Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, June 1899: Volume LVVarious
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, June 1899: Volume LV
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
Machinery is the active means by which the immediate transposition of
the crude material into the finished article is accomplished. And in a
building where the ceaseless belt moves with the rapidly revolving
pulley may be seen the many forms of machinery which the active brain
of the ingenious mechanic has devised to cheapen labor and increase
production. The change of the cotton fiber into cloth, or the passage
of the silken thread into the finished handkerchief; the revolving
cylinder on which the virgin sheet of white paper becomes the printed
purveyor of news; or the many and varied appliances by which the piece
of leather is fashioned into a covering for the foot; or again the
means by which the strip of steel is made into a pin or needle, are
among the interesting things that may be seen in Machinery Hall.
Conspicuous among the many interesting wonders of science that were
shown at the Centennial, in 1876, were the few, insignificant, blue,
flickering, and unstable lights that ushered into existence a new era
in the history of electricity. In Atlanta, in Nashville, and in Omaha
a building was necessary to hold the appliances and products of the
latest of our sciences. Telephones no longer impress us by their
newness, and the appliances of electricity to heating and lighting are
now household necessities. To those who treasured the memory of the
beauty of the lighted Court of Honor at the White City in Chicago
there was given a greater joy when the entire grounds of the beautiful
Centennial City in Nashville were illuminated with more than seventeen
thousand incandescent lamps. Daylight had faded into darkness only to
emerge into an electric day of brilliancy unsurpassed. Thus was told
the story of the progress of the science which as a result of the
studies of Franklin, Henry, Morse, and Graham Bell may well be
regarded as the American science.
A parting word must be given to the amusement features. How the
Streets of Cairo, now so hackneyed, linger in one's memory! The
Enchanted Swing was one of the novel features of the Midwinter Fair in
San Francisco, and of weird interest was the Night and Morning in
Nashville. The Mexican and Japanese villages were excellent features
in Atlanta, and so was the Chinese village in Nashville, although the
"Old Plantation" was more popular. Panoramas such as that of the
Battle of Gettysburg, or pyrotechnic spectacular shows such as The
Storming of Wei-Hai-Wei, are of value. The musical features must not
be forgotten, even if popular fancy leans toward Dixie, for the
occasional "Gems from the Operas" help to leaven the mass. At
Nashville the military drills by the national and State troops were
of considerable interest, and much had been hoped for in Omaha in this
respect, but the war prevented.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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