Article August 3, 1899 Issue

The New Age of Progress

Still Coming Marvels of Industrial Electricity.

Rene Bache

Boston Transcript

"THE Age of Electricity is only just dawning," said Assistant Commissioner of Patents Greeley recently, "and one advance in this direction which we are about to witness is the conversion of the steam railroads of this country into electric railroads—a change that would have been accomplished already to a large extent, but for the immense amount of money invested in locomotives and the first enormous expense of installing an electric plant. Cars have already been run by electricity at a rate exceeding sixty miles an hour, and electric locomotives have proved themselves superior to those depending on steam power. One advantage of the electric locomotive engine is that it emits no smoke or cinders, and the water power of any river within a few miles of the line may be utilized, instead of fuel, to run it.

"The first electric road for city or suburban traffic was put in operation a dozen years ago; at present there are in the United States more than fifteen thousand miles of such roads, representing a total investment of $900,000,000 and employing about one hundred and seventy-five thousand persons. In 1880 there were only three electric light and power establishments in this country; to-day there are more than ten thousand such establishments, employing fifty thousand men and $500,000,000 of capital. The telephone in 1880 was just beginning to be commercially known; now there are over one thousand exchanges, using six hundred thousand miles of wire, and employing fifteen thousand individuals and $85,000,000 of capital.

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