chapter14.txt

CHAPTER XIV







INVENTING A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF LIGHTING







IN Berlin, on December 11, 1908, with notable eclat,



the seventieth birthday was celebrated of Emil



Rathenau, the founder of the great Allgemein



Elektricitaets Gesellschaft. This distinguished German,



creator of a splendid industry, then received the



congratulations of his fellow-countrymen, headed by



Emperor William, who spoke enthusiastically of his



services to electro-technics and to Germany. In



his interesting acknowledgment, Mr. Rathenau told



how he went to Paris in 1881, and at the electrical



exhibition there saw the display of Edison's inventions



in electric lighting "which have met with as



little proper appreciation as his countless innovations



in connection with telegraphy, telephony, and the



entire electrical industry." He saw the Edison dynamo,



and he saw the incandescent lamp, "of which millions



have been manufactured since that day without the



great master being paid the tribute to his invention."



But what impressed the observant, thoroughgoing



German was the breadth with which the whole lighting



art had been elaborated and perfected, even at



that early day. "The Edison system of lighting was



as beautifully conceived down to the very details,



and as thoroughly worked out as if it had been tested



for decades in various towns. Neither sockets,



switches, fuses, lamp-holders, nor any of the other



accessories necessary to complete the installation



were wanting; and the generating of the current,



the regulation, the wiring with distributing boxes,



house connections, meters, etc., all showed signs of



astonishing skill and incomparable genius."







Such praise on such an occasion from the man who



introduced incandescent electric lighting into Germany



is significant as to the continued appreciation abroad



of Mr. Edison's work. If there is one thing modern



Germany is proud and jealous of, it is her leadership



in electrical engineering and investigation. But with



characteristic insight, Mr. Rathenau here placed his



finger on the great merit that has often been forgotten.



Edison was not simply the inventor of a new lamp



and a new dynamo. They were invaluable elements,



but far from all that was necessary. His was the



mighty achievement of conceiving and executing in



all its details an art and an industry absolutely new



to the world. Within two years this man completed



and made that art available in its essential, fundamental



facts, which remain unchanged after thirty



years of rapid improvement and widening application.







Such a stupendous feat, whose equal is far to seek



anywhere in the history of invention, is worth studying,



especially as the task will take us over much new



ground and over very little of the territory already



covered. Notwithstanding the enormous amount of



thought and labor expended on the incandescent



lamp problem from the autumn of 1878 to the winter



of 1879, it must not be supposed for one moment that



Edison's whole endeavor and entire inventive skill



had been given to the lamp alone, or the dynamo



alone. We have sat through the long watches of the



night while Edison brooded on the real solution of



the swarming problems. We have gazed anxiously at



the steady fingers of the deft and cautious Batchelor,



as one fragile filament after another refused to stay



intact until it could be sealed into its crystal prison



and there glow with light that never was before on



land or sea. We have calculated armatures and field



coils for the new dynamo with Upton, and held the



stakes for Jehl and his fellows at their winding bees.



We have seen the mineral and vegetable kingdoms



rifled and ransacked for substances that would yield



the best "filament." We have had the vague consciousness



of assisting at a great development whose



evidences to-day on every hand attest its magnitude.



We have felt the fierce play of volcanic effort, lifting



new continents of opportunity from the infertile sea,



without any devastation of pre-existing fields of human



toil and harvest. But it still remains to elucidate



the actual thing done; to reduce it to concrete



data, and in reducing, to unfold its colossal dimensions.







The lighting system that Edison contemplated in



this entirely new departure from antecedent methods



included the generation of electrical energy, or current,



on a very large scale; its distribution throughout



extended areas, and its division and subdivision



into small units converted into light at innumerable



points in every direction from the source of



supply, each unit to be independent of every oth-



er and susceptible to immediate control by the



user.







This was truly an altogether prodigious undertaking.



We need not wonder that Professor Tyndall,



in words implying grave doubt as to the possibility



of any solution of the various problems, said publicly



that he would much rather have the matter in Edison's



hands than in his own. There were no precedents,



nothing upon which to build or improve. The



problems could only be answered by the creation of



new devices and methods expressly worked out for



their solution. An electric lamp answering certain



specific requirements would, indeed, be the key to



the situation, but its commercial adaptation required



a multifarious variety of apparatus and devices. The



word "system" is much abused in invention, and



during the early days of electric lighting its use



applied to a mere freakish lamp or dynamo was often



ludicrous. But, after all, nothing short of a complete



system could give real value to the lamp as an



invention; nothing short of a system could body



forth the new art to the public. Let us therefore set



down briefly a few of the leading items needed for



perfect illumination by electricity, all of which were



part of the Edison programme:







First--To conceive a broad and fundamentally correct



method of distributing the current, satisfactory



in a scientific sense and practical commercially in its



efficiency and economy. This meant, ready made, a



comprehensive plan analogous to illumination by gas,



with a network of conductors all connected together,



so that in any given city area the lights could be fed



with electricity from several directions, thus eliminating



any interruption due to the disturbance on any



particular section.







Second--To devise an electric lamp that would give



about the same amount of light as a gas jet, which



custom had proven to be a suitable and useful unit.



This lamp must possess the quality of requiring only



a small investment in the copper conductors reaching



it. Each lamp must be independent of every



other lamp. Each and all the lights must be produced



and operated with sufficient economy to compete



on a commercial basis with gas. The lamp must



be durable, capable of being easily and safely handled



by the public, and one that would remain capable of



burning at full incandescence and candle-power a great



length of time.







Third--To devise means whereby the amount of



electrical energy furnished to each and every customer



could be determined, as in the case of gas, and



so that this could be done cheaply and reliably by a



meter at the customer's premises.







Fourth--To elaborate a system or network of conductors



capable of being placed underground or overhead,



which would allow of being tapped at any intervals,



so that service wires could be run from the



main conductors in the street into each building.



Where these mains went below the surface of the



thoroughfare, as in large cities, there must be



protective conduit or pipe for the copper conductors,



and these pipes must allow of being tapped wherever



necessary. With these conductors and pipes must



also be furnished manholes, junction-boxes, con-



nections, and a host of varied paraphernalia insuring



perfect general distribution.







Fifth--To devise means for maintaining at all



points in an extended area of distribution a practically



even pressure of current, so that all the lamps,



wherever located, near or far away from the central



station, should give an equal light at all times,



independent of the number that might be turned on; and



safeguarding the lamps against rupture by sudden



and violent fluctuations of current. There must also



be means for thus regulating at the point where the



current was generated the quality or pressure of the



current throughout the whole lighting area, with devices



for indicating what such pressure might actually



be at various points in the area.







Sixth--To design efficient dynamos, such not being



in existence at the time, that would convert economically



the steam-power of high-speed engines into



electrical energy, together with means for connecting



and disconnecting them with the exterior consumption



circuits; means for regulating, equalizing their



loads, and adjusting the number of dynamos to be



used according to the fluctuating demands on the



central station. Also the arrangement of complete



stations with steam and electric apparatus and auxiliary



devices for insuring their efficient and continuous



operation.







Seventh--To invent devices that wou...