History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

Scientific Inventions.

8. One of the best examples of the application of scientific discovery to the affairs of every-day life is that of the Telephone. It has remained for our day to discover the possibility of transmitting or reproducing the human voice at a distance of hundreds or even thousands of miles. By means of a simple contrivance, a person in one part of the country is able to converse with friends in another part, as if face to face. The invention of this wonderful instrument is to be credited to Professor A. Graham Bell, of Massachusetts, and Elisha P. Gray, of Chicago. It should be mentioned, also, that Professor A. C. Dolbear, of Tufts College, and the great inventor, Thomas A. Edison, have succeeded in the production of telephonic instruments.

9. Another recent invention is the Phonograph. It is the nature of the phonograph to receive and retain the wave-lines and figures of sound, whether of the human voice or some other sound, and by an ingenious contrivance to reproduce those sounds as if they were the original utterance. It is to be regretted that thus far the phonograph has proved to be of little or no practical utility.

10. But perhaps the greatest invention of the age is the Electric Light. About 1870 it was first proposed to use electricity for practical illumination. Long before this time the possibility of electric lighting had been shown by the philosopher Gramme, of Paris. About the same time the Russian scientist, Jablokoff, also succeeded in converting electricity into light. It remained, however, for the great American inventor, Thomas A. Edison, to remove the difficulties in the way of electric lighting, and to make the invention practical. The systems produced by him and others are rapidly taking the place of the old methods of illumination.

Great Public Works.

11. Among the great public works may be mentioned the East River Bridge, joining New York with Brooklyn, which was opened with appropriate ceremonies on the 24th of May, 1883. This structure is the largest of the kind in the world, being a suspension bridge, with a total length of 5,989 feet. The span from pier to pier is 1,595 feet; and the estimated capacity of resistance is 49,200 tons. The engineer under whose direction the great bridge was constructed was Mr. John A. Roebling, who may properly be regarded as the originator of wire suspension bridges. Though he did not live to see the completion of the work which he had planned, the same was taken up and finished by his son, scarcely less noted than his father.

12. The recurrence of the birthday of Washington, 1885, was noted for the completion of the great monument, erected at the Capital, in honor of the Father of his Country. The cost of the completed structure was about $1,500,000. The shaft of the monument, exclusive of the foundation, is 555 feet in height, being 30 feet higher than the cathedral of Cologne, and 75 feet higher than the pyramid of Cheops.

13. In the last year of Arthur's administration the command of the army of the United States was transferred from General William T. Sherman to General Philip H. Sheridan. The former eminent soldier, having reached the age at which, according to Act of Congress, he might retire from active service, availed himself of the provision, and laid down the command which he had so long and honorably held. Nor could it be said that the new General, to whom the command of the American army was now given, was less a patriot and soldier than his eminent predecessor.

Disappearance of Political Issues.