key he is seeking4 ,mr4 ,hewitt continued his experiments and found that the mercury vapour was conducting4 ,he next discovered that when once the high resistance of the cold mercury was overcome1 a very much less powerful current found ready passage and produced a very brilliant light3 the glow of the mercury vapour4 ,this1 ,mr4 ,hewitt says1 was the crucial point1 the genesis of his three inventions1 for all of them are applications of the mercury arc4 ,thus1 in short1 he invented the new lamp4 ,by the use of what is known to electricians as a boosting coil1 supplying for an instant a very powerful current1 the initial resistance of the cold mercury in the tube is overcome1 and then1 the booster being automatically shut off1 the current ordinarily used in incandescent lighting produces an illumination eight times as intense as the ,edison bulb of the same candle-power4 ,the mechanism is exceedingly simple and cheap2 a button turns the light on or off2 the remaining apparatus is not more complex than that of the ordinary incandescent light4 ,the ,hewitt lamp is best used in the form of a long horizontal tube suspended overhead in a room1 the illumination filling all the space below with a radiance much like daylight1 not glaring and sharp as with the ,edison bulb4 ,mr4 ,hewitt has a large room hung with green material and thus illuminated1 giving the visitor a very strange impression of a redless world4 ,after a few moments spent here a glance out of the window shows a curiously red landscape1 and red buildings1 a red ,madison ,square1 the red coming out more prominently by contrast with the blue-green of the light4 ,for many purposes1 said ,mr4 ,hewitt1 the light in its present form is already easily adaptable4 ,for shopwork1 draughting1 reading1 and other work1 where the eye is called on for continued strain1 the absence of red is an advantage1 for ,i have found light without the red much less tiring to the eye4 ,i use it in my own laboratories1 and my men prefer it to ordinary daylight4 ,in other respects1 however1 its colour is objectionable1 and ,mr4 ,hewitt has experimented with a view to obtaining the red rays1 thereby producing a pure white light4 ,why not put a red globe around your lamp8 is a common question put to the inventor4 ,this is an apparently easy solution of the difficulty until one is reminded that red glass does not change light waves1 but simply suppresses all the rays that are not red4 ,since there are no red rays in the ,hewitt lamp1 the effect of the red globe would be to cut off all the light4 ,but ,mr4 ,hewitt showed me a beautiful piece of pink silk1 coloured with rhodimin1 which1 when thrown over the lamp1 changes some of the orange rays into red1 giving a better balanced illumination1 although at some loss of brilliancy4 ,further experiments along this line are now in progress1 investigations both with mercury vapour and with other gases4 ,illustration3 ,testing a ,hewitt ,converter4 ,the row of incandescent lights is used1 together with a voltmeter and an ammeter1 to measure strength of current1 resistance1 and loss in converting4 ,mr4 ,hewitt has found that the rays of his new lamp have a peculiar and stimulating effect on plant growth4 ,a series of experiments1 in which seeds of various plants were sown under exactly the same conditions1 one set being exposed to daylight and one to the mercury gaslight1 showed that the latter grew much more rapidly and luxuriantly4 ,without doubt1 also1 these new rays will have value in the curing of certain kinds of disease4 ,further experimentation with the mercury arc led to the other two inventions1 the converter and the interrupter4 ,and first of the converter3 ,hewitt's ,electrical ,converter4--,the converter is simplicity itself4 ,here are two kinds of electrical currents--the alternating and the direct4 ,science has found it much cheaper and easier to produce and transmit the alternating current than the direct current4 ,unfortunately1 however1 only the direct currents are used for such practical purposes as driving an electric car or automobile1 or running an elevator1 or operating machine tools or the presses in a printing-office1 and they are preferable for electric lighting4 ,the power of ,niagara ,falls is changed into an alternating current which can be sent at high pressure 7high voltage7 over the wires for long distances1 but before it can be used it must1 for some purposes1 be converted into a direct current4 ,the apparatus now in use is cumbersome1 expensive1 and wasteful4 ,mr4 ,hewitt's new converter is a mere bulb of glass or of steel1 which a man can hold in his hand4 ,the inventor found that the mercury bulb1 when connected with wires carrying an alternating current1 had the curious and wonderful property of permitting the passage of the positive half of the alternating wave when the current has started and maintained in that direction1 and of suppressing the other half2 in other words1 of changing an alternating current into a direct current4 ,in this process there was a loss1 the same for currents of all potentials1 of only #ad volts4 ,a three-pound ,hewitt converter will do the work of a seven-hundred-pound apparatus of the old type2 it will cost dollars where the other costs hundreds2 and it will save a large proportion of the electricity wasted in the old process4 ,by this simple device1 therefore1 ,mr4 ,hewitt has in a moment extended the entire range of electrical development4 ,as alternating currents can be carried longer distances by using high pressure1 and the pressure or voltage can be changed by the use of a simple transformer and then changed into a direct current by the converter at any convenient point along the line1 therefore more waterfalls can be utilised1 more of the power of coal can be utilised1 more electricity saved after it is generated1 rendering the operating of all industries requiring power so much cheaper4 ,every electric railroad1 every lighting plant1 every factory using electricity1 is intimately concerned in ,mr4 ,hewitt's device1 for it will cheapen their power and thereby cheapen their products to you and to me4 ,hewitt's ,electrical ,interrupter4--,the third invention is in some respects the most wonderful of the three4 ,technically1 it is called an electric interrupter or valve4 ,if a long list of present-day desiderata were drawn up1 says the ,electrical ,world and ,engineer1 it would perhaps contain no item of more immediate importance than an interrupter which shall be 444 inexpensive and simple of application4 ,this is the view of science2 and therefore this device is one upon which a great many inventors1 including ,mr4 ,marconi1 have recently been working2 and ,mr4 ,hewitt has been fortunate in producing the much-needed successful apparatus4 ,the chief demand for an interrupter has come from the scores of experimenters who are working with wireless telegraphy4 ,in #ahid ,mr4 ,marconi began communicating through space without wires1 and it may be said that wireless telegraphy has ever since been the world's imminent invention4 ,who has not read with profound interest the news of ,mr4 ,marconi's success1 the gradual increases of his distances8 ,who has not sympathised with his effort to perfect his devices1 to produce a tuning apparatus by means of which messages flying through space could be kept secret8 ,and here at last has come the invention which science most needed to complete and vitalise ,marconi's work4 ,by means of ,mr4 ,hewitt's interrupter1 the simplicity of which is as astonishing as its efficiency1 the whole problem has been suddenly and easily solved4 ,mr4 ,hewitt's new interrupter may1 indeed1 be called the enacting clause of wireless telegraphy4 ,by its use the transmission of powerful and persistent electrical waves is reduced to scientific accuracy4 ,the apparatus is not only cheap1 light1 and simple1 but it is also a great saver of electrical power4 ,the interrupter1 also1 is a simple device4 ,as ,i have already shown1 the mercury vapour opposes a high resistance to the passage of electricity until the current reaches a certain high potential1 when it gives way suddenly1 allowing a current of low potential to pass through4 ,this property can be applied in breaking a high potential current1 such as is used in wireless telegraphy1 so that the waves set up are exactly the proper lengths1 always accurate1 always the same1 for sending messages through space4 ,by the present method an ordinary arc or spark gap--that is1 a spark passing between two brass balls--is employed in sending messages across the ,atlantic4 ,marconi uses a spark as large as a man's wrist1 and the noise of its passage is so deafening that the operators are compelled to wear cotton in their ears1 and often they must shield their eyes from the blinding brilliancy of the discharges4 ,moreover1 this open-air arc is subject to variations1 to great losses of current1 the brass balls become eroded1 and the accuracy of the transmission is much impaired4 ,all this is obviated by the cheap1 simple1 noiseless1 sparkless mercury bulb4 ,what ,i have done1 said ,mr4 ,hewitt1 is to perfect a device by means of which messages can be sent rapidly and without the loss of current occasioned by the spark gap4 ,in wireless telegraphy the trouble has been that it was difficult to keep the sending and the receiving instruments attuned4 ,by the use of my interrupter this can be accomplished4 ,and the possibilities of the mercury tube--indeed1 of incandescent gas tubes in general--have by no means been exhausted4 ,a new door has been opened to investigators1 and no one knows what science will find in the treasure-house--perhaps new and more wonderful inventions1 perhaps the very secret of electricity itself4 ,mr4 ,hewitt is still busily engaged in experimenting along these lines1 both in the realm of abstract science and in that of practical invention4 ,he is too careful a scientist1 however1 to speak much of the future1 but those who are most familiar with his methods of work predict that the three inventions he has already announced are only forerunners of many other discoveries4 ,the chief pursuit of science and invention in this day of wonders is the electrical conquest of the world1 the introduction of the electrical age4 ,the electric motor is driving out the steam locomotive1 the electric light is superseding gas and kerosene1 the waterfall must soon take the place of coal4 ,but certain great problems stand like solid walls in the way of development1 part of them problems of science1 part of mechanical efficiency4 ,the battle of science is1 indeed1 not unlike real war1 charging its way over one battlement after another1 until the very citadel of final secret is captured4 ,mr4 ,hewitt with his three inventions has led the way over some of the most serious present barriers in the progress of technical electricity1 enabling the whole industry1 in a hundred different phases of its progress1 to go forward4 ,,the ,,end ,transcriber's ,note3 ,obvious punctuation errors have been silently repaired4 ,the oe-ligatures have been replaced by oe4 ,all words printed in small capitals have been converted to uppercase characters4 ,inconsistencies1 for example in hyphenation and spelling1 have been retained4 ,page #ahb3 ,burnburg is actually called ,bernburg4