Truly was he a great benefactor of the human race. His admirable
discovery led to many another. Hence is sprung a pleiad of inventors,
its brightest star being our great Joseph Jackson. To Jackson we are
indebted for those wonderful instruments the new accumulators. Some of
these absorb and condense the living force contained in the sun's rays;
others, the electricity stored in our globe; others again, the energy
coming from whatever source, as a waterfall, a stream, the winds, etc.
He, too, it was that invented the transformer, a more wonderful
contrivance still, which takes the living force from the accumulator,
and, on the simple pressure of a button, gives it back to space in
whatever form may be desired, whether as heat, light, electricity, or
mechanical force, after having first obtained from it the work required.
From the day when these two instruments were contrived is to be dated
the era of true progress. They have put into the hands of man a power
that is almost infinite. As for their applications, they are numberless.
Mitigating the rigors of winter, by giving back to the atmosphere the
surplus heat stored up during the summer, they have revolutionized
agriculture. By supplying motive power for aërial navigation, they have
given to commerce a mighty impetus. To them we are indebted for the
continuous production of electricity without batteries or dynamos, of
light without combustion or incandescence, and for an unfailing supply
of mechanical energy for all the needs of industry.
Yes, all these wonders have been wrought by the accumulator and the
transformer. And can we not to them also trace, indirectly, this latest
wonder of all, the great "Earth Chronicle" building in 253d Avenue,
which was dedicated the other day? If George Washington Smith, the
founder of the Manhattan "Chronicle," should come back to life to-day,
what would he think were he to be told that this palace of marble and
gold belongs to his remote descendant, Fritz Napoleon Smith, who, after
thirty generations have come and gone, is owner of the same newspaper
which his ancestor established!
For George Washington Smith's newspaper has lived generation after
generation, now passing out of the family, anon coming back to it. When,
200 years ago, the political center of the United States was transferred
from Washington to Centropolis, the newspaper followed the government
and assumed the name of Earth Chronicle. Unfortunately, it was unable to
maintain itself at the high level of its name. Pressed on all sides by
rival journals of a more modern type, it was continually in danger of
collapse. Twenty years ago its subscription list contained but a few
hundred thousand names, and then Mr. Fritz Napoleon Smith bought it for
a mere trifle, and originated telephonic journalism.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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